Do you know what kind of fir tree? This is an evergreen monoecious plant, with a deep root system going into the ground. It has a wide conical shape with outstretched branches. The tree grows slowly, with an annual growth of 3 to 5 centimeters. At 30 years old, the size of a fir tree reaches two to three meters in height, and in general, some species of this plant can grow up to sixty meters.
This tree prefers open sunny places and partial shade in nature. Fir needles can be either gray-blue or dark green. She has tough and relatively thick shoots. Likes fresh, deep, slightly acidic soil. Can grow even on sandy, dry soil. The best time for planting fir is from March to November. This plant looks great both in landscape compositions and in a single planting. Fir flowering (the photo of the tree is presented in this article) is beautiful.
The tree lives 300-400 years, old-timers are also known in history, which were more than 700 years old.
The name of the plant comes from the German Fichte, which means "spruce" in translation.
How to distinguish fir fromate?
A fir tree (a description will be presented to your attention below) looks like a spruce, and an inexperienced person can easily make a mistake. However, the differences between these two plants are significant.
What does a fir tree look like? His crown is located at the base of the trunk, unlike spruce and pine. The needles are very soft, with long and flat needles. Spruce needles are hard, short and prickly. Each fir needle has two white stripes on the underside. Needles are slightly sharp, located on reproductive shoots, or rounded at the end (such needles grow on vegetative branches).
Needles on fir branches grow only on both sides, so the shoots themselves look “flat”. Spruce needles are located on the shoot in a circle.
Fir cones are of two types - men's cones are more like earrings made of small "flowers". Female cones are large, cylindrical or egg-shaped, growing upwards, as if "sitting" on a branch. Spruce cones usually hang down.
In winter, fir needles remain bright, unlike other conifers, whose needles fade slightly in the cold season. If you cut a fir branch and bring it home, then the needles will not dry out and fall off, unlike Christmas tree needles. Therefore, fir is more often used in home decoration for the New Year holidays, beautiful compositions are created from twigs that can look good for a very long time.
Types of fir
There are about 50 types of fir in total, some of them are quite low, only 30 cm in height and look more like shrubs. Mighty ones meettrees up to 80 m high. Some varieties grow in southern countries, for example, in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico. But most of all, fir is common in the forests of Europe and Russia, from the Southern Urals to the Arctic Ocean. Accordingly, the frost resistance of fir depends on its type.
Siberian fir
Siberian fir tree species is a frost-resistant plant that is common in the northern taiga forests of Russia. Usually chooses to grow places closer to the water, for example, in river valleys and highlands. Siberian fir (a photo of the tree is given below) has a cone-shaped and rather narrow crown. The needles are dark green with soft, shiny and narrow needles. The length of the needles is three centimeters. Traditionally, two white stripes on the underside of each needle. The size of adult Siberian fir trees is quite impressive. They reach a height of 30 meters.
The trunk of the plant is gray, the bark is smooth, thin at the top and on the branches, and thick and cracked below.
Cones of light brown color, grow straight up on the branch.
There are several varieties of Siberian fir - blue, motley, graceful.
Siberian fir is a valuable plant and is protected by the state.
Nordmann Fir (Caucasian)
This is an endemic plant found only in the Caucasus, therefore it is listed as a protected plant. Lives in nature for 500 years.
Caucasian fir is a tall, powerful tree that grows up to sixty meters in height. In this case, the thickness of the trunkcan even reach up to two meters. The crown of this tree is lowered low, the shape is conical, the top is narrow.
Dark green needles, with slightly pointed, long four-centimeter needles. There are two white stripes on the underside of each needle.
The bark on the trunk is smooