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The Canadian spruce Konica is very much loved by landscape designers and quietly hated by conscientious gardeners. This is a very beautiful coniferous tree - miniature, with a dense crown of regular shape and small greenish-blue needles. Photos of Konika spruce in landscape design show that it can fit into any garden, and even be planted in a flower bed.
But caring for the plant is difficult. However, this applies to all miniature Canadian spruce trees. If the tree is not placed correctly on the site, it will quickly lose its decorative effect. Even regular and conscientious care cannot save the situation.
Pros and cons of Glauka spruce in landscape design
If you perceive Konica only as a decorative element, the tree has no disadvantages at all. When it comes to care, problems arise that some owners are not ready to deal with. When planting a dwarf Canadian spruce on a site, you need to weigh all the pros and cons and answer the questions:
- who will look after the plants;
- how much care can be provided to Konica;
- are the inhabitants of the house ready to take on all the work themselves or will they use the services of a gardener;
- what qualifications of a specialist can the owners afford to hire;
- how much time he should spend on the site;
- how much he will be paid;
- Do the owners agree to the use of chemicals on the site or do they prefer to use folk remedies (which, by the way, are not always as harmless as is commonly believed).
These are just some of the questions; more will arise as we go along. So: if the Canadian spruce Konica grows in the garden, you need to be prepared:
- to careful garden care;
- you will have to work even on a tiny plot several times a week, in the summer – every day (sprinkling);
- in order to do without a qualified specialist, whose services are not cheap, you will have to study the literature on your own, communicate on forums - problems constantly arise with Canadian spruce trees in Russia;
- if a gardener will take care of the plants, you need to hire a competent, qualified one - the kind aunt from the neighboring house who needs money simply cannot cope with the job due to lack of knowledge, and she may simply ruin Konika;
- repeatedly use preparations of chemical origin on the site;
- Cleaning Konik in spring and summer is not only an unpleasant job, but also harmful.
It is better not to plant dwarf Canadian spruce trees on your property without careful and certainly competent care. If time or health does not allow, you need to invite a specialist. There are no funds (a qualified gardener is not only expensive, you also need to find one) - you should think about planting other plants.
Among the undoubted advantages of Konica it should be noted:
- the beauty of the plant;
- slow growth;
- small size, which allows the use of blue spruce in the landscape design of any site;
- Konica does not require formative pruning;
- high frost resistance of the variety.
To the problems listed above you can add:
- difficulty of care;
- Konica is prone to burning in summer and early spring;
- dwarf Canadian spruce trees should be placed on the site so that they are covered from the sun on the south side, or are completely in partial shade;
- the need for chemical treatments.
In addition, over time, Konika grows not so small; even in Russia it can reach 3 m by the age of 30. The tree will have to be replanted if it was originally located in a small flower bed.
Using Konica spruce in landscape design
Landscape design styles come and go. Today the name chor-bakh is known to few people; meanwhile, the geometrically correct gardens of ancient Persia and India were symbols of paradise. Not so long ago, a new direction in landscape design appeared - high-tech. Time will tell how long it will last.
Listing all the styles of landscape design is a thankless task. Today they are at the peak of popularity, and tomorrow they will be forgotten. Meanwhile, they can be divided into three areas:
- regular or formal style, characterized by artificiality and geometric precision of compositions, here individual components are often arranged symmetrically to each other;
- landscape or informal design, which is characterized by the formation of a site in a spirit that creates the illusion of naturalness and naturalness;
- eclecticism – mixed style.
Using Konica in a regular style
It seems that the Canadian Konica spruce was created by nature for gardens in a formal style. Landscape designers willingly use wood in regular plantings.Thanks to its shape, Konica looks good in complex geometric compositions. If over time the clear lines of the crown of Canadian spruce become somewhat distorted, the matter can be easily corrected by pruning - the crop tolerates spring pruning well.
Koniks are also planted in the form of an alley, as a frame for the parterre lawn, on both sides at the entrance to the gazebo or terrace. It is used as a repeating element in parterres, front gardens and ridges.
Photo of glauka spruce in landscape design, made in a regular style
Konica in landscape style
Only an experienced landscape designer can fit the Canadian Konica spruce into an informal style. Well, it doesn’t even create the illusion of naturalness in Russian landscapes. Perhaps, with a little imagination, Konica can be planted on a plot made in a country style, creating the illusion of a piece of North America.
In any case, dwarf Canada spruce trees should be used carefully in the landscape garden. If the composition is poorly constructed, Konika may look ridiculous there.
