Like many conifers, the name of these pines has changed repeatedly. The first representatives of the genus became known to botanists of Europe in the XVIII century. These were the Tsugi of North America. Around the same time, they received the name "hemlock".
Description of Canadian Pine
Canadian Pine - an evergreen conifer with a flat conifer. Widely distributed in the eastern regions of North America. This is the Pine family, the genus Tsuga. As an ornamental plant, the tree is grown around the world. The genus Tsuga has eighteen species, many of them are considered subspecies or varieties.
The Pine family is very diverse. It includes plants such as spruce, pine, cedar, larch, tsuga, fir. As a rule, these are trees, although there are shrubby forms. Canadian pine is always a tree, but at the same time its shape and height vary significantly not only in different species, but also within one.
This is an evergreen, tall and slender tree with a cone-shaped crown, which over the years becomes more uneven and wide, with thin hanging shoots, with bark covered with deep furrows. In old trees, it is painted brown. Young - dark brown or reddish, scaly. The average height is 25 meters. Tsuga Canadian, the description and care of which we are considering, is very similar to the Caroline variety, differs from it in narrower and smaller cones.
Needles
Canadian pine has small and flat needles, the length of which is up to 1.5 cm. It is slightly dull, shiny, painted in dark green, tapering at the top. A longitudinal groove runs in the center. From below it has a slightly protruding keel and narrow stripes. On the shoots is combed.
Bumps
They are oval, small, not more than two centimeters in length, painted in a brownish-gray color. As a rule, cones on a tree are hanging, ripening in the first year. When fully ripened, they do not decay, only fall off the next year.
Seeds
They are smaller than other conifers. Resin glands are clearly visible on the surface. The plant propagates by seeds and cuttings.
Primary requirements
Like all coniferous trees, Tsuga is demanding on soil fertility and moisture. It does not tolerate drought, dry air. Usually does not tolerate transplant. It grows quite slowly, so there is no need for pruning. In the summer, on a garden plot, a young Canadian pine tree needs regular and plentiful watering. It is advisable to plant these trees near ponds, but not in marshy soil with stagnation of moisture.
Soil preparation
Planting (transplanting) of a plant is carried out only with a well-protected and compact earthen lump. For active development and good growth, the seedling needs moist and slightly acidic soil, fertile. Water stagnation is not allowed, which can lead to decay of the roots and death of the young plant.
Canadian pine prefers a soil mixture consisting of sheet soil and sand in a 2: 1 ratio. Slowing down on calcareous soils.
Landing
It is best to land at the end of April or from the end of August until the first days of October. When planting, it is necessary to maintain a distance between seedlings of 80 to 150 cm. The planting pit should be about 75 cm deep. The root neck cannot be deepened - it should be at ground level. Take good drainage to prevent stagnation. For this, crushed stone, coarse sand, expanded clay can be used. The drainage layer must be at least fifteen centimeters.
When planting, Kemira Universal should be added to the soil substrate at the rate of two hundred grams per plant. Pre fertilizer must be thoroughly mixed with soil dug from the pit. Young plants need phosphorus. During the first six months after planting, it is necessary to feed the young plant with phosphorus fertilizers. In the future, Canadian pine can do without them. Fallen needles decay and enrich the soil with organic matter.
Watering
Canadian pine is hygroscopic, it needs regular watering: a bucket of water once a week for each plant older than ten years. Since the tree does not tolerate dry air, it should be moistened with a hose at least once a month, and in hot, dry summers, more frequent spraying is recommended - two to three times a week. Young plantings are mulched with a peat layer (about five centimeters).
Winter preparations
These conifers are winter-hardy for more than two years, but frost can damage the ends of annual shoots. The first two years, young seedlings should be sheltered for the winter. This is usually done after November 10th with spruce branches and peat. In spring, peat must be removed from the trunks. Do not worry if in the winter the needles turn red from frost - this will not harm the plant.
Is Canadian tsuga growing in the Moscow region?
Yes, only this variety is grown in the Moscow region. It is frost-resistant and shade-hardy. Most specimens are characterized by dwarf growth and branches hanging heavily to the ground. One of the first in our market appeared variety Jedelloh - dwarf tsuga Canadian. Description and maintenance (rules) can be found in landscape design publications, although we have covered the basics. For twenty years, the plant reaches a height of not more than one meter. The cap with light green needles, which hangs picturesquely, and with a funnel located on the crown, looks very nice.
Now there are about a dozen varieties suitable for cultivation in the suburbs: Bennett, Cole's Prostrate, Pendula and others.
Tsuga canadian in landscape design
Thanks to the graceful crown, slender habit, flowing branches, small cones, the color and shape of the crown, the Tsuga is a beautiful ornamental plant. It can be used in group and solitary plantings, for rocky areas (creeping and dwarf varieties are suitable), for designing sites near water bodies. It is applied to park, avenue plantings and hedges. Today in Russia, Canadian tsuga is rarely used in urban landscaping.
Breeding
Like most conifers, Tsuga propagates by seed and cuttings. Full seeds ripen only in trees older than twenty years. In addition, no more than half of all seeds germinate during planting.
Approximately the same result is obtained by propagation attempts by cuttings, but it can be improved a little if you use a root growth stimulator.
Industrial application
Canadian Tsuga has been valued since ancient times for its bark, which is a source of tannins (tannin). It is used in the leather industry. In addition, the bark is used in the production of natural red-brown dyes for leather and wool, the manufacture of baskets.
Large-scale and uncontrolled collection of bark has led to a significant reduction in the forests of Tsugi. The decline in tannin production in the United States at the beginning of the last century due to a shortage of raw materials forced manufacturers to look for alternative plant sources.
In veterinary medicine
The essential oil obtained by steaming pine needles and branches of Tsugi is used to prepare ointments that are successfully used in veterinary medicine. They have wound healing properties.
In medicine
Essential oils have antiseptic, antibacterial, diaphoretic, astringent and diuretic properties. They have an antitussive and expectorant effect, relieve fatigue. In addition, drugs, which include essential oils of needles, can be used in the treatment of asthma, various infections, muscle or headache, and stress.
