Garden azalea - all the subtleties of grooming and growing rhododendron

The bright flowers of the garden azalea compensate for the unprepossessing appearance of its leaves. But the flowering bush will become an ornament of any garden filled with other plants. It can be grown not only in indoor conditions, but also in the open ground. Not all kinds of flowers are suitable for garden cultivation, so it is important to be able to make the right choice.

Garden azalea - description

According to the modern classification of ornamental plants, they are called rhododendrons. In this family besides azaleas enter: ledum , ledebur and kashkara. Azalea in the garden differs from them with the following features:

1. It is common in the southern, temperate and northern climates. Rhododendron Daurian, for example, can grow exclusively in cold regions.
2. The height of the plant is not limited to selection, as in many other species. Azalea can reach as much as 30 cm, and 80 cm in height. The diameter of the calyx varies from 2 cm to 20 cm.
3. Saplings of garden azalea can grow in moist soil. After being in the water-filled ground for at least a week they will not give a single flower.

What does azalea garden look like?

This species grows in flower beds in the form of large or small creeping shrubs. The appearance of any of them can not be called very decorative, but it is compensated by the richness of the colors of flowers. The bush of the classic garden azalea has such appearance:

1. Elegant shoots can be covered with scales, but they remain fragile at the slightest damage.
2. The sprouts of the varieties of each of the existing species are covered with a thin light crust.
3. In traditional varieties, leaves should be oval in shape, in hybrids it can be round or carved.
4. Growing a garden azalea can both singly and in groups.
5. There are both monochromatic inflorescences, and variegated with a simple, double or fimbriated form of petals.

When does the garden azalea blossom?

Due to the capricious nature of the plant, flower growers often do not wait for it to bloom on time. The appearance of the ovary is one of the most pressing issues, the answer to which is of interest to any flower bed owner with rhododendrons. You can find it by focusing on the timing of flowering of the garden australia:

• early varieties are covered with flowers in May-June;
• Middle late blooms to the period from January to March;
• the late ovary becomes visible by March-April.

Varieties of garden azaleas

Most types of ornamental flowers are distinguished by several varieties. Gardeners know more than 350 species of rhododendrons - they are considered one of the most common. All derived azaleas can be divided into two groups:

1. Evergreen. These are low shrubs with spreading paws and high resistance to frost. The second name of this species is azalea Japanese garden. This name is due to the fact that in Japan the plant is considered a national symbol and is equated with sakura. In nature, they occur more often than annuals and each fall they can be transplanted into pots and left for winter in indoor conditions.
2. Azalea is an annual one for a garden. Compact or tall shrubs with small leaves and shoots, covered with flat hairs of brown or bard color. Flowers funnel-shaped form fade closer to the fall and fall along with the leaves.

Garden azalea deciduous

The first hybrid species of deciduous rhododendron were removed in 1917 in Russia by ELRegel. They were obtained by direct crossing of wild Japanese flowers and Dutch garden rhododendrons. Leafy azaleas in the garden can be one of several types:

• Purpundssen with blood-red flowers;
• Rosinetta with cream-like petals resembling a rose;
• Fridoline with flowers of a wine shade;
• Eisprinzessin with white terry inflorescences.

Evergreen garden azalea

The evergreen or winter-hardened rhododendron is divided into two types: one of them is called "Kurme", and the other is "dejka". The garden frost-hard azaleas of the Kurma are poisonous: their leaves are harmful to animals and humans. The poison that is contained in them is called the diterpen - it is capable of paralyzing the nervous system and respiratory processes. Dikes are considered safe plants that need simple care. Among attractive varieties of frost-resistant plants, it is worth paying attention to:

• Goldtopas with a squat tree and yellow-orange flowers;
• Raimunde with pink petals, like lilies;
• Sunte Nectarine with apricot flowers and open corollas;
• Feuerwerk with powerful growth.

Azalea garden - growing

The responsible gardener controls the development of the stem from the moment of its planting in the ground to the shelter for the wintering. The more you pay attention to the rhododendron at the landing stage, the more successful it will be. Flowers of azaleas in the garden are planted through reproduction by seeds, cuttings of bushes, by usual division and grafting. For planting in a temperate and warm climate, April, May, September and November are more suitable.

How to plant a garden azalea?

