Acacia shrub - description of yellow and white acacia
Content:
The plant from the Acacia legume family has over 1300 species, among which there are not only trees, but also shrubs. Openwork foliage and beautiful fragrant honey-bearing flowers will adorn any site.
Acacia - shrub for the garden: description
All the numerous species of acacia belong to the same genus, denoted in Latin "Acacia". However, in gardens, plants are often grown that only resemble acacia, but belong to completely different species, for example, to the genus Robinia. The great similarity of flowers and fruits, leaves has led to the fact that people get used to calling bushes and trees by the wrong name, which sometimes causes serious confusion.
Acacia in bloom
Acacia is a tree or shrub that can grow to a height of 12 m or more. In the garden, as a decoration, shrub forms of small height are often planted: bristly-haired (1-3 m), armed (up to 3 m), tree-like (4 m), magnificent (1.5-4 m), etc. Different species differ in shade and flower size, flowering time, climate and care requirements.
The origin and appearance of the plant
In their natural environment, most of the acacia species grows in Africa, Australia and Asia. In the garden culture, about 50 decorative flowering species are grown. The variety for the garden is chosen according to indicators: resistance to low temperatures, requirements for the composition of the soil, the need for watering. Different views require a completely different approach.
Most of the acacia varieties are very spreading shrubs or small trees. All have feathery green foliage and their flowers smell good. The leaves on the twigs grow back alternately. On a long petiole there are many small leaves up to 1 cm in length. Many species are spiny with long, sharp spines, sometimes grouped and curved. They most often grow in arid areas. 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 calyx is similar to a bell and consists of five petals, while the tubular corolla consists of 4-5 lobes. There are many prominent stamens in the center of the flower.
The resulting fruit is a long pod, straight or curved, which may or may not open and scatter seeds as it ripens. The seeds are different, but more often they are small and flat.
Types and varieties
Among the many varieties of shrub stock in gardens, the following are loved by gardeners.
Acacia Farnesiana
The shrub was zoned for the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus in the 30s. XX century. The average height is 2-4 m, but it is able to stretch up to 6 m. The bark is gray-brown, the shoots have a broken shape and barely noticeable pubescence.The pair-pinned leaves are cut into 2-8 twigs, covered with 6-20 gray-green leaves 2.5-5 mm long. The stipules have sharp spines with brown tips.
Acacia farnesiana
The variety is renowned for its fragrant blooms. Orange or dark yellow flower 1 cm in diameter. Corollas of five fused petals are pubescent. The fruit is a cylindrical bean, non-opening, with 4-5 smooth dark brown seeds inside. It usually blooms in October-December, but a form that blooms twice a year is grown in a horticultural culture.
Acacia podalyriifolia
It can grow into a tree up to 5 m in height, but often forms a multi-stemmed spreading bush of a significantly lower height up to 3 m. The foliage has a beautiful silvery-gray hue. It blooms with numerous fragrant light yellow flowers from January to April.
Acacia Podalyriifolia
Gorgeous acacia (Acacia Spectabilis)
Shrub species 1.5-4 m high. Blooms from July to November. The feathery foliage has a greenish-silvery hue. 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 to lower the temperature in the winter season to at least 8 ° C, and in summer it can withstand heat up to 35 ° C and prolonged drought.
Red acacia (Acacia Oxycedrus)
The shrub got its name for its beauty, but not the shade of flowers. Bushes grow up to 2 m in height. Flower heads have a pale yellow or more saturated shade, they are collected in groups of up to 3 pieces. Bloom lasts from July to October.
Acacia Oxycedrus
Like most shrub acacias, it does not tolerate even short-term frosts, but it can do without rain and watering for a long time, since the root system is very powerful, it goes to a great depth.
Yellow acacia (shrub)
The exact name is tree caragana (Caragána Arboréscens), that is, it has nothing to do with the genus Acacia. In Russia, it also bears the second popular name - pea plant. The deciduous shrub consists of many trunks up to 15 cm thick. It reaches a height of 6 m. The spreading crown reaches 5 m in diameter.
Caragána Arboréscens
Yellow acacia: description, planting and care
It grows very quickly. Annual growth reaches 50 cm in height and up to 30 cm in width. Yellow flowers are collected in clusters of 3-5 pcs. The foliage is green in spring and summer, and bright yellow in autumn. Fruits - pods up to 5 cm long. Blooms from May to June.
