We use thuja in landscape design

Today, thuja is becoming more and more popular in the design of personal gardens. Tui have several dozen species and varieties: with different colors of needles, fast-growing and having an increase of only a few millimeters per year, a spherical, conical and columnar crown. Let's get acquainted with this wonderful tree and its application in the design of land plots.

In Russia, numerous groups of eastern and western thuja have proven themselves well. Their winter hardiness allows them to withstand frosty periods of the year.

Some European varieties require shelter for the winter, but these types of thujas are very rare in our country, they are acquired by collectors and create appropriate conditions for them. In most areas, the western thuja is planted.

Thuja western is more adapted to our climate, its homeland is Canada, where conditions are similar to the average Russian. Eastern thuja was brought to us from Asia, it is more capricious, does not like the north wind, it is better to plant it from the windward side of the house.

The greenery of the thuja is very dense, the needles are soft, the bark has a beautiful gray color. The color of the needles ranges from yellow to dark green. The crown has the shape of a ball, cone or pyramid, the growth rate of some varieties is insignificant, they can maintain a constant accent in the composition for a long time, other varieties grow very quickly and need regular cutting of the crown.

The crown of such fast-growing thujas can be given any shape. Several centuries ago, French and English gardeners began to create whole architectural parks of spheres, columns, pyramids, cubes and other geometric shapes from sheared thujas. Today, a whole trend in landscape design has developed - the topiary art of creating figures of animals, people, cars, famous art objects from soft needles.

The branches are beautifully fan-shaped, sometimes twisted in a spiral. Thuja has a medicinal effect, its needles emit phytoncides, which disinfect and purify the air, so it is useful to plant it next to a house or a recreation area.

For all these qualities and external resemblance to the southern cypress tree, landscape designers of temperate climatic latitudes fell in love with thuja. This coniferous plant is unpretentious and has a large varietal variety, which allows it to be included in various landscape compositions or used as a tapeworm. Consider what types of these wonderful conifers can be used for decorative gardening of personal plots.

Consider what varieties of western thuja are cultivated in the temperate climate of central Russia.

• Aurea - with yellow needles, in the shade it acquires green shades, which become darker in winter. It has dense needles, lends itself well to shaping, you can give any shape, due to its low growth (up to 2.5 meters), it can be used in compositions with conifers of other flowers in the middle ground or with roses, hydrangeas, ferns - in the second. Due to its yellow color, it can be accentuated in hedges of darker varieties. Looks beautiful with purple Thunberg barberry. This variety has original branches, which further enhances the decorative qualities.The annual growth is only 5 centimeters. This must be taken into account when purchasing a variety for your site.

• Thuya Yellow Ribbon also has a yellow color of young needles, shears well, grows relatively slowly - 10 centimeters per year. Very hardy. The crown is narrow, conical.
• Tuya Mickey has similar characteristics, only its foliage is dark green, shiny.
• Albospicata reaches a height of 2.5 meters, needles are silvery wormwood with white tips, which creates an additional play of light. This effect looks very nice in hedges. The crown of the albospicata is very wide and takes up about a meter in diameter, which necessitates additional space in the composition. It can be used as a separate ornamental tree.

• Emerald - the most demanded pyramidal thuja in landscape design. It is distinguished by a rich green color, a dense crown, which is perfectly trimmed, in winter it darkens slightly. Thuja tolerates a wide variety of conditions from full shade to bright sun, is not demanding for watering and is resistant to decay, excellent frost resistance make Smaragd indispensable for creating hedges. The height of an adult plant (about 3 meters) and a beautiful dense crown make it possible to use this thuja to create park alleys.

• Similar characteristics are possessed by thuja brabant, but it is less winter-hardy and has a lighter crown, has a rapid growth (up to 50 centimeters per year).
• Globoza. An adult thuja does not need a haircut; it has dense, bright green needles of a spherical shape, up to 1 meter high and wide. Looks good both in single planting and in combination with creeping junipers. Loved by designers for the neatness of its round shape. It is often the main accent in floral arrangements.

• Thuya Reingold. She has an unusual golden-bronze needles that take on a pink tint in spring. It will be an excellent decoration for rockeries or flower beds. An adult plant has a height of 1 meter, quite winter hardy.
• Tuya Danica, low - up to 0.7 meters, with a round, dense crown of saturated green color. It is very good in alpine slides or in outdoor pots on an open terrace, in the form of a border to a coniferous composition.

• Looks like her thuja woodwardy... It has a low, compact, round shape and a contrasting color of foliage, from light to dark, which makes it decorative.
• Tuya Hoseri - a dwarf variety, has a light green foliage, a crown in the form of a ball, about 70 centimeters high. It is interesting by the change in color of the needles during the year from light green to bronze.

• Filiformis. This thuja is completely different in the structure of the crown and branches to the previous specimens, rather it is a fountain. It harmonizes with creeping conifers and can be used as a tapeworm.
• The same crown in the form of a fountain at thuja folded - Vipcord... She has a very slow growth, the maximum height is 1 meter. An adult thuja is given an original standard shape.

• Tuya Sunkist has a clear conical shape, very slow growth (up to 1.5-2 meters). The unusual color allows it to be used both in a single planting and in a composition to create a yellow spot.

• Holmstrup - graceful columnar thuja, with dense beautiful noble silvery needles on twisted fan-shaped dense branches. It makes a majestic impression. Reaches a height of 4 meters. Used to form alleys and hedges.
• Thuja Columna - high, up to 10 meters in height, coniferous plant of a narrow columnar shape, with dense dark green needles. The growth per year is 15-30 centimeters. Very unpretentious to the composition of air and soil. Long-liver.

• Amber - a new variety of tall thuja, its height reaches 4 meters, it has a narrow conical crown. The value of the variety for the decoration of the site lies in the bright yellow needles, which require a sunny location. High frost resistance.

The many types and colors of this coniferous plant allows the widespread use of thuja in landscape design. Tui go well with creeping junipers. Spherical crowns and soft needles blend beautifully with fir trees.

When choosing a variety, it is worth reading about the frost resistance of a particular type. There are special correspondence tables for this. An important factor is the growth rate and height of the plant in adulthood. For an alpine slide, it is better to choose dwarf varieties with a minimum annual growth, but for a hedge you need large specimens with a fast regrowth of shoots.

When buying seedlings from horticultural farms, you need to assess the condition of the crown, its density and color. The presence of dry branches can indicate damage to the root system. Such a seedling will not regain its decorative shape for a long time or may even die.

To plant a thuja, you need to choose a sufficiently sunny or semi-shaded place, no through wind. The soils should be slightly acidic and loose enough.

If there is clay soil on the site, you need to dig a hole that is twice the earthen lump, pour drainage from pebbles or expanded clay and make a soil mixture of sand, peat and soil. This mixture must nourish the roots of the tree for many years in order for it to show all its decorative effect.

Thuja's groundwater is not scary, it has a superficial root system. However, it is best to avoid wet lowland or wetland areas.

After planting, it is recommended to cover the trunk circle with a layer of coniferous bark.

Watering is necessary only at first for the seedling to take root, it should be moderate. Planting is best done in spring or summer. This will allow the plant to root better and survive the winter.

Frost-resistant varieties are not afraid of winter cold. Young seedlings still need protection in the form of a thick layer of mulch and an agrospan covering the ground part of the plant. Over the years, thuja will acquire the necessary resistance to low temperatures. Heat-loving oriental or European thuja planted in pots should be stored in a cool, bright room in winter.

Sunburn is a problem for all types of thuja. In February and March, the bright sun dries the delicate needles, and the roots in the frozen earth layer cannot deliver moisture to the foliage. The needles turn black and dry out, they cannot be restored, these brown bald spots will spoil the appearance of the tree for several seasons. The burnt twigs are cut in the spring and are waiting for new shoots to grow back, but the same density and uniformity of the crown can not be achieved. To avoid this, the crowns are wrapped in thin agrospan or gauze. The fabric should be breathable to prevent the seedling from blowing out.

It is necessary to regularly trim unevenly regrown legs, which will stimulate more tillering. We'll have to clean the crown of dry twigs and cobwebs so that the decorative effect of this coniferous plant is preserved all the time it is in the garden.

In the garden, you definitely need to find a place for a composition of these beautiful plants. There is a huge variety of options for the location of the thuja on the site. Coniferous bushes will decorate the front area. At the dacha, you can equip a rockery with thujas, it will become the pride of the owners. A thuja hedge will close from prying eyes and create a noble natural barrier.

For tips on planting a thuja, see the next video.