Japanese spirea Albiflora: description, planting and care, photo

Content

1 Description of Japanese spirea Albiflora
2 Spiraea Albiflora in landscape design
3 Planting and caring for Japanese spirea Albiflora
4 Reproduction
5 Diseases and pests
6 Conclusion

Spiraea japonica Albiflora (also Spiraea Boumalda "White-flowered") is a dwarf ornamental shrub popular in Russia, unpretentious in care and resistant to low temperatures. This variety is distinguished by high decorative qualities - it retains an attractive appearance even after flowering, until late autumn, when the light green color of the leaves gives way to rich orange.

Description of Japanese spirea Albiflora

It is a small deciduous shrub, about 80 cm in height. The diameter of the bush is on average 1.5 m, the crown is spreading and dense. Young shoots of this variety are slightly pubescent.

Japanese spirea Albiflora grows slowly. The annual growth is only 10 cm.

The shape of the leaves is elongated, ovoid. The edges are slightly jagged. The length of the leaf blade reaches 7 cm. The foliage is painted in delicate green tones, however, in September the leaves turn yellow and gradually acquire a bright orange color.

The description indicates that the flowers of the Japanese spirea variety Albiflora are small, as can be seen in the photo below, and they are collected in dense corymbose inflorescences, the diameter of which does not exceed 6-7 cm. The color of the petals is white.

One of the leading characteristics of the variety is its abundant flowering, which lasts from July to August.

Spiraea Albiflora in landscape design

Japanese spirea Albiflora variety is highly valued in landscape design for its resistance to air pollution, which allows the shrub to be used as a decoration for city parks, medical institutions and playgrounds. Plants are planted both individually and as part of group flower arrangements: rock gardens, borders, flower beds.

Advice! The combination of spirea Albiflora with coniferous shrubs, lavender, barberry and St. John's wort looks impressive, and creating a clump of spirea of different varieties will extend the flowering of the group until September.

This variety can also be used as a ground cover crop for decorating slopes. In addition, Japanese spirea Albiflora is often included in multi-layer compositions, where the shrub is combined with trees and shrubs weaving along supports.

The photo below shows a homogeneous composition of Japanese spirea bushes of the Albiflora variety.

Planting and caring for Japanese spirea Albiflora

This variety is not capricious and grows well both in open sunny areas and in partial shade. The shrub does not have any special requirements for the composition of the soil; however, when planted in loose, fertile soils, the flowering of spirea will be more abundant.

Advice! Japanese spirea Albiflora feels best on well-drained sandy and loamy soils.

Plant care includes the most basic procedures: sanitary and formative pruning, watering and fertilizing. The shrub is one of the most frost-resistant varieties, so adult plants do not need shelter for the winter.Spiraea Albiflora does not tolerate drought well, so it is important to ensure that the soil in the plant’s tree trunk does not dry out.

Preparation of planting material and site

Before planting the plant in a permanent place, it is necessary to carefully inspect the planting material for mechanical damage. There should be no breaks or cuts on the seedlings - through these damages the spirea can be infected with a fungus.

In addition, it is recommended to lightly trim the roots of the plant if some of them stand out from the total mass. You can only use a sharp tool for this. When cutting with dull scissors or a knife, there is a high risk that creases will remain at the cut site. This greatly affects the survival rate of the plant in open ground.

If desired, you can also shorten the shoots of the seedling in order to adjust its shape, but pruning should be moderate. Branches are pruned only by 20-25%, no more.

Before planting spirea, the garden plot should be carefully dug up 10-15 days before. At the same time, organic fertilizers are added to the soil in moderate quantities.

Planting Japanese spirea Albiflora

The Albiflora variety is planted in the fall, before leaf fall ends. The landing algorithm looks like this:

Before planting in open ground, planting material is watered abundantly if it was previously in containers.
The recommended dimensions of the planting hole are 40-50 cm in depth and 50 cm in diameter. In many respects, you should focus on the size of the root system of the seedling - the roots should be freely located in the hole.
If the soil in the area is heavy and clayey, a drainage layer of broken bricks, small stones or fragments of clay shards is placed at the bottom of the pit.
After this, the hole is filled with soil mixture, which is usually prepared independently. To do this, you need to mix peat, fine-grained sand and topsoil from the site in equal proportions.
For better growth of spirea, you can add complex fertilizer to the pit (about 5 g per 1 kg of mixture).
The seedling is carefully lowered into the hole and the roots of the plant are straightened.
The hole is filled with earth and the tree trunk circle is lightly compacted.
Planting is completed with abundant watering, loosening the soil near the plant and mulching. This is done so that the soil retains moisture better after rains and waterings. Sawdust, dry grass, tree bark or wood chips can be used as mulch.

