Trees coniferous species, pines, spruces, junipers, are found in our gardens as often as deciduous plants. The atmosphere of a pine forest, the aroma that these trees exude, create a special aura at the dacha. It is worth mentioning that all conifers have excellent bactericidal properties that are beneficial to health.
Advantages of landscape design of a summer cottage with conifers and photos
Coniferous plants are distinguished by the fact that they are not picky, but they still require care. IN summer heat they need to be reliably protected from possible burns, and in severe winter, on the contrary, those plants that are afraid of frost (for example, thuja) should be protected. You see below a photo of the landscape design of the courtyard of a private house, the conifers are covered for the winter.
The features (rather, advantages) of these trees include:
Poor tolerance bright sun allows you to make a garden of conifers even on the northern and rather dark side of the garden;
- Many types coniferous trees by nature have an ideal geometric shape, they do not need to be constantly trimmed like deciduous trees;
- Well-developed roots allow plants to live for a long time without watering at all;
- Doctors have repeatedly proven that phytoncides from coniferous trees not only have a beneficial effect on health, they help cure certain types of diseases;
- A garden of coniferous plants can be created even in the smallest area.
Conifers in landscape design: photos and names of some species
Most coniferous trees in the wild are very large, they even grow up to fifty meters. There are, of course, creeping species, but they are few. For example, mountain pine, or very rare species of dwarf coniferous trees. Almost all of them are evergreen, but there are also species that shed their needles for the winter (for example, larch). The photo shows a landscape design with stones and conifers of various types.
There is a very common mistake among novice gardeners: to create your own miniature garden with coniferous plants, ordinary trivially pruned coniferous trees are used, and not dwarf forms. The fact is that those plants that should be tall will still try to restore their original shape and height. You should purchase varieties of dwarf coniferous trees, and not mutilated pines, which should, in theory, be huge, unless you plan to have tall cedars and huge spruce trees on the site.
Here are just some of the list of our popular dwarf pine species:
The unpretentious and most popular “Nana”, a fluffy dark green pine;
A fluffy yellow pine called "Panderosa", with beautiful long needles, has recently appeared in our area. Previously it was believed that it would freeze out here, but in fact it grows even without shelter;
Nevaki in the landscape of the house
The Japanese Nevaki pine belongs to the bonsai family; naturally, it was bred in the land of the rising sun. Japanese pine can take any shape if it is trimmed correctly and in a timely manner;
A creeping type of Velda pine, its shoots grow strictly horizontally. If you don't trim it, it can take up three meters around you.
The name of the conifer landscape design on the picture - .
There are also dwarf spruce trees in nature; they have cone-shaped crowns, thick needles and are quite unpretentious if you do not plant them in the scorching sun. There is a dwarf form of Norway spruce - it is a real little green gem, and, by the way, it is suitable for planting in pots. The weeping fir looks very beautiful in landscape design, its color is dark green with a yellowish tint, and its branches hang down to the ground. As a positive example of a traditional dwarf species, I would like to cite juniper. Creeping juniper will be beautiful on an alpine hill.
Very beautiful and majestic cedar, it can become a real legend in your garden. Although the most popular among us Siberian cedar, but there is also Korean cedar, as well as Atlas. Thujas are favorites of all gardeners without exception, there are many types of them, and hedge made from thuja will decorate any space.
Landscape design of a summer cottage and photos with conifers
The most desirable background for conifers is a smooth and well-kept lawn. Against the background of a green carpet, next to the stones, pine trees, spruce trees and larches look beautiful. Coniferous shrubs and trees look harmonious against the background of deciduous plants, but it is important to think through color combinations plants among themselves. The corners of the garden with green conifers and deciduous in autumn when the foliage turns yellow and red.
Also take an interest in the name, including conifers in landscape design, and see in the photo how they will look as adults. It is important to consider that plants grow over time and the overall condition of the crown will change significantly at maturity. Thus, the entire harmony of a thoughtful composition can take on a different look over time.
