Growing linden on the site - everything gardeners need to know
If you want the tree on your site to "wait" for your grandchildren with you, plant a linden tree. Growing a linden tree is a simple matter, consisting of some advantages. First of all, it is one of the perennial and multifunctional plants. Linden looks great in a single planting when its wide, spreading crown gives the desired protection from the sun in summer. From compact varieties, you can make hedges and alleys, with the help of a haircut, giving them any shape. And most importantly, during flowering, the divine linden scent attracts bees... So, if you put an apiary under it, then you can take more honey, fragrant and medicinal.
Perhaps, the linden has only one drawback - there is always a lot of debris under the tree. These are leaves, and faded inflorescences and even branches that often break.
But the "minus" is easy to turn into a useful thing if you use everything for the compost heap. And the very soil from under the linden can be added under other plants: it is loose and nutritious.
Determining the landing site
Linden is an unpretentious culture and can grow on any soil. But if you prepare fertile soil for her, the tree will thank you for it with active development. It is desirable that the soil be light and fertile, because in heavy soil, the development of the root system slows down. In addition, moisture from it evaporates for a longer time and in case of prolonged rains, stagnation is possible. In turn, this can lead to tree disease. The best option is to make a good drainage layer in the planting hole. When planting, it is advisable to add humus and a little mineral fertilizer to the soil itself to give an impetus for growth. Superphosphate is suitable - for a young seedling, 30-50 g of the drug will be enough.
Do not forget that the linden will be more magnificent in the sun. However, if only a semi-shady area is free, it is quite acceptable to plant it there too.
Growing a linden tree: the main points of tree care
Caring for a linden tree is not difficult and burdensome. Young trees need to be watered regularly to thrive. With age, an adult and large linden will have enough rain. The trunk circle should be kept in order by regularly removing weeds and loosening the soil. Regarding the haircut, it is carried out in the spring and mainly for sanitary purposes. All diseased broken shoots are removed. At the same time, shaping pruning is also carried out for linden varieties that lend themselves to this procedure. During the season, since linden grows well, you need to trim the crown a few more times, maintaining a given shape. It can be a ball, cube, pyramid.
Reproduction methods
Linden reproduces in several ways:
- Seeds. The main difficulty of seed reproduction lies in the obligatory and long-term stratification. Falling to the ground, the seeds do not germinate. In order to grow seedlings, the seeds must be stratified for 3 to 6 months, and they must also be in the ground. The easiest option is to dig up the soil under the tree or collect the seeds and sow them on the prepared bed. It is better to do this before winter, so that stratification occurs naturally.
- Bygrowth. She appears under the tree. In the spring, the central root should be chopped off, separating the shoots from the mother tree. All summer the tree will grow in the same place, but already feeding only on its own roots.Linden from the growth is transplanted to a permanent place in the fall.
- Cuttings. Freshly cut cuttings take root directly into the ground or into the greenhouse.
- Layers. If the growth does not appear under the tree, but directly on the stump left over from the felled linden, it is added dropwise. After 2 years, when the cuttings acquire a root system, it will be possible to transplant it.
As you can see, growing a linden tree will not cause much trouble. But as a result, a wonderful honey plant will grow on your site for many years.