Rhododendrons have a simple and weak root system, so when planting it is so important not to damage the earth litter if seeds are not used. The answer to the question of how to plant azalea in the garden involves several stages:

1. Choice of a landing site. The soil should not be heavy or clay, is in the windy part of the flower bed, under direct sunlight or near a pond.
2. Calculation of the distance between the bushes. Branches of one plant should not interfere with the other.
3. Plots of land, prepared for digging holes, are spilled, the bushes themselves are also sprinkled with water. When dry weather, the com is immersed for a few minutes in a bucket of water.
4. Pit, which planted in the future plant, should be wider than the earth coma in 2 times.
5. Azalea with roots is placed in a pit and sprinkled with earth, delicately primed it. Large clods of soil trunk of the plant obkladyvayut to protect it from breakage. If necessary, further strengthen the rhododendron pegs.

Azalea garden - propagation by cuttings

Leafy azalea is advised to propagate by cuttings. Decide whether to replace seeds with sprouts, is already in July, because harvesting is done in advance. Before the plant will lay the buds of the next year, the tops with cuttings are cut with 3-4 leaves. Planting azalea garden should take into account some points:

1. The lower tips of each cut are immersed in a solution of heteroauxin, the root stimulant.
2. After extraction, they are rooted in a mixture of loose soil and sand in a ratio of 3: 1.
3. In the cold season, the pots are set to lower heat.
4. Rooting is a slow process, so do not worry about the state of shoots during the first month. The plant looks frail, but will grow stronger and give new leaves.

How to care for a garden azalea?

The adult plant is too capricious to dispense with the gardener's attention. The list of necessary manipulations for the flower depends on the place of its growth: in room conditions, for example, it does not frighten the cold and uncontrolled humidity. The conditions of the greenhouse are also optimal for it, if a temperature sensor is installed in it. Heather flowers, garden azalea to which refers, require a special mechanism of care:

1. Watering should not be repeated more than once every three weeks, even in dry weather.
2. After the plant is strong, acidified water is used to irrigate the land. Garden azalea reacts with good flowering to the addition of citric acid or fresh lemon juice.
3. With a persistent drought, the bush is sprayed manually from the spray gun.

Soil for garden azalea

Since the rhododendron takes a strictly acidic soil, the quality of the soil requires a gardener to constantly monitor. The plants are planted in groups, so as not to dig the ground for each new flower several times. The plant azalea garden assumes such rules of soil selection:

1. Special substrate with high moisture capacity and air permeability, friability and minimum amount of nutrients.
2. The root system requires a mixture based on fallen pine needles, decomposed pine bark and sand.
3. The soil mixture is not allowed to include manure, peat, compost and litter. Garden azalea will not tolerate waste wood - chips, sawdust and bark.
4. The substrate settles, therefore in a week it is necessary to pour one more layer.
5. The soil is periodically mulched and add to it pine resin.

Pruning of a garden azalea

Shrubs can go to strong growth, because of what the process of tying flowers is broken. Since plants are considered decorative, for them this quality is too important to leave the formation without attention. Knowing how to care for azalea in the garden, the owner of the flower bed can regulate the number of colors on her:

1. Young evergreen rhododendrons can not be circumcised. Form the course can be when the time of disembarkation will take at least 2-3 years.
2. Enlarged large branches need to be removed, rather than trying to stop their development with the help of special solutions.
3. Most varieties have a genetically correct form of the bush, but some have to pinch around the central bud to direct growth.
4. If the crown of a small bush looks too developed, then the azalea of ​​the Chinese garden needs pruning of branches, whose diameter is 3-4 cm.
5. Fresh slices of branches are covered with a layer of garden varnish for disinfection.
6. Late pruning at the end of summer or autumn is carried out only on faded shoots.
7. Once in 3-4 years, a full renewal of the bush is arranged. It is conditionally divided into two halves: in the first year the right is cut at 30-35 cm, and the next - the procedure is repeated with the left side.

Feeding a garden azalea

The restriction on the nutrient soil is removed when the first buds appear on the branches. Top dressing is important for both young plants and old plants. To make it useful, gardeners are advised to follow the recommendations for soil enrichment:

1. Cultivation of azalea in the garden is compatible with the application of fertilizer in a small concentration, because it gives a chance to avoid raising the level of salt in the ground.
2. A symptom reminiscent of the fact that the rhododendron is time to fertilize is the appearance of the flower. Pale leaves, low growth and absence of ovaries should give a signal about immediate top dressing.
3. The best fertilizers are horny shavings and superphosphate . Garden azalea is expected to respond to the proportion of 3-4 kg of fertilizer per 100 liters of water.
4. Superphosphate can burn the roots of the plant, if not previously moistened with watering.
5. Once every six months, the soil is saturated with magnesium or potassium sulfate.