Coniferous trees look very beautiful next to roses, although evergreen plants, as a rule, strongly acidify the soil, which is very harmful for delicate southern beauties. Caring for roses growing in such conditions must be careful. Below you see in the photo conifers and roses in landscape design.
Small conifers look great as a border along a garden path. Creeping species will make an excellent base for a small alpine slide, along with corresponding flowering plants and stones. Different types of heathers and pines can be planted together in the idea of a common composition, which can be decorated with various decorative elements. Decorations can include:
- Beautiful large and small stones,
- Decorative form of driftwood.
- Rough pottery
Gardens of coniferous trees are usually not decorated with flowers, with the exception of wild ones. forest species and bulbous, but in small quantities.
Landscape design of the courtyard of a private house and photo with conifers
We see in the photo the landscape design of the courtyard of a private house with conifers and other plants, the area is quite large, this is the outskirts of the garden, huge pines look harmonious next to flowering plants and a decorative staircase - a slide. Indeed, in a hidden corner of the garden you can create a wild forest corner. Let a big pine or spruce grow there, and in early spring Lilies of the valley are blooming. Coniferous trees will also help to imitate the landscape that occurs in the highlands; you should plant different types of pines and spruces, juniper, stones, and medium-sized white pebbles. It is also good to plant conifers along the fence and also decorate them with small stones; somewhere you can arrange a dry stream.
A photo with conifers of the landscape design of a private house usually always shows various alpine slides. To create an alpine slide with coniferous plants, you will need to take more stones. Plant conifers between large stones, and carefully ensure that the plants tall did not obscure low-growing plants. It is better to choose very miniature or slow-growing plant species. All compositions are planted in such a way that over time they spread beautifully over the laid stones, which will create spectacular cascades. To create such a “garden” you will need many different conifers, but the result is worth it.
The conditions for the growth of different types of coniferous trees and plants are simple and quite feasible in our country. Create your own compositions from coniferous trees in landscape design, show your imagination, and soon you will be able to deeply inhale the incomparable pine aroma every morning and admire the majestic slenderness of thujas.
The composition of conifers in the country is becoming an increasingly common element of landscape design. This design of the areas adjacent to the buildings looks original and aesthetically pleasing. But the implementation of design projects using coniferous plantings cannot be called simple, since it requires not only artistic taste and imagination, but also theoretical preparation.
The topic of the article is not accidental, since conifers are popular in landscape design, but not everyone knows the instructions for planting, arranging and combining these plants. In this article we will talk about which plantings to choose and how to use them for their intended purpose in order to simplify the care of conifers in the country.
Plant selection
The Science of Decoration summer cottage ornamental plants not easy. Therefore, beginners who decide to join landscape design are forced to combine practice with permanent search useful information. Meanwhile, planting conifers in the country can serve as a good start in the hobby of landscape design ().
Growing such plants is not particularly difficult if you make a choice in advance. suitable type. It would seem that determining which types of conifers are suitable and which are not is not easy, but in reality there will be no problems with the choice.
The fact is that all types of coniferous plantings used by domestic designers are derived from three varieties of trees and shrubs:
- juniper,
- pine trees,
The species bred by breeders are optimally adapted for existence in difficult domestic climatic conditions. It is not advisable to choose something from import catalogs or import it from abroad, since there is a high probability that an exclusive foreign conifer simply will not take root in our open spaces.
Advice: when choosing the optimal solution, purchase domestic products, the price of which, by the way, is more affordable.
Correctly selected conifers are characterized by a number of advantages, including:
- unpretentiousness in terms of soil on the site;
- no special lighting requirements;
- resistance to sudden temperature changes;
- unpretentiousness in terms of moisture content parameters;
- reasonable cost in comparison with other types of ornamental plantings;
- ease of maintenance, which is very important if Vacation home used primarily for seasonal living.
