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Ornamental plants are increasingly becoming not only guests of parks and city streets, but also settling in summer cottages, near residential private houses. A wide variety of plants and shrubs are used for complete landscape design. Photos and descriptions of spirea Vangutta captivate with their beauty and attract lovers of ornamental plants to plant such beauty on their site.
Description of Spirea Vangutta
A beautiful shrub of snow-white flowers that looks like a waterfall will undoubtedly gain a huge number of fans. More and more landscape design lovers are decorating their plots with this plant. A distinctive property of the shrub is that it grows very quickly. This allows you to give the site a beautiful appearance in a short time.Already during the first year, you can observe a spreading shrub with white flowers that cover the plant like a hat. Sometimes green leaves are not visible at all during flowering, and the white cap completely covers the bush. That is why it is popularly called “May snow”.
There is another name for this plant - meadowsweet. The shrub is better known in Russia under this name. The plant has been considered a cultivated plant since 1868.
The height of the bush is approximately 2 meters, the branches in the form of an arc bend towards the ground. Spiraea leaves are obovate-shaped with teeth along the edges. The leaf is approximately 3.5 cm long. The leaf is dark green on top and dull green on the inside.
The height and diameter of the crown of the spirea Vangutta
The crown diameter of the luxurious shrub, as well as its height, reaches two meters. The crown shape is spreading, cascading. From the outside, the shrub resembles a white, cascading waterfall with delicate white flowers. Some varieties can reach a height of 3 meters, but these varieties are usually classified as erect.
Blooming spirea Wangutta
The shrub is most beautiful during the flowering period. With proper care and compliance with agricultural practices, an ornamental plant can bloom twice a year. The first flowering lasts several weeks and begins from mid-June to early July. Early varieties begin flowering in May.
The second flowering is possible in August. But this flowering is not particularly magnificent, since the bush no longer has much strength, but in any case it turns out very beautiful. The white flowers of the shrub are located along the entire length of the shoot and are collected in inflorescences resembling halves of balls. From a distance, this ornamental plant appears completely white during the flowering period.
What is the difference between Grefsheim and Vangutta spirea
There are several varieties of decorative spirea, each of which is known for its advantages.
Spiraea Wangutta, in contrast to the hybrid gray spirea called Grefsheim, is a taller plant. Gray spirea Grefsheim has flowers up to 1 cm in diameter and with a yellow center. This variety begins to bloom earlier than Vangutta.
Differences between Spiraea Wangutta and Spiraea sulfur
Gray spirea gets its name from the ashy color of its leaves. From the outside, the bush looks ash-gray. The leaves have a pointed shape. The inflorescences of the gray variety are not spherical, but corymbose. They are also located along the entire length of the shoot. They are used more often when making bouquets. It is considered a winter-hardy variety and is not propagated by seeds, since it is a hybrid. The gray variety is propagated only by layering and one-year-old cuttings. It is also possible to divide the shrub when replanting.
Spiraea Vangutta in landscape design
Spiraea Vangutta is often used not only by professionals in landscape design, but also by novice amateurs. There are several options for using spreading shrubs to decorate the garden plot and the area around the house.
The most common use of the Wangutta spirea is as a hedge. Such a fence will prevent overly curious neighbors from seeing what is unnecessary and will decorate the area, giving it a chic, rich look.
There are other ways to use shrubs for decoration:
- instead of a weeping willow in the presence of an artificial reservoir;
- a hedge around the front of the house;
- like a single bush against the background of a green lawn;
- as a combination with other ornamental plants; goes well with conifers such as juniper, thuja, yew and spruce.
When used near a body of water, spirea shrubs look great next to rocks and artificial decorations. A shrub surrounded by various flowers also looks great.
If you combine a spreading shrub next to a tall tree, the composition will look luxurious.
In large areas, so-called single shrubs have long been used, when spirea is planted far apart from each other on the lawn. It turns out beautiful and monumental. Some varieties of spirea are excellently used in cascading compositions, since the crown itself resembles a falling line.
Varieties of spirea Wangutta
Spiraea Vangutta in landscape design in the photo looks completely different, depending on the variety. In total, more than a dozen varieties are known. They differ in size, life expectancy, timing and frequency of flowering. Each amateur chooses for himself the variety that is most suitable for a particular site.
Spiraea Wangutta Gold Fontaine
The peculiarity of this shrub is its spreading branches with yellow-green leaves. In autumn the foliage becomes completely yellow and the shrub area becomes colorful. This shrub grows well with sufficient sun. Only light shade is allowed for a short time. There are several more advantages of this shrub:
- unpretentious to soils;
- frost-resistant;
- It begins to bloom in May.
It is used mainly in hedges, as well as in compositions and as a single decoration of an area. Looks great near the water in combination with stone paths.
Spiraea Vangutta White
The most common ornamental shrub with white flowers. In autumn, the crown of the bush turns yellow.The maximum height is 2 meters, as is the diameter. It grows quickly, is undemanding to soil, and tolerates drought well. Like any spirea, it requires a sunny place and does not tolerate strong shade. In mid-autumn, fruits form on the bush.
Spiraea Wangutta Golden Fountain
Spiraea Vangutta Gold Fountain is another variety, with a slightly different appearance. It is a fast growing but erect plant. Grows up to four meters in height. The plant has narrow leaves of a dark green hue. The shrub is used as a hedge, as well as in compositions with other plants.
Spiraea Wangutta gold fountain, like other varieties, loves sunny places, but with partial shade. This allows the shrub to maintain a beautiful appearance for a long time, which is appreciated by lovers of landscape design. Any house will look rich if you plant the Golden Fountain shrub along the facade.
