For garden design, many want to use a beautiful and original plant. This is exactly what the thuja western Miriam is. This perennial shrub with an unusual coloring of needles does not require complicated maintenance and can become an impressive decoration of the landscape.
Thuya Miriam: description and sizes
Thuja western Miriam is widely known in Europe. This plant was obtained from the Danica variety.
Variety Miriam is an evergreen plant. It is a small shrub. The shape of the crown resembles a ball.
According to the description of Thuja Miriam, the needles of this plant are gentle and dense, in summer it has a golden green hue, in winter it acquires a greenish-orange color with a bronze tint. This shrub is actively used in landscape design.
Thuya Miriam
How fast growing
This plant grows slowly, the annual growth of shoots does not exceed 10 cm. The maximum height to which the western thuja Miriam grows, as it is also called in Russia, is 80 cm.
Planting and caring for Miriam thuja
This plant is unpretentious and does not require special care. However, if you do not provide him with suitable conditions for growth, then his appearance will become less spectacular.
How to plant Tui Miriam
When landing thuja western Miriam, it is recommended to choose a place well-lit by the sun. It is allowed to plant a shrub with light shading, however, it should be insignificant, otherwise the thuja will grow poorly, while the crown will become loose and the needles more dull.
Important! It is undesirable for the shrub to be exposed to regular strong winds.
Although the plant is unpretentious when choosing soil, nevertheless, if it is from useful components, then this will help Miriam thuja to develop better. It is recommended to use well breathable, loose, moderately moist, slightly acidic soil. The use of wetlands is not allowed, as this can cause rotting of the roots.
Thuja can easily tolerate a slight increase in moisture or dry soil. A suitable level of acidity should be 4.5-5.5 pH.
Note! When planting, you must observe the distance between the seedlings: they must be at a distance of at least 60 cm from each other.
Thuja Miriam is able to easily withstand winter conditions. It freely tolerates frost, which does not exceed −34 ° С. Therefore, it can be grown, for example, in the suburbs.
Tui Miriam is planted in May or September. Clay or peaty soil is well suited for it. You can prepare a suitable primer yourself. This will require:
- one piece of sand;
- two parts of turf or leaf land;
- one part of peat.
Before use, this composition must be stirred.
When planting a seedling in the soil make top dressing in the form of a complex mineral fertilizer or nitroammofoski. In the first case, for each liter of soil it is necessary to take 5 g, and in the second - for each plant it will be necessary to use 100 g of the composition.
If landing was carried out on a site where groundwater is located close to the surface, it is necessary to provide a drainage layer. To make it, beaten brick, gravel or expanded clay is laid at the bottom of the pit for a seedling.
Mulching soil around a shrub
It is recommended to dig holes for seedlings (60-80 cm deep) two weeks before planting. The volume should be such that the root system of the plant is placed along with a lump of earth. After planting a seedling, it must be watered, and the trunk circle should be mulched. This can be done with peat or wood chips.
Note! When planting, you need to make sure that the root neck of the seedling is at ground level.
Watering mode
Immediately after planting, you must regularly water the plant. This should be done in normal weather at least once every seven days. Each seedling will require approximately a bucket of water. If the weather is hot, it is recommended to double the frequency of watering. In this case, each time it will be necessary to use two buckets of water.
When caring for an adult plant, the need for watering arises provided that the upper 2 cm of soil is completely dry.
Mulching of the soil will also be required. This will allow the soil to retain moisture longer after watering. To achieve this, you need to sprinkle the earth around the bush with dry compost, peat or bark.
To support the development of Tui Miriam, it will be useful to spray with any stimulating solution. In this capacity, for example, epin can be used. Dilute one ampoule in 5 liters of water. If zircon is used, then for each bucket of water you need to take 1 ml of the substance.
Top dressing
The plant must be fed during the spring. From the beginning of April to the end of May it is worth giving the Miriam thuja any of the complex fertilizers. In particular, for this purpose, nitroammophosk can be used (it is enough to take 30-40 g of fertilizer per 1 m²). If you use Kemir-universal, then it will take 50-60 g to the same area
It is also necessary to perform autumn top dressing. To do this, use potash fertilizers.
Important! For thuja Miriam, you can not use manure, humus, and urea, since they can cause irreparable harm to the bush.
Features of summer care
Weeds must be weeded regularly. It is recommended that the earth is periodically loosened to a depth of 8 cm.
When watering, it is important to moisten not only the soil, but also the crown. This is due to the fact that from there the liquid evaporates especially quickly.
Preparing Tui Miriam for the winter
Before the onset of the winter period, it is necessary to mulch. To do this, use mowed grass, peat, bark.
The bushes are pulled together with tape or twine. To protect against frost, it is worth covering Miriam's thawed fir spruce branches. As a covering material, you can use a film that will help protect the bush from wet snow.
Breeding Thuya Miriam
This plant can be propagated:
- by seeds;
- layering;
- twigs;
- cuttings.
Thuja cuttings
The latter option is used most often.
Propagation by cuttings
To use the cuttings, you must do the following:
- In July-August, raw material is harvested. To do this, cut semi-lignified cuttings. It is worthwhile to ensure that their size does not exceed 40 cm, and for young shoots - 20 cm. You need to cut along with the heel.
- The lower leaves of the cuttings are torn off and moistened in a growth stimulator (for example, in epin), then their ends are placed in a wet mixture of sand and peat.
- Landing is performed at an angle of 60 °. Cuttings are buried by 2-3 cm. They are covered with a film. The best temperature for their development is 23 ° C.
- Seedlings should be regularly ventilated. As the soil dries, add water. It is best to water using a spray gun.
When the root system develops and strengthens, the cuttings will be ready for planting in open ground.
Why does Thuja Miriam turn yellow
If the foliage begins to turn yellow, then there may be several possible reasons:
- if the thuja Miriam does not receive iron in sufficient quantities, then as a result, yellow, brown or brown spots may appear on the foliage;
- with excess or lack of sunlight;
- if too moist soil or insufficient watering;
- sometimes the thuja Miriam grows too thick. This can also lead to a change in its color. In this case, the lower branches of the shrub turn yellow, as well as those that come in contact with other plants.
Design application
When yellow spots appear on the leaves, you need to establish the cause and eliminate it. However, sometimes this appears when a tree sheds old needles. This does not happen every year. Usually the interval is 3-6 years. In this case, yellowing does not indicate the presence of any problems.
Thuja Mirjam - dwarf shrub with a crown in the shape of a ball and unique color leaves. Its cultivation does not require much effort and at the same time allows you to get a beautiful, original and stylish plant on the site.
