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Spiraea Little Princess is one of the popular plants used in landscape design. The species is believed to be Japanese, as reflected in its name, but its exact origin is unknown. The plant is very decorative: it has thick leaves and inflorescences; The color of the leaves lasts until the end of October.
Spiraea is unpretentious in care, tolerates drought well, and can grow in both sun and partial shade. This article provides a photo and description of the Little Princess spirea and how to use it in landscape design.
Description of Spiraea Little Princess
The plant is a typical representative of deciduous ornamental plants of the Rosaceae family. The name of the species comes from the Greek word “spiral”, the shape of which is the shoots and inflorescences of spirea.
The height of the Little Princess spirea ranges from 15 cm to 60 cm, rare specimens reach a height of 120 cm. This perennial plant (life expectancy is 25-30 years) has a very low growth rate, no more than 10-15 cm per season, especially in first years of life.
The shrub has a shallow fibrous root system. Its leaves are decorative: during the flowering period their color is emerald green, and by the beginning of autumn they change color to orange-red. The leaves themselves are alternate, with short stalks. Their shape is lanceolate, with small teeth along the edges. The size of the leaves can reach up to 8 cm, but most of them are no more than 3.5 cm in length. The crown of spirea is round and dense.
Numerous flowers of Little Princess spirea are collected in close corymbose inflorescences. The buds themselves are small and located exclusively at the ends of the branches. The color is predominantly purple-pink.
The flowering period is from June to September with the constant formation of new flowers. After flowering ends, fruits appear at the ends of the branches, the appearance of which is not very aesthetically pleasing. They are cut off so that they do not spoil the decorative appearance of the plant, which the beautiful spirea leaves produce in the autumn. Japanese spirea Little Princess blooms starting from the third year of life.
Spiraea Little Princess in landscape design
Since all periods of active life of the Little Princess spirea during the summer season are accompanied by the bright colors of flowers and leaves, it is widely used in landscape design.
Starting in mid-spring, the Little Princess spirea begins a month and a half growing season, when the entire bush is covered with soft green leaves.
It is replaced by a flowering period (early June).Despite the fact that the inflorescences appear only at the ends of the shoots, their density is so high that the leaves are practically invisible, and the entire bush is a beautiful pink mound of flowers.
With the end of the flowering period (beginning of September), leaves with a yellow-red or orange-red hue begin to play the main role in decorativeness, remaining almost unchanged for about 2 months.
What the Little Princess spirea looks like in landscape design can be seen in the photo.
Spiraea hedge Little Princess
A hedge made from Little Princess spirea is a fairly cheap and at the same time very beautiful solution. Its height will not be too great, but properly designed bushes are dense enough to protect the area from animals.
It is also worth pointing out that Little Princess spirea can be grown in any type of soil, so choosing a location for the fence should not be a problem. In addition, the straight stems of this variety (unlike the cascading varieties of spirea) are perfect for a hedge without special methods of forming a bush. We can say that Japanese spirea, when planted as a hedge, does not need formative pruning at all.
The only drawback to using Japanese spirea as a hedge material is its low growth rate. If you take very young seedlings, the process of forming a hedge can take about 10 years. At the same time, do not forget that spirea does not bloom in the first 3 years of life. To speed up the formation of a hedge, it is advisable to buy mature bushes 4-6 years old.
Border from spirea Little Princess
The height of the Little Princess spirea allows it to be used as a border plant, especially in the first years of life.Spirea bushes already at a young age are sufficiently dense and can be used as a border.
Such borders can not only be used along paths, but also “knock out” large groups of trees and shrubs, act as demarcation plants in vegetable gardens, be used as the perimeter of alpine hills, and so on.
Best of all, in the “border” design, Japanese spirea Little Princess is combined with coniferous crops: thuja, juniper, spruce.
Planting and caring for spirea Little Princess
The plant itself is quite unpretentious, so caring for it is easy. Perennials, with rare exceptions, are quite tenacious plants. To bring them not only to death, but even to a bad appearance, you should seriously “try.”
However, even when growing them, one should not forget about the basic features of caring for bushes of this type, especially those with dense foliage.
