Content
Purple willow Nana is a shrub plant that landscape designers are in the habit of decorating areas with. To prevent planting and caring for the crop from becoming a problem for the gardener, it would be appropriate to get to know the plant in more detail: learn about its place of growth, favorable climate, methods of reproduction and other important factors.
History of appearance
Science has described more than a hundred species of willows. Most of the plantings are located in Europe and North Africa, preferring wet meadows, coastal strips and forests.
But Salix purpurea nana (purple willow Nana) grows in mid-latitudes. The shrub can be found in many regions of Russia, where it is grown for decorative purposes. Willow belongs to the genus Salix. Sometimes purple Nana is called red or yellow, depending on the color of the plant.
Description of purple willow Nana
The willow has become famous for its thick, light purple shoots that encircle its trunk.It is often cultivated near cottages and government buildings. The foliage takes on a reddish tint in the fall when the branches become bare. If you look at the bush from the inside, you can see a completely different color, close to lemon.
Willow has narrow and slightly elongated foliage; it can be greenish, sometimes silvery or bluish
The shade does not reflect the health of the plant - any of the colors presented is characteristic of its normal state. Willow Nana loses chlorophyll in the fall, so the foliage turns yellow, deep gold or red.
The length of the buds is no more than 0.5 cm. They are very close to each other, so in order to recognize flower specimens, you have to carefully examine each branch. Light brown color is characteristic of deciduous buds, yellow – flowering buds.
For decorative purposes, the plant is grown on a trunk. By the end of February, it forms long catkins containing seeds inside.
Dimensions of purple willow Nana
The height of the purple willow Nana ranges from 120 to 160 cm. The crown itself is much larger; due to long branches and closely spaced leaves, its width reaches more than 190 cm. Purple Nana can hardly be called compact, but it is not a full-fledged tree. Annual growth is 25 cm upward and in width.
Winter hardiness of purple willow Nana
The shrub grows in mid-latitudes, so purple willow Nana naturally has good immunity to cold weather.In the first year, a shelter is built for the seedlings, then it becomes optional. So the purple willow Nana is adapted to winter.
Advantages and disadvantages
The culture has all the decorative qualities - interesting color, ease of pruning, early flowering. It is not picky about soil and grows everywhere.
Thanks to dense planting, the gardener can create a full-fledged hedge
Pros:
- drought resistance;
- frost resistance;
- short stature;
- branchiness.
Minuses:
- cannot be used for weaving.
Planting purple willow Nana
Purple willow Nana loves soil with humus, but can also grow in heavy, infertile soil. In the latter case, growth slows down and immunity decreases. That is why it is better to plant in a loose substrate located near a pond. Red willow Nana has high drought tolerance.
Willow is most often sold in containers. Developed specimens of purple willow Nana are more expensive, but produce results faster. To check the quality of the roots, you need to carefully remove the plant from the pot and notice whether the earthen lump crumbles. It shouldn't fall apart. They also check the curling of the roots of the purple willow Nana - twists make adaptation in open ground difficult.
You can purchase willow with an open root system, however, it is not a fact that purple Nana will take root easily. Root shoots may be overdried. After purchasing, you need to keep them in water.
Planting begins in early to mid-spring, when the snow has completely thawed and the ground has become soft.
There is no need to carry out additional excavation work - the globular willow Nana, as follows from the description, is undemanding.
But it is better not to neglect the processing of the seedlings themselves. 1.5 weeks before planting, they are left in a cool room in a glass of water. An open balcony or cellar is perfect. To create a hedge, the soil should be dug up and cleared of weeds.
When digging holes, they are guided by the size of the roots. The average size is 60 x 60 cm. If the soil is poorly drained, expanded clay, broken brick or river sand are placed on the bottom. Then apply complex fertilizer and dig in. This is done a month before planting.
By the time work begins, the fertilizer will have time to dissolve in the soil, saturating it with nutrients. When the purple willow Nana is buried, you need to water it abundantly and mulch the tree trunk circle.
Caring for purple willow Nana
Botanists recommend regularly loosening and mulching the soil with bark, which is also a top dressing. Its use eliminates the need to use other organic fertilizers.
Like other shrubs, Nana purple willow needs moisture. In hot summers, when evaporation of liquid occurs very intensely, moisturize every week. This is especially true for young seedlings, since adults can extract the necessary liquid from underground.
Pruning willow Nana
The diameter of the crown of the purple willow Nana is about 2 m. It can be given a more compact appearance by pruning. It is carried out annually - in the spring the branches are cut in the right direction to set growth.Thanks to this, not only spherical, but also cylindrical, pyramidal, round, and square shapes are possible.
During each season, attention is paid to dry branches and leaves, the appearance of which is undesirable, since the plant spends energy on their maintenance. Therefore, all “tired” shoots should be removed as they appear.
After flowering, the willow is also thinned out
Thus, you can prune the purple Nana willow twice a year. Regular pruning stimulates the growth of shoots, which is exactly what a gardener needs. Since young shoots look even more beautiful, the procedure remains useful in biological and decorative senses.
Reproduction
Willow is propagated by cuttings. The material is cut in the fall, when the growing season loses its strength. The cuttings are treated in a root formation stimulator and buried in a nutrient substrate. It must be kept moist at all times.
With the arrival of spring, purple Nana forms roots. But it’s too early to transplant it into the garden, so the gardener will have to be patient until October.
Diseases and pests
Willow can get rust. The disease manifests itself in the form of redness on the trunk, branches and leaves. In advanced cases, shoots die off. To keep the plant strong and attractive, spray it with a fungicide 2-3 times a season.
Weevils, caterpillars and aphids feed on leaf sap. Beetles and bark beetles feast on wood. Midges provoke the appearance of galls. Insecticides help control pests, the main thing is to follow the dosage.
Application
Purple willow Nana has one use - landscape. With its help, beautiful solitaires and group compositions are created.In some cases, the plant is planted as a hedge - a full-fledged green wall is obtained that protects the garden from the wind.
Willow Nana in landscape design
High decorativeness of the crown is possible only under favorable conditions. Low-growing crops make willow neighbors. They do not create shade or take up much of the water that the purple Nana needs.
The design contains many examples of crowns with different geometric shapes
Planting is done at an angle, and supports are used to support the branches. Lush willow can be used to cover unwanted areas - holes, poor finishes.
The plant is often surrounded by flowers.
Purple willow hedge Nana
The location for the fence is chosen in advance to properly prepare the area.
Keep a distance of 30 cm between plantings, so they will turn out dense and will be able to grow into a wall
At first, they use wire or tie the branches with rope, which, by the way, is more practical - in winter the rope does not freeze.
Conclusion
Purple willow Nana is a compact variety of the Willow family. High growth rate, low demands on soil, winter hardiness are its main qualities. The shrub also has good survival rate, which makes planting easy and accessible for beginners.
