The plant from the legume family contains over 1300 species, among which there are not only trees, but also shrubs. Openwork foliage and beautiful fragrant melliferous flowers will decorate any site.
Acacia - shrub for the garden: description
All numerous types of acacia belong to the same genus, designated in Latin "Acacia". However, in gardens, plants are often grown, only resembling acacia, but belonging to completely different species, for example, to the genus Robinia. The great similarity of flowers and fruits, leaves has led people to get used to calling bushes and trees by the wrong name, which sometimes causes serious confusion.
Acacia blossom
Acacia is a tree or shrub that can reach a height of 12 m or more. Shrub forms of small height are often planted in the garden as ornaments: bristly-hairy (1-3 m), armed (up to 3 m), tree-like (4 m), magnificent (1.5-4 m), etc. Various types differ in shade and flower size, flowering times, climate and grooming requirements.
The origin and appearance of the plant
In the natural environment, most species of acacia grows in Africa, Australia and in Asia. About 50 decorative flowering species are grown in horticultural culture. A garden variety is selected according to indicators: resistance to low temperatures, exactingness to soil composition, watering needs. Different species require a completely different approach.
Most varieties of acacia are very spreading shrubs or small trees. All have feathery green foliage, and their flowers smell pleasant. The leaves on the branches grow alternately. On a long stalk there are many small leaves up to 1 cm in length. Many species are prickly with long sharp spikes, sometimes united in groups and having a curved shape. Most often they grow in arid places. Wood is hard and flexible.
Plant flower descriptions
Flowers for women and men are collected in axillary inflorescences in the form of a brush or panicle. Shades are different: white, cream, yellow. The cup is similar to a bell and consists of five petals, and a tubular nimbus consists of 4-5 blades. In the center of the flower are many prominent stamens.
For your information! Flowering acacia shrubs are valued for the beauty of flowering and unique aroma. At night, the flowers smell even stronger, attracting nocturnal pollinating insects.
The resulting fruit is a long pod, straight or curved, which, as it ripens, can open and scatter seeds or not. Seeds are different, but more often small flat.
Species and varieties
Among the many varieties of shrubby stocks in gardens, the following are enjoyed by gardeners.
Acacia Farnesiana (Acacia Farnesiana)
Shrub zoned for the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus in the 30s. XX century The average height is 2-4 m, but it can stretch up to 6 m. The bark is gray-brown in color, the shoots have a broken shape and barely noticeable pubescence. Paired leaves are divided into 2-8 branches, covered with 6-20 gray-green leaves 2.5-5 mm long. Stipules have sharp spikes with brown tips.
Acacia farnesiana
The variety is famous for its fragrant flowering. Orange or dark yellow flower with a diameter of 1 cm. Corollas of five fused petals pubescent. The fruit is a cylindrical bean, not expanding, inside 4-5 smooth dark brown seeds. It usually blooms in October-December, but in a garden culture a form is bloomed twice a year.
Acacia podalyrile (Acacia Podalyriifolia)
It can grow as a tree up to 5 m tall, but often forms a multi-stemmed sprawling bush of much lower height up to 3 m. The foliage has a beautiful silver-gray hue. It blooms in numerous fragrant light yellow flowers from January to April.
Acacia podalyriifolia
Note! It can be grown in arid southern areas, where in summer the temperature is maintained no higher than 25 ° C, and in winter does not drop below 10 ° C. The plant is suitable for indoor cultivation in the form of a bonsai.
Great Acacia (Acacia Spectabilis)
Shrub species 1.5-4 m high. Blossoms from July to November. Cirrus foliage has a greenish-silver tint. Fruits are large pods up to 17 cm long and up to 19 mm wide.
Acacia spectabilis
The flowers have an intense yellow color and a pleasant recognizable aroma. Growing conditions - the absence of frosty winters. The variety prefers lowering the temperature in the winter season to at least 8 ° C, and in summer withstands heat to 35 ° C and prolonged drought.
Acacia red (Acacia Oxycedrus)
The shrub got its name for beauty, but not a shade of flowers. Bushes grow up to 2 m in height. Flower heads have a pale yellow or more saturated hue, gather in groups of up to 3 pcs. Flowering lasts from July to October.
Acacia oxycedrus
Like most shrubby acacias, it does not tolerate even short-term frosts, but can do without rain and watering for a long time, since the root system is very powerful, goes to great depths.
Acacia yellow (shrub)
The exact name is Caragána Arboréscens, that is, it does not relate to the genus Acacia. In Russia, it also bears the second popular name - pea. The deciduous shrub consists of many trunks up to 15 cm thick. It reaches 6 m in height. A sprawling crown reaches 5 m in diameter.
For your information! In one place it can grow up to 60 years.
Caragána arboréscens
Yellow acacia: description, planting and care
It grows very fast. Annual growth in height reaches 50 cm, and in width - up to 30 cm. Yellow flowers are collected in clusters of 3-5 pcs. Foliage is green in spring and summer, and bright yellow in autumn. Fruits - pods up to 5 cm long. Blossoms from May to June.
Frost- and drought-resistant bushes can be planted in most of Russia: in the Urals, in Western Siberia, in the Far East, in the Sayan Mountains, in Altai. Needs care in the first years of life: watering, top dressing, and crown formation are important. In the future, it can grow without any human involvement. It is undemanding to the soil, but does not tolerate a high occurrence of groundwater. Planted in a permanent place in spring or autumn.