This should not be done, since such actions will lead to a significant increase in a large amount of green mass, and the first flowering may not occur in the third year, but much later.
Next, the issues of planting and caring for the Japanese Little Princess spirea are discussed in more detail.
Preparation of planting material and site
Little Princess spirea is planted in the spring, starting in mid-April or early May. The selection of seedlings is made according to the following method: it is necessary to take only those specimens that have a bare stem with buds, preferably without leaves.The roots of the seedlings should be moist, without rot or dried areas. Good quality seedlings have noticeable flexibility.
Preliminary preparation of seedlings consists of shortening too long roots and removing the ends of shoots located above 3-4 cm relative to the last bud on them. Immediately before planting, the seedlings are soaked in liquid for a day and then washed with running water.
A sunny site for spirea is preferable, but this is not critical. The plant tolerates partial shade well. The root system is located close to the surface, so the groundwater level at the planting site is not critical.
The soil on the site can be anything, even slightly rocky, but Japanese spirea Little Princess grows best in moist and loose soils of weak acidity. The ideal soil is the so-called “leaf soil”.
Planting spirea Little Princess
To plant the plant, dig a hole with steep walls. The volume of the hole should be approximately 3-4 times greater than the volume limited by the root system. The hole must be dug 2-3 days before planting and it must simply “stand” open all this time.
Drainage is laid at its bottom in one layer of broken brick or expanded clay. The soil for planting can be used as follows:
- 4 parts leaf soil;
- 1 part peat;
- 1 part river sand.
Planting is done on a cloudy or rainy day, with the plant placed in a hole and sprinkled to the level of the root collar. After which the soil is compacted and watered abundantly.
Planting is completed by mulching the soil to a diameter of 30 cm from the center of the bush using peat.
Watering and fertilizing
The plant needs abundant watering only during transplantation and in the first years of life.Plants older than 2-3 years only need to lightly moisten the soil once a week. Naturally, during periods of drought, watering should be more abundant.
The root system, located close to the soil surface, can quickly begin to rot with heavy watering.
Feeding is done 2 times per season. The first is carried out after spring sanitary pruning; it includes mineral fertilizers, standard for ornamental perennials.
The second is done during the flowering period; it includes the use of organic fertilizers (for example, mullein in a concentration of 1 to 10).
Pruning spirea Little Princess in autumn
Caring for the Little Princess spirea involves pruning it, usually done at the beginning of the season. This is a standard procedure consisting of sanitary pruning and removal of too old shoots that interfere with the active growth of the bush.
In autumn, only pruning of the plant’s fruits is done, since they spoil its appearance and take away additional resources from it. This pruning is carried out in July-September as the fruits appear.
More mature bushes, older than 10-15 years, are recommended to be pruned every 4-5 years to a height of 20-50 cm relative to the soil level. In this case, 3-4 buds should be left on them. If after such a procedure the bush does not grow abundantly within 1-2 seasons, it is replaced.
Preparing for winter
In temperate climates, Little Princess spirea does not need to be prepared for winter. If harsh winters are ahead, it is enough to cover the bushes in the fall with a thick (up to 30-50 cm) layer of fallen leaves.
Reproduction of Japanese spirea Little Princess
The plant is propagated by dividing the bush, and is best done in the autumn. Planting of young plants should be carried out before the end of leaf fall. In this case, it is allowed to divide bushes that are at least 4-5 years old, that is, those that have already bloomed.
They also practice the propagation of Little Princess spirea using cuttings and layering, however, these methods are too labor-intensive and their efficiency is significantly lower than the division of the bush discussed earlier.
Diseases and pests
The plant is practically not susceptible to diseases, so it does not even require any preventive treatment. The only thing that can threaten it is an invasion of aphids or spider mites. In both cases, you should immediately use a product that gives a guaranteed result: some powerful insecticide or acaricide (for example, Actellik).
Conclusion
Spiraea Little Princess is a beautiful ornamental plant that has simple growing and care conditions. This lower-tier perennial is perfect for forming hedges and borders and retains its decorative properties throughout the warm season.