Features of application in landscape design
Coniferous plants are rightfully considered one of the most popular plantings for design in the landscape. Such plants are widely used to create decorative scenes, alleys, hedges and a wide range of different compositions in combination with other plants.
We bring to your attention an overview of the main ways to use conifers in landscape design.
Mixborders
Mixborders in landscape design are usually called options for mixed and prefabricated flower beds.
Advice: In most cases, the main importance in the formation of a mixborder is coniferous shrubs and small trees. The main concept of mixed compositions is the compatibility and compactness of seemingly incompatible plant forms.
When forming mixborders with your own hands, try applying the following recommendations:
- Tall wild spruces, junipers and thujas should not be used in the composition.
- The optimal solution for implementing most ideas are low-growing plants, such as creeping juniper, narrow pyramidal thuja, dwarf spherical spruce, yew, and mountain pines.
- Rhododendron, low-growing barberry, dwarf spirea, heather, creeping cotoneaster, etc. can advantageously emphasize the aesthetics of coniferous plantings.
- When forming a mixborder using pine needles, it is advisable to use bulbous flowers in combination with ground cover plants. Such combinations are justified from an aesthetic point of view and based on agrotechnical aspects.
Flowerbeds
It is no secret that coniferous plants are used when creating flower beds. Such solutions have been relevant for a long time. But you need to understand that the optimal aesthetic effect will be guaranteed only with the competent implementation of the design project.
- We plant only compact and low-growing plants in flower beds. However, the center of the composition can be highlighted by a bush or tree, the size of which will be above average.
- At the heart of the composition, in the absence of a central element, you can use the principle different forms and color contrast. For example, vertically positioned cylindrical elements can be emphasized or highlighted using dense creeping shrub. If desired, within the same flower bed you can combine different plants with needles of different shapes and colors.
- In order to facilitate subsequent care of the flowerbed, slow-growing plantings should be used.
- You can use it as the main background ground cover plants, such as horizontal juniper, cross-paired microbiota, etc.
Rock garden
This type of landscape design is a miniature imitation of mountain terrain. A feature of such design projects is the use of those plantings that will create the impression of a natural landscape, in the formation of which man did not take part. It is not difficult to create such an effect with your own hands using coniferous plants in your garden plot.
The only recommendation in in this case will be the use of those trees and shrubs that grow in the mountains. Of course, adjustments will have to be made for the size of the plantings, so that the rock garden becomes a miniature semblance of mountains.
A good solution would be to imitate the transition of forest to alpine meadows. To do this, a hill is formed from dense soil without rocky inclusions, on which dwarf trees will coexist with lush grass.
Tip: When forming a rock garden optimal solution will be the use of subalpine fir, Cossack juniper, western thuja, drooping thuja, pea cypress, mountain pine, etc.
Conclusion
Now that we've looked at how to use conifers in the landscape, we can take a new approach to design personal plot ().
If you have any questions, you can find more useful information by watching the video in this article.
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Pine - bright representative forests of the northern hemisphere! Close representatives of the coniferous brotherhood and sisterhood: fir trees, junipers, larches, yews, cypresses, sequoias and many others, approximately 560 species. If we take into account flowering plants, these are few, very few, there are significantly more of them, and at the same time the presence of coniferous plants plays a big role both in nature as a whole and in human life.
Benefits of conifers
During the period of mass industrialization Natural resources paid attention not as much as now, people of our time strive to touch healing properties nature, decorating your available space with conifers of different species. Designers who decorate the landscape, amateur gardeners, and just owners of personal plots, you can also take house managers to them, well, these are those strange people who are friends of a person, who appreciated them not for their beautiful appearance and healing aroma. But also for others beneficial features and benefits:
- A huge number of conifers grow well in shade and partial shade.
- The roots feel great on different soils, both on rocks and in sand.
- Perfectly amenable to modeling, trimming and cutting.
- They emit beneficial phytoncides with their aroma.
- Protects from strong winds and strengthens the soil.
