Standard birch: features of vaccination and care
Birch is basically a tall culture, some of its specimens reach a height of 30 m. In natural conditions, this does not matter, but if you plan to plant on a private plot, then not everyone can provide the tree with so much free space. True, there are dwarf species, but gardeners went even further and on their site there is a standard birch grown by grafting. These plants are compact, so they can be planted in small areas. In addition, the size of the birch can be easily controlled by formative pruning, restraining its growth and setting any crown shape.
What to graft on?
Most often, cuttings are used for grafting. weeping birch or Yoongi's birches - they have a beautiful falling crown. A good result is obtained with the help of willow shoots. As for the rootstock, it can be grafted both on a white birch and on an ordinary tree.
Vaccination can be done in two ways:
- in early spring in a side cut;
- at the end of summer by budding the lignified cuttings of the current growth.
The place of grafting determines the height of the birch stem: it can be limited to one meter or you can get a taller specimen by grafting even higher.
Standard birch and features of caring for it
The grafted shoots always grow, dropping down to the ground. However, sometimes it happens that among the weeping crown one or more branches sprout and stick up. So, this is no longer a graft, but a "native" shoot of the tree itself. To prevent the culture from interfering with the formation of the plant, this branch must be cut off. The place of the cut, of course, must be closed with a garden pitch, so as not to leave a wound on the trunk. If it is a pity to cut, such shoots can be left. Then the birch tree will look original, but the originally conceived shape will no longer work.
You can shorten shoots, as well as cut out excess ones, in spring or autumn.
In addition, to maintain the standard shape, birch needs periodic shaping pruning:
- Branches that reach ground level need to be shortened periodically. In this case, the cut must be made in such a way that the last left kidney looks outward.
- You also need to completely remove the branches that are directed towards the inside of the crown.
You can trim the falling branches both at different heights and at the same level, giving the crown the shape of an even umbrella.
Regarding wintering of standard birches, they tolerate low temperatures quite well: the grafting practically never freezes out.