Important! Better survival rate can be achieved by treating the roots of the seedling with growth stimulants, such as Radifarm or Kornevin. This is done immediately before burial.

You can learn more about the peculiarities of planting the Japanese spirea variety Albiflora from the video below:

Watering and fertilizing

Japanese Spiraea Albiflora responds well to regular watering. This is especially true for young plants, since their roots have not yet developed sufficiently and are not able to provide the bush with the necessary amount of moisture from the lower layers of the soil. An adult spirea is watered approximately once a week.

In spring, plantings are fed with nitrogen fertilizers for a better set of green mass or with complex mineral fertilizers for garden crops. In autumn, potassium and phosphorus are added to the soil.

Trimming

Abundant flowering of spirea is ensured by annual pruning. The procedure involves moderate shortening of healthy shoots and removal of dried branches. Pruning old shoots stimulates the formation of young shoots.It is recommended to remove about ¼ of old branches annually.

Shrubs can be trimmed both in spring and autumn. After pruning, the plantings are generously fertilized with a solution of manure in a ratio of 1:6. Pour the mixture directly under the roots. After this, you can fertilize them with a superphosphate solution. The optimal dosage is approximately 8 g per 10 liters of water.

Preparing for winter

Despite the fact that Japanese spirea Albiflora is a cold-resistant variety, it is better to cover young seedlings for the winter, especially in regions with cold climates. They are prepared like this:

Before the onset of the first frost, the tree trunk circle is loosened and hilled, forming a hill about 15-20 cm high in the center.
The bushes are mulched with peat or compost.
The branches are tied and bent to the ground, laying them on leaves or burlap.
After this, the shoots are fixed to the ground with metal staples and covered with insulating material.

Reproduction

Japanese spirea of the Albiflora variety can be propagated either vegetatively or by seeds, but the first method is still preferable. Seed propagation requires a lot of time.

Vegetative methods include cuttings and layering.

The cuttings are prepared according to the following scheme:

On the bush, semi-lignified branches of the current year are selected and cut closer to the ground.
The resulting cut is further divided, resulting in cuttings about 10 cm long each. For propagation, you can use both the outer cuttings and the inner part of the shoot.
The bottom of the cuttings is cleared of leaves.
The lower cut is treated with a root growth stimulator, after which the cuttings are planted in containers.

After a year, the spirea can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Reproduction by layering is considered one of the easiest ways to propagate Albiflora spirea:

Before the leaves bloom, the side branch of the bush is bent and fixed in the ground.
During the season, the cuttings are watered regularly.
In the fall, the branch is finally separated from the mother bush and replanted.

Diseases and pests

Japanese spirea Albiflora practically does not get sick, but occasionally pests can affect plantings. These include:

spider mite;
rose leaf roller;
aphids

Among these insects, the most dangerous is the tick. The appearance of the pest is indicated by whitish spots on the leaves and thin cobwebs. If nothing is done, the spirea leaves will begin to turn yellow and crumble, and small holes will appear in the inflorescences.

In order to get rid of the tick, it is necessary to treat the bushes with insecticides. Preparations such as “Phosfamide” and “Karbofos” effectively control the pest.

In mid-summer, bushes can attract aphids, which nibble on the inflorescences and suck the juice from them. The drug “Pyrimor” is used against this pest, which also works well against leaf rollers.

Traditional methods of fighting insects include treating spirea with a solution of ash or laundry soap.

Conclusion

Japanese Spiraea Albiflora is a bush with abundant flowering, which is very easy to care for. The main advantage of the variety is the fact that it rarely gets sick and does not need shelter for the winter. In addition, it is distinguished by abundant flowering and remains decorative until late autumn.