Konica in eclecticism
Mixing styles gives a lot of room for imagination. Designers willingly use Konica to create various compositions to highlight the beauty of surrounding plants, or making it the center of a landscape group.
In eclecticism, the main thing is a sense of proportion and precise calculation. Otherwise, on the site you can end up with a pile of plants that are beautiful individually, but together create the impression of chaos.
Konika in flower beds
In landscape design, flower beds decorate the front entrance to the house, recreation area and reception area. They are often used simply to decorate the area, planted against the backdrop of a lawn or tree groups.Konica can act as a central element around which a flower bed is formed, or be part of a composition, for example, in a rock garden or in a garden with other dwarf conifers.
Canadian spruce, although it grows slowly, will eventually reach a height of 2-3 m, and it will have to be removed from the flower garden, or the layout of the garden will have to be changed. Fortunately, now most landscape projects are initially done as self-development projects. This means that plants can be replanted, moved from place to place, etc.
But adult Koniks do not like transplants. It is better to immediately plan that the flower garden will “move” to a new location over time. And around the Canadian spruce, for example, a small landscape group will be formed, consisting of medium-sized trees and shrubs.
The color of the needles and the shape of the crown of Konika allows it to be combined with flowers of any shape and color. It is important to place them so that the crops do not compete with each other for the attention of site owners or guests. To do this, you must first determine whether Konica will be a focal plant, or just a background for flowers and ornamental shrubs. And based on this, build a landscape composition.
Photo of a gray Konika spruce in a landscape design in a flowerbed
Features of care
All the intricacies of growing Konica were discussed in detail in the article:
https://mygarden-en.desigusxpro.com/sad-i-ogorod/derevo/el-belaya-konika-glaukonika.html.
In short, the list of procedures necessary for care is as follows:
- In spring and autumn - mandatory preventive treatment of Konica with copper-containing preparations.
- Since the end of February, Canadian spruce has been protected from sunburn - at this time, the needles are actively evaporating moisture, and the roots cannot replenish it.In summer, the south side of the tree should be covered with other plants or buildings.
- Konica's crown is cleaned twice at the beginning of the season and once in the fall.
- Regular watering throughout the season. The soil should be moist, but without stagnant water.
- In summer - daily sprinkling of the crown.
- Loosening the soil - the first two years after planting. Then it is replaced by mulching with acidic peat or pine bark.
- Only Konika needs shelter for the winter in the year of planting. Then it is enough to mulch the tree trunk circle.
- Fertilizer - at least twice a season with special fertilizers for coniferous plants.
- Konica requires regular treatment of the crown with a complex of chelates with the addition of epin and magnesium sulfate. If the Canadian spruce grows in the sun, they are done every 2 weeks.
- Once every 7 days, Konika should be inspected with a magnifying glass to identify pests and signs of disease.
Gardening tips
When using Konica in landscape design, one should not forget that it requires careful care. This must be taken into account when designing the site. Here are some recommendations:
- The conic needs to be planted so that it can be accessed. Sprinkling and crown treatments are carried out throughout the season. To do this correctly, and not just wet the needles, the branches of Konika are carefully spread to the sides with your hands. It is impossible to do this from a distance, and you should not break or trample the plants surrounding Konica. In addition, the crown of Canadian spruce is cleaned at least three times a season. This will take a lot of time. It is better to clean Konica while sitting, and you also need a place to put a stool.
- Crops growing next to Canadian spruce must have the same requirements for soil composition and watering, and respond favorably to sprinkling of the aboveground part. You can adjust soil moisture by drip irrigation. If this is not possible, a border strip should be dug around the moisture-loving plant, the upper edge of which should protrude above the surface of the soil. Mask it with mulch or unpretentious ground covers. In this way, Konica and hydrangea, which require frequent watering, can coexist safely.
- If there are few conifers on the site, it is irrational to buy a whole pack of special fertilizers for one or two plants. They can be successfully replaced with high-quality lawn fertilizer.
- Magnesium, which is added to the Konica spray bottle, should not be used on plants with variegated needles or leaves. Light colors will fade when used. But the lawn will respond favorably to such treatment - the color of the grass will become bright and saturated.
Conclusion
Photos of Konica spruce in landscape design always look attractive. But you shouldn’t plant it just anywhere. It is better to invite a competent landscape designer to draw up a project, who will give recommendations not only on the placement of plants, but also draw up a maintenance schedule.