- They inhibit the reproduction of some viruses, bacteria, and sometimes destroy harmful insects.
Coniferous plants are very popular among landscape designers However, when choosing a plant, you need to rely not only on personal preferences, but adhere to certain rules. So:
Three groups of conifers
Tall growing
An example would be:
- - has proven itself remarkably well as a hedge, growing up to 5 m.
- Juniper Skyrocket grows up to three meters, and even itself has a conical shape.
- Hoopsie is a prickly spruce. One of the tallest representatives of tall-growing species, reaches 15 meters in height.
Medium growing
There is a wide variety of conifers in this group. Most often used:
- Thuja is medium-sized - a kind of ball, the branches of which grow vertically.
- Golden yew grows well in the shade of other branched and coniferous plants.
- Yew berry is a fruiting shrub with beautiful needles.
Diversity of conifers Low-growing shrubs and creeping varieties
Cute plants, at the same time the most affordable, and do not require constant care.
- Lombres is a spruce with emerald needles that spread along the ground.
- The pug is a miniature species of conifer that is distinguished by its soft and fluffy “pillow.”
Neighborhood of conifers
- Thuja should not be planted near spruce. It will not allow the thuja to develop.
- Cedars and pines do not get along with firs and spruces.
- It is better not to grow larch with conifers of other species. Her relatives do not like her.
- Birch and bird cherry should not be planted next to coniferous plants. Deciduous trees will not tolerate such a neighborhood.
Arm yourself with knowledge in growing conifers. Take into account its mature height and the appearance of its flowering crown.
Color variations from plants with coniferous cover also need to be taken into account. For the pleasant and beautiful appearance conifers on the site, carefully study what the colors of your plants will be.
Are you going to use three plants (elements)? The color scheme can and should combine two colors: a bright spot is shaded by more neutral ones. Composition of several plants? Range of three colors. It is worth noting that conifers, which change the color of their needles depending on the season, are best planted separately.
What to do if there are 25 or more elements planned on the site? There is a wonderful option: distribute the plants into groups of two, three or five and plant conifers of the same shade in each group.
Creation of compositional solutions
When planning the composition of a garden on a personal plot, the landscape designer strives for harmony and, one might say, completeness. You can do it yourself in arranging the garden, following certain rules:
- Planting of trees and shrubs is oriented to the east or west, but not to the north or south. This arrangement is desirable for conifers.
- Symmetry and asymmetry are one of the compositional components. When the shapes of the crowns and the distances between plants are equal or close, there is symmetry. Natural naturalness, chaotic lines - asymmetry.
- Shrubs and trees look majestic against the background of neat paths from decorative crushed stone in the middle of the lawn, on the slopes, near ponds, among flowers and huge stones.
Combination of conifers with other vegetation Rendering effects
When comparing tall and short plants that grow nearby, the tall ones will seem much taller than they are and vice versa; short plants will be shorter in comparison to trees. So that the compositional solution does not introduce a feeling of disorder, comparison color solutions and forms is achieved by using combinations of one type or even species of plants.
Geometry
Planting designed in contrast looks organic. For example, short ones fit well with tall ones, or tall ones; pyramidal shapes can go well with spherical ones.
Ball-shaped cutting of conifers Conifers are used in the design of mixborders, rockeries, living fences and hedges, etc. Let's look at a few.
Mixborders
What are mixborders? Translated from English as “mixed border” or “mixed borders”. Mixborder is a flower garden of plants that are planted in multi-rows and multi-tiered. So, to design a mixborder, first of all prepare a place for the largest plants. This will be your starting point.
Keep in mind that seedlings are planted in descending order of their mature height, so the shortest plants are planted at the foot of the border.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes in geometry. curved lines will only enhance the slenderness of the trees and the beauty of the mixborder.
Hedge
With conifers, you can not only divide the area into completely different zones, but also to create impassable jungle along the boundaries of the site. To do this, plants are planted in two or more rows in a dense checkerboard pattern. It is necessary to choose varieties for hedges that are easy and convenient to cut, give the required form crown Choose one plant variety for each hedge.
