Thuja Holmstrup - description and sizes

Thuja Holmstrup (the description of which is often referred to in landscape design) is one of the most picky and beautiful conifers that can be grown on the site. She is also loved by gardeners for her interesting cone shape. In addition, thuja can easily be grown independently.

Thuja Holmstrup (Holmstrup) western

Thuja western (Holmstrup Thuja Occidentalis) is increasingly used in landscape design. This shrub is quite easy to care for, it feels comfortable in the city and in the country. Universally in terms of design: suitable as a hedge, and decoration of a flowering flower bed.

Holmstrup Thuja Occidentalis

Description and dimensions

Thuja Holmstup (Holmstrup) is loved by gardeners for their appearance, rich color. This variety is an evergreen coniferous shrub bred specifically for cultivation on sites.

It grows quite high. Over 10 years of growth, the shrub can reach 1.5-2 m, and in diameter 55-65 cm. Each growth is from 14 cm, and the maximum size can reach 4 m (100-120 cm in girth).

Thuja Holmstrup hedge

Thuya Holmstrup should not be pruned often, but she needs proper care anyway. Pruning allows you to make the bush neat and dense.

Grade advantages:

• low growth rate;
• resistance to cold;
• universality.

How fast growing

Thuja Holmstrup is growing quite slowly. With proper care, its growth will increase by 10-14 cm every year. After 10 years, the site will be a 1.5-meter plant.

Landing and care

The planting of the conifer begins with the selection of a place for it. The shrub well tolerates a lack of light, but it is better to choose a more illuminated place for it. A prolonged absence of light negatively affects the plant: the needles deteriorate, turn pale and thin. Thuja loses its beautiful appearance.

Sufficiently lit garden area for thuja

An excellent place for planting shrubs will be a site that is protected from wind and drafts. If this is not possible, a small penumbra will do.

Then pick up the soil. The best option is loose and fertile. It should be sufficiently air and moisture permeable. If you grow conifers in "heavy" land, where moisture will linger, its roots are likely to rot.

You need to choose a thaw for landing carefully. It is best to buy it in trusted nurseries. Before you buy a seedling, pay attention to its appearance:

• the roots must be flexible and strong, without damage and obvious traces of pests;
• strong branches that should grow up;
• needles of saturated green color, do not crumble at the slightest touch.

Thuja is a rather unpretentious plant, but, nevertheless, requires minimal effort. Without it, the conifer will quickly lose its color, become painful and easily accessible to pests. Leaving implies standard measures, as for any other decorative tree or bush:

• watering mode;
• top dressing;
• weeding from weeds;
• pruning
• preparation for the cold.

Loosening the soil is necessary, because it saturates it with oxygen. This is done periodically, while caution should be exercised, since the root system of the arborvita is superficial, and deep loosening will damage it. You also need to eliminate weeds on time.

Trimming to shape is done once every 2 years. If diseased shoots appear on the plant, or the branches are damaged, they are eliminated immediately by conducting sanitary pruning.

How to plant

Landing is as follows:

1. Prepare the pit. It should be 10 cm larger than the container with the thuja. The standard size for comfortable growth is 60 × 60 × 80 cm.
2. Then, a drainage layer is made at the bottom.
3. Harvested soil pours out onto it. It can be a mixture of peat, ordinary land and sand. After it is abundantly watered and wait until the water is absorbed.
4. Thuja is pulled out of the container along with the soil on the roots, moved to the hole, while the neck is not deepened. Water should be watered again so that the soil in which the roots were also wet.
5. After planting, the ground near the shrub is compacted, thereby fixing the position.

Shrub planting pit

Watering mode

Thuja western Kholmstrup can tolerate dry periods, but it is better not to forget about regular watering. As a result of a lack of water, the thuja dries and dies, like any plant. One shrub requires 10 liters of water. Just a week, the soil needs to be moistened 1-2 times.

Top dressing

If the soil was fertilized during planting, then in the next couple of years, fertilizing is not necessary. When the conifer is already strong, two years later they begin to feed. This happens in spring and autumn. As a top dressing, use a special mixture for conifers. It is better to avoid those in which there is nitrogen, it harms the plant, making it dull and loose.

Features of summer care

If the summer turned out to be hot, it is recommended to water the melt more often than usual. During heavy rains, watering is not required. Care in the warm period is very simple: you just need to feed the plant in time (in spring), do not forget to moisten the soil when necessary, and remove damaged or diseased shoots.

Thuja preparing for winter

Thuja Holmstrup is a frost-resistant plant and is able to withstand temperatures up to −30 ° C. In regions with mild and cold winters, shelters are not required. Only young plants that have been planted not so long ago will need protection. For this, materials such as burlap and rope are used. The conifers wrap around and fasten the material so that there is free space for air. You can also apply mulch and cover it with a trunk at the base, this will help with melting snow and close access to rodents.

Shelter plants for the winter

Thuja Holmstrup breeding

Tuy Holmstrup can be grown with your own hands. There are two ways to do this: cuttings and seeds. Growing shrubs from seeds is used less frequently; it requires more effort and time.

For growing from seeds, you need thuja cones. They are harvested in the fall and laid out for drying. After drying, they open, so you can easily get the seeds. The resulting seed is wrapped in fabric and left until winter. It is not recommended to store them for a longer period, because the germination percentage will decrease.

After the snow falls, the fabric with seeds is buried in it until spring. If this is not possible, then a gardener will help out a refrigerator (temperature not higher than 4 ° C). In spring, hardened seeds are sown in furrows, observing a distance of about 14 cm. Plantings are watered and covered with mulch (peat, sawdust).

Propagation by cuttings

Cuttings are an easier way to grow Thuja Holstrup at home. How to do it right:

1. First you need to cut the shoots. This is done either in early spring or late autumn until the first frosts.
2. The shoots are cut with a sharp knife with a part from the trunk (a small heel). The length of the stem for further normal growth should be approximately 15 cm. Outgrowths from the bottom of the shoot are removed.
3. It is recommended to hold the branches in a root solution overnight. Only then they are planted in the soil mixture.
4. The soil mixture (consisting of peat, sand, garden soil) is heated in the oven or microwave. Then, cuttings are planted in it at a small angle of 20-30 °. Water and cover with a jar or a bottle, forming a small greenhouse. Warm soil will contribute to the greenhouse effect, it also needs to be moistened often, but not so much that moisture stagnation does not occur.
5. Be sure to have enough light. To do this, you can buy a phytolamp.

Thuja cuttings

Why thuja turns yellow

Thuja Holmstrup, based on the description, is unpretentious, but it can still suffer and lose its beauty for many reasons, one of which is insufficient care. Sometimes the causes of yellowing are natural - a change of season. In this case, by the beginning of the warm period, the conifer will regain its saturated color.

However, there are other reasons as a result of which the thuja changes its color:

• sunburn due to lack of water;
• lack of space for root growth;
• wrong soil;
• lack of top dressing or its low quality;
• the presence of pests: aphids, ticks.

Also, yellowing can occur due to diseases: fusarium, brown shute, etc. Insecticides will help from pests, and special preparations will help diseases: both are sold in flower shops.

Thuja Holmstrup is a great decoration for almost any garden. Due to its unpretentiousness and interesting shape (which can also be adjusted), it is one of the most frequently used in landscape design.

* Prices are for July 2019.