Use in landscape design
Not the most beautiful of existing cultures, this shrub is very much loved by gardeners for their unpretentiousness and vitality, beautiful fragrant flowering. It is planted in those corners of the garden where another plant can not stand drought, and the result - a lush bush - is guaranteed. Strong winds, scorching heat, saline soil Karagana nothing.
For your information! Bushes are often used to create hedges. They will serve as an excellent and reliable shelter for more delicate plants.
You can plant seeds and cuttings. The survival rate is excellent, it feels good in multi-row plantings. The effect on the soil is the most positive: enriches it with nitrogen, prevents erosion.
White acacia (shrub), or false-robinia
A fast-growing and forest-forming tree that can be shaped by a bush. It has long been cultivated as an ornamental plant, as well as in order to strengthen sandy soils and create windbreaks.
Robínia Pseudoacácia
Beautiful fragrant white flowers are collected in clusters of 3-5 pcs. It grows very quickly, especially in the first 10 years of life. In a year it gives an increase of up to 80 cm in height, and in width - up to 30 cm. A powerful root system helps to survive any drought. A tree cut to a stump gives a powerful shoot and root offspring. The first flowering occurs at the age of 6 years. Needs bright lighting. Withstands almost any, even saline soil, but prefers fertile and breathable.
Acacia planting
Acacia is planted in the spring. You can use seeds or cuttings. The survival rate is excellent, regardless of which site was chosen.
What you need for landing
It is important to stock up on planting stock. If we are talking about seeds, then they retain viability for only 2-3 years, after which seedlings will not appear from them. Cuttings are best bought in containers. In this case, success is 100% guaranteed.
Seat selection
All varieties of acacia are extremely photophilous, so any sunny area is suitable for them. Neighborhood does not matter if it does not create too much shading. But acacia feels best on higher ground, not constrained by other shrubs or trees.
Landing
Step-by-step process:
- Landing pit is prepared under the cuttings. Depth 50-80 cm, width 50 cm.
- A 10 cm layer of sand is added to the bottom as drainage.
- Establish a support to which the trunk will be tied in the first year until the final rooting.
- Lower the roots into the planting pit, straighten and fall asleep with loose fertile soil.
- Watered.
Important! The soil around the freshly planted acacia cannot be compacted, because it loves breathable soil.
Breeding
Various types of acacia can multiply not only by seeds and cuttings, but also by root offspring. The best time for planting is spring, but in regions with a mild climate, landing in September is quite acceptable. A fast-growing bush manages to take root before winter.
Propagation by cuttings
It is possible to root stem and root cuttings. Stem is cut in the spring from the middle of shoots with a length of 10 cm or more. The end of the stem is treated with a root stimulant. Planted in greenhouses and kept at a temperature of 22 ° C. The finished plant is planted in the fall in a permanent place.
Acacia planting
Root cuttings are obtained from adult plants. In spring, they dig them out and cut the root into chubuki 15 cm long and with a diameter of 5 mm or more. Rooted in sandy soil under a slope. Under favorable conditions, a young plant can be planted in open ground in the fall.
Important! The root neck is placed flush with the ground level.
Care
Acacia shrubbery is one of the most unpretentious plants. She needs care only in the first year or two of her life, and in the future she will only need attention to the crown: pruning and shaping. Nearby, do not plant flowers, especially bulbs. The strong roots of acacia do not like close proximity. It is not necessary to dig the soil deep in the trunk circles, only to loosen it slightly at the surface, removing weeds.
Watering mode
Adult plants are watered only when the drought lasts too long (2-3 months). In the rest of the time, the bush has enough natural rainfall. In the first year, young seedlings are watered as the soil dries to accelerate the rooting process. If in this area the rains are frequent (at least 1 time per week), then they completely refuse watering.
Top dressing
Immediately after planting, it is recommended to introduce nitroammophoska into the soil. 60-80 g of fertilizer is applied to each landing pit. The next time feeding will be required only after 3 years. To do this, take complex mineral fertilizer. Kemira wagon is suitable. Under each tree make 100-120 g of fertilizing.
Important! At any time of the year, it is recommended to bring mulch and ash into the trunk circles.
Features of care during the flowering period
Before blooming flowers in the soil around the bushes, it is recommended to introduce a complex mineral fertilizer, for example, nitroammophoska. To get lush flowering, emphasis is placed on enriching the soil with potassium. Normal wood ash also has a positive effect.
Features of spring care
With the advent of warm days, when the kidneys swell enough to make it clear which are alive and which are dried, they are pruning. It is important to completely remove all dried, diseased, wind-broken branches. If we are talking about hedges, then they perform forming pruning, giving the crown of the bushes the desired shape.
Preparing the plant for winter
Until the age of 3, every autumn young trees in the trunk circles are covered with a 10-centimeter layer of mulch. This measure protects the root system from hypothermia. If there is a risk of severe frosts, then the trunks (shtamb) are wrapped in several layers with burlap, and the crown is covered with non-woven material. Spend these events immediately after the leaves fall.
Acacia tree or shrub is a beautiful and very unpretentious plant. Bushes strewn with lush yellow or white flowers are a real decoration of the garden, attracting precious guests to it - bees. It is no coincidence that gardeners love her all over the world.