Thuja as a hedge Rockery
What is this? This is a kind of garden on a gentle slope, in which stones, shrubs or dwarf plants, flowers with tiny inflorescences are used. The most common styles in rock garden design are English, European, and Japanese. Rockery in english style What distinguishes it from the other is its restraint in compositional solutions. They are based on cereal plants, shrubs, wormwood plants, and small conifers. In the European style, plants characteristic of middle lane, such as balsam fir, juniper, dwarf spruce, cypress, barberry and boxwood. Japanese rock gardens are distinguished by an abundance of stone piles and minimal plant mass. Famous Japanese garden stones this is a rockery.
A gentle slope is the main criterion for choosing a place for a rock garden. A feature of any gently sloping garden is the ability for plants to grow in partial shade. Such a garden will be in harmony with nature, and most importantly, it will look beautiful near a gazebo or a small pond. If your site with pronounced differences is on a slope, and you really want a rock garden, then levels are created that even out the differences.
Correct location and planting of conifers
- Plan everything on paper, the dimensions of the paths, the heights of the plants, taking into account all the sizes of the stones and plants in adult form.
- Select coniferous tree species
- The most convenient period for planting plants is mid-spring, or even mid-April and early May. During this period, the seedling does not yet begin to actively grow and develop.
- Mark the boundaries of the area of conifers. Anything will do for this: pegs, wood, stones. In the middle of the flowerbed, use marking ropes and pegs to indicate the boundaries of each plant and prepare recesses for them, or big holes, at least half a meter deep.
- Prepare the soil. It is advisable to mix the top layers of soil with peat and sand. The proportions are approximately a bucket of soil, a bucket of sand and half a bucket of peat. If soil from under non-coniferous trees is available, then add a bucket of such soil to the resulting mixture. This fertilizer is the best for a newly planted tree.
- Plant plants. Pebbles or sand mixture about 15 centimeters, fertilizer or compost ( compost is better), half a bucket will be enough. If you add fertilizers, monitor the nitrogen content in it, since nitrogen fertilizers are contraindicated for conifers. The root of the seedling must be with a lump of earth in which it began to grow. Do not knock down or throw away the soil from the root, otherwise you will kill the plant ahead of time. After loading the root into the hole, add our prepared soil to the surface level and level it well. There is no need to compact it too much, the earth will settle on its own as much as it needs, and while it subsides, the roots will have time to get used to the new position and will be saturated with moisture and air.
- Cover the landing site with mulch. Mulching the soil in general useful process. You can use anything as mulch: plant bark, small pebbles, pine cones, sawdust and wood chips, whatever your heart desires and that will look beautiful in your composition. Even ground cover plants such as creeping perennials and flowers are suitable.
- Watering. Important role plays on initial stages growth, abundant watering. During drought it is doubly useful.
- Regularly feed the seedlings until the plants grow.
Conifers differ from other plants in their resistance. They tolerate cold and heat calmly, drought is also not as bad for them as other plants, and prolonged downpours only saturate the tree with moisture longer. Unlike other plants, conifers can protect themselves from various diseases. And the microclimate that conifers create near themselves can significantly reduce the number of insects. The air in the area becomes soft and filled with oxygen.
Caring for conifers (video)
In general, creating your own garden using conifers gives an overall completeness to the entire composition. You yourself have created something big, lasting and beautiful. In addition, you planted a large spring next to you. fresh air, and if there is a gazebo in such a garden, there is also a recreation area that can be compared to a trip out of town. By creating coniferous gardens, you have touched the secrets of nature, subject to the strict order of the Creator.
Massive passion for landscape design has contributed to a noticeable transformation country houses, cottages and dachas. Vegetable and fruit gardens, popular in the recent past, have replaced flower beds and other decorative plant arrangements.
A special place in landscape design is occupied by coniferous trees, some species of which appeared in the vastness of our country relatively recently.