Frost and drought-resistant bushes can be planted in most of the territory 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, feeding, crown formation are important. In the future, it can grow without any human participation. It is undemanding to the soil, but does not tolerate a high occurrence of groundwater. They are planted in a permanent place in spring or autumn.
Use in landscape design
Not the most beautiful of the existing crops, this shrub is very much loved by gardeners for its unpretentiousness and vitality, beautiful fragrant flowering. It is planted in those parts of the garden where another plant cannot withstand drought, and the result - a lush bush - is guaranteed. Strong winds, scorching heat, saline soil, Karagan does not care.
It can be planted with seeds and cuttings. The survival rate is excellent, it feels good in multi-row plantings. The effect on the soil is the most positive: it enriches it with nitrogen, prevents erosion.
White acacia (shrub), or robinia pseudoacacia
A fast-growing and forest-forming tree that can be formed by a bush. It has long been cultivated as an ornamental plant, as well as 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 grows 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 on a stump gives powerful shoots and root suckers. The first flowering occurs at the age of 6 years. Needs bright lighting. Withstands almost any, even saline soil, but prefers fertile and breathable.
Planting acacia trees
Plant acacia in spring. You can use seeds or cuttings. The survival rate is excellent, regardless of which site was chosen.
What is needed for landing
It is important to stock up on planting material. If we are talking about seeds, then they remain viable for only 2-3 years, after which seedlings will no longer appear from them. Cuttings are best purchased 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 acacias feel best on heights, not constrained by other shrubs or trees.
Landing
Step by step process:
- The planting hole is prepared for cuttings. Depth 50-80 cm, width 50 cm.
- A 10 cm layer of sand is poured onto the bottom as drainage.
- A support is installed to which the trunk will be tied in the first year before final rooting.
- The roots are lowered into the planting hole, straightened and covered with loose fertile soil.
- Watering.
Reproduction
Various types of acacia can be propagated not only by seeds and cuttings, but also by root suckers. The optimal time for planting is spring, but in regions with a mild climate, planting in September is also quite acceptable. The fast-growing bush manages to take root before the onset of winter.
Propagation by cuttings
You can root stem and root cuttings. Stems are cut in spring from the middle of shoots with a length of 10 cm. The end of the cuttings is treated with a root stimulator. They are planted in greenhouses and kept at a temperature of 22 ° C. The finished plant is planted in a permanent place in the fall.
Planting acacia
Root cuttings are obtained from mature plants. In the spring they are dug up and the root is cut into shafts 15 cm long and 5 mm in diameter. Rooted in sandy soil with a slope. Under favorable conditions, the young plant can be planted in open ground in the fall.
Care
Shrub acacia is one of the most unpretentious plants. She needs care only in the first year or two of life, and in the future, only the attention of the crown is needed: pruning and shaping. Do not plant flowers nearby, especially bulbous ones. Strong roots of acacia do not like close proximity. It is not necessary to dig deeply into the soil in the near-stem circles, only slightly loosen it near the surface, removing weeds.
Watering mode
Adult plants are watered only when the drought lasts too long (2-3 months). The rest of the time, natural precipitation is enough for the bush. Young seedlings in the first year are watered as the soil dries up to speed up the rooting process. If it rains frequently in a given area (at least once a week), then they completely refuse to water.
Top dressing
Immediately after planting, it is recommended to add nitroammofosk to the soil. For each planting hole, 60-80 g of fertilizer is applied. Next time, feeding will be required only after 3 years. To do this, take a complex mineral fertilizer. Kemira station wagon will do. Under each tree, add 100-120 g of top dressing.
Features of care during flowering
Before blooming flowers, it is recommended to apply a complex mineral fertilizer, for example, nitroammofosku, to the soil around the bushes. To get wild flowering, the emphasis is on enriching the soil with potassium. Ordinary wood ash also has a positive effect.
Features of spring care
With the arrival of warm days, when the buds are swollen enough to make it clear which ones are alive and which ones are dry, they prune. It is important to completely remove all dried, diseased, wind-broken branches. If we are talking about a hedge, then formative pruning is performed, giving the crown of the bushes the desired shape.
Preparing the plant for winter
Up to 3 years of age, every autumn, young trees in near-stem 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 (stem) are wrapped in several layers with burlap, and the crown is covered with non-woven material. These activities are carried out immediately after the foliage falls.
Acacia tree or shrub is a beautiful and very unpretentious plant. Bushes covered with lush yellow or white flowers are a real decoration of the garden, attracting precious guests - bees to it. It is no coincidence that gardeners love her so much all over the world.