Spiraea Wangutta Pink Ice
This is a hybrid that is unpretentious and drought-resistant. The variety has variegated leaves and cream inflorescences. For solitary planting, this particular variety is considered the best variation.
Planting and caring for spirea Vangutta
Spirea Vangutta can be planted both in spring and autumn. In the fall, this is best done during leaf fall, and in the spring before the sap begins to flow. It is recommended to plant spirea with seedlings with a closed root system, but you must first properly prepare the area for planting.
Preparation of planting material and site
Spiraea Vangutta tolerates planting better in the fall, until mid-October. An area with dry sandy soil is suitable for planting. There the shrub will take root best and will delight you with its beauty.
Before planting, you need to place the seedlings in water for three hours. Dry roots and roots with signs of rot must be removed.
When preparing planting material, it is important to remove shoots that are too thin and long so that the plant can fully develop.
The planting location is chosen strictly in the sun, perhaps with a small amount of shade. It is necessary to dig a square hole under the seedling, which will be 20 cm larger than the root system of the seedling. Be sure to lay drainage made of pebbles or crushed stone at the bottom of the hole.
If you plan to grow a hedge, then the holes should be no more than a meter apart from each other. Then there will be no gaps in the fence.
Planting spirea Vangutta
Before planting, the seedling should be carefully examined and checked to see if all the roots are healthy and complete. All suspicious instances must be removed. The bush must be placed in a prepared hole and covered with earth. Composition of the soil: 2 parts turf soil, 1 part sand, 1 part peat.
The root system must be carefully sprinkled and mulched on top. Peat is used for this. After planting, the seedling is watered with two buckets of water. The water should be at room temperature or slightly warmer.
Watering and fertilizing
Watering shrubs does not seem difficult. The plant is quite drought-resistant and does not require any care. In any case, there are several rules for watering that should be followed so that the shrub will delight the owner with its luxury for a long time:
- water during hot and dry periods;
- the top layer of soil must be dry;
- Watering should be regular, but not excessive.
If there is excess moisture, this will negatively affect the flowering of the bush.
Feeding the plant also requires compliance with certain rules. The plant is unpretentious, and therefore it is enough to feed it once in the spring with complex fertilizer. Another feeding option is to add superphosphate to the nutrient mixture.
If you use granular fertilizer, it is absorbed more slowly, and the result of fertilizing will be expressed in riotous flowering the next year.
Pruning spirea Vangutta after flowering
Spiraea Vangutta needs pruning after flowering. In just a year, several pruning should be carried out: formative and sanitary. During sanitary pruning, diseased and frozen shoots are removed. Formative is carried out immediately after flowering and is designed to give the bush a normal shape that will please the owner. If you prune annually and monitor the appearance of the shrub, then the average lifespan of an ornamental plant is 20 years.
Pruning Vangutta spirea in the fall helps prepare the plant for winter and give it the desired shape.
Preparing spirea Vangutta for winter
A feature of this shrub is its frost resistance. The plant does not require special preparation for the winter, and it is not necessary to cover it. Winters are known when uncovered shrubs survived and withstood frosts down to -40 °C.
Experts advise covering shrubs only in those regions where frosts drop below -35–40 °C. These are the northern regions of the country. There it is necessary to cover the root zone of the bush with dry leaves, film and other insulation methods so that the bush can withstand the cold winter. If there are shoots that froze during the winter, be sure to cut them off in the spring so that the plant does not waste energy on painful shoots.
It is recommended to wrap very young seedlings only in the first winter so that they take root fully and are not damaged by frost.
Reproduction of the Spiraea Wangutta plant
Shrub propagation is carried out in three ways:
- cuttings;
- layering;
- seeds.
Cuttings must be carried out 14–16 days after flowering. Long, highly lignified shoots that are completely healthy are suitable as cuttings. To obtain roots, cuttings should be placed in a container where equal parts of peat and sand from the river are used as nutrient soil. The following year, the rooted cuttings can be planted.
Reproduction by layering is the simplest and most popular method, which is used everywhere even by novice gardeners. To do this, you will need the woody branch that is lowest to the ground. It should be placed in a special groove so that the top of the shoot sticks out a few centimeters. Attach the shoot to the ground with a metal pin and sprinkle it with soil with a fertile composition. Water the cuttings and cover them with leaves and film for winter. In the spring, a branch that has taken root should be carefully separated from the bush and transplanted to a permanent place assigned to it.
You can propagate spirea by dividing the main bush during transplantation. In this case, one large bush, when dug up, can be divided into several permanent strong plants. It is important that everywhere there are healthy and strong shoots that can take root in a new place. Separation should also be carried out carefully to minimize damage to the root system. Then the shrub will take root in the new place quickly and without problems.
Diseases and pests
The plant is also resistant to diseases and pests, but with improper care there are certain risks. For example, excessive waterlogging can lead to fungal infections. Systemic fungicides will help cope with such pathologies.
The main symptoms of diseases that you must pay attention to:
- spots on leaves;
- withering of branches;
- darkening of the bark.
In this case, it is better to cut off the diseased area and treat the cut with garden varnish.
As for pests, everything is also standard here:
- spider mite;
- aphid.
To combat, use any available means that can be sprayed on the bush. It is necessary to use medications strictly according to the instructions so that the dosage is sufficient for the result. You can also use folk remedies, for example, ash solution.
Conclusion
Photos and descriptions of Wangutta spirea can attract the attention of any gardener. This shrub can decorate the facade of a house, a lawn area, and serve as a fence from prying neighbors' eyes. The variety can be selected higher or lower, with different flowering periods, but in any case the main advantage is that the plant is unpretentious, drought-resistant, tolerates frost and does not require constant feeding. Even a novice gardener can grow such an ornamental shrub. Minimal knowledge is required, and the plant grows in record time.