Representatives of the coniferous group of plants gained their popularity thanks to unique properties, allowing them to look great both in single (solitary plantings) and in group plantings 365 days a year. Coniferous plantations are not picky about soil types, rarely get sick and tolerate any weather changes well.
The importance of conifers for the garden
In addition to the aesthetic effect, evergreen coniferous plants can benefit humans and nature:
- absorb dust and noise efficiently;
- hold back gusts of wind;
- soften the microclimate around the house or cottage;
- stop the reproduction of certain viruses, bacteria and insects;
- provide the air with a colossal amount of oxygen and phytoncides (the undisputed champion among healing trees is juniper).
Therefore, if you dream of a beautiful, well-kept garden with a favorable microclimate, turn your attention to compositions of coniferous plants. Their charming appearance, exquisite shape and medium-sized crowns reveal unique opportunities to create the most daring compositions in landscape design, both in large and small areas.
How to create coniferous compositions in landscape design?
- Spruces, pines, junipers, cypresses, firs, thujas and many other evergreens are usually located in the very center of a personal plot, to form coniferous sculptures, or at the borders of the territory.
- The ensemble of pine needles looks very picturesque surrounded by heather, roses, erik, rhododendrons and deciduous plants. They bring some brightness and contrast to the design and allow you to change the garden design seasonally. (The exceptions are bird cherry and birch trees - they have a bad effect on plants with needles).
- Pyramid-shaped conifers look great. Landscape designers based on them they create complex geometric figures, spiral columns, tiers and intricate front alleys. Figuratively trimmed conifers divide the space of the site into so-called “rooms”, decorate stone slides, small ponds, colorfully complement rock gardens and relief changes.
- In order for landscape design with coniferous plants to please the eye with its volumetric structures and color pictures not only in summer, but also in winter, it is necessary, when creating compositions, to pay increased attention to combinations of different shapes, textures and colors in the coniferous group.
- Experts recommend choosing winter-hardy species that are stable all year round as accent trees and shrubs. In the background, as a rule, plants with a spreading crown are placed. And they finish coniferous composition landscape design: correctly creeping, low plants.
- The decorative capabilities of conifers (they are easy to trim) are perfect for creating hedges and disguising unsightly areas in the fence.
Important!
When choosing conifers for home garden compositions, one should not forget that many plants change the color of their needles in winter.
Conifers in landscape design: planting rules
- It is best to plant conifers in early autumn.
- The depth of each hole for seedlings should not exceed 85 cm, and the junction of the stem with the root (necessarily with an earthen lump) should exactly correspond to the earthen level.
- The distance between neighboring plants ideally ranges from 90 to 160 cm.
- For better growth young plantings, you need to add sand and clay to the ground.
- Within six months after planting conifers, the soil must be fed with mineral fertilizers.
- During dry summers, watering is important for plants. During the season, it is enough to make 5-6 waterings of 20 liters per plant.
- To make the crown thicker, annual shoots need to be cut off by a third every spring.
- It is recommended to cover young trees that have not reached a meter in height by winter with spruce branches or kraft paper to avoid winter burns.
- Regular loosening of the soil around the trunk helps rapid growth coniferous plants.
Conifers in landscape design - planting video
Coniferous trees and plants for landscape design - how to choose the right one?
Plants for the garden must be purchased from specialized, trusted nurseries, and not from mass supermarkets, long before the start of the planting season. Before you go for seedlings, you need to have at hand a clear plan for the future garden and a list of the necessary plants.Consider what older plant, the more difficult it will be for him to settle down in a new place.
In case of purchasing large-sized conifers, the best option would be trees and shrubs 5-6 years old.
When choosing coniferous trees and plants, you should consider what shapes and forms they will take in the near future. Owners of spacious plots can safely plant big trees with a spreading, oval-shaped crown. But giants in a small garden will look rather ridiculous, drowning out the rest of the “tenants” with their size.