Thuja, like most conifers, is actively used for landscaping and decorating summer cottages, household plots, gardens, urban alleys and parks. It is undemanding to care, growing conditions, it is easy to plant it. There are 5 varieties of arborvitae and a large assortment of its varieties. An article is devoted to the description of one of them, namely Little Gem, as well as the peculiarities of planting and caring for this plant.

Features and description of the variety

Thuja western Little Gem (Little Jam) is a dwarf form. This shrub is small, in height does not exceed 90 cm. The shape of the crown in spherical plants is spherical, in adults it is flat-round, symmetrical. In mature shrubs, its width reaches 1.5 m. The branches grow up and to the sides. The needles are small, scaly. The peculiarity of the variety is that in spring, summer and autumn its crown is painted in rich green color, and in winter it turns brown.

Shrubs of the Little Pearl variety are appreciated because of these characteristics:

• high level of winter hardiness;
• unpretentiousness to the conditions of cultivation and care;
• durability;
• strong immunity;
• fast growth - 12–20 cm per year;
• year-round decorativeness.

Landscape design application

In landscape design, thuy Little Jam is usually used in group and single landings. It is well suited for an alpine slide, heather and Japanese garden. It is planted along walking paths near ponds. As a solitaire bush looks beautiful in mixborders, mixed flower beds.

It can be used to create low borders and hedges. The plant is suitable for container growing. It can be used in landscaping roofs, terraces, loggias.

Landing rules

Thuja will be able to grow and develop normally only if it is grown in favorable conditions. For her, you should choose a good place: it should be well-lit and most of the day be in the sun. It is allowed to grow thuja in partial shade. The site should be protected from drafts. It is not necessary to select a place where there is no close occurrence of groundwater. Thuja Little Jam is able to grow in areas where groundwater rises to the surface of the earth closer than 1 m.

Thuja grows well on light, well-drained soils, moist and fertile, with an acidity level reaching 5–6.5 pH. It is better to purchase seedlings in a container. Such planting material quickly adapts to open ground conditions. The day before it is planned to be planted, the soil in the container must be abundantly watered.

Thuja landing technology is as follows:

1. Dig a landing hole measuring 60–80 cm.
2. At the bottom, lay a drainage 15 cm high and sprinkle with a small layer of fertile soil.
3. The soil extracted when digging, connect with peat, sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1, as well as mineral fertilizers.
4. Remove the seedling from the container without destroying the earthen coma.
5. Put it in the center of the pit.
6. Fill the hole to the top with earth, trample.
7. Make a groove at some distance from the trunk along the entire diameter of the trunk circle, pour a bucket of water into it.
8. Mulch with bark or peat.

Important! When planting a thuja seedling, it will correctly position the root neck at ground level.

Care

In order for the thuja to maintain decorativeness and not be sick throughout the year, mandatory care measures should be taken. The tree must be watered and fed with fertilizers. You should also take care of the soil in the trunk circle. An important role in maintaining the beauty and health of the shrub is played by pruning and preventive procedures against diseases and harmful insects.

Watering and feeding

The newly planted plant should be watered at intervals of 1 time per week. As the rooting frequency of irrigation can be reduced, bringing up to two times a month. When scheduling humidifications, you should focus on weather conditions. It is important to ensure that the shrub is not in dry land for a long time.

To strengthen immunity, active growth and improve decorativeness, the plant should be fed. Of the fertilizers, universal ones are best suited, for example, Kemira-Universal (100-120 g / m²), or those specially designed for conifers. If, during planting, mineral mixtures were introduced into the pit, then the first top dressing should be done when the bush has been in the open ground for 2 years.

Important! Before the winter period, fertilizing is not worth it, as this will reduce the immunity of the plant and provoke the development of various diseases.

Loosening and weeding

After irrigation has been carried out or a day after precipitation, the soil in the near-stem circle must be loosened. Loosening is necessary so that the earth does not condense, and moisture and air flow well to the root system. The procedure should be carried out to a depth of 10 cm. You need to do this carefully, since in shrubs the root system lies in the surface soil layer.

It is important to monitor the cleanliness of the site. Weeds become carriers of pathogenic bacteria and harmful insects. They also take moisture and nutrients from thuja. For these reasons, they must be removed in a timely manner, uprooting. It is possible to reduce the number of moisture, loosening and weeding if the trunk circle is mulled. Pine bark or wood chips are used as mulch. They are laid in a layer 5–7 cm high.

Trimming and Shaping

The shrub does not need to specially form the crown: it grows of a beautiful shape under natural conditions. In the spring, sanitary pruning should be done. During it, you need to remove all dried, damaged, old, diseased, yellowed branches.

Pruning should be carried out with a sharp garden tool, previously disinfected. After the procedure, the traces of sections should be treated with an antiseptic, such as copper sulfate, and glossed over with garden var or the special RanNet drug.

Proper wintering

Thuja is a winter-hardy plant. Frosts can be dangerous only for young shrubs, so they should be covered for the winter. So that the snow does not damage the branches, they must be tightly tightened and tied around the trunk.

More frightening than low temperatures, for thuja are the first sun's rays in early spring. They are able to burn plants and lead to a significant decrease in their decorative effect. To protect shrubs from the sun, in February they need to be wrapped with kraft paper, agrofibre, spruce spruce branches or other materials that can prevent sun rays from entering the crown.

Summing up, we note that the thuja Little Gem is a very beautiful and original coniferous plant, which is suitable for creating various landscape compositions. If you plant it correctly and provide it with at least minimal care, it will delight you with its beauty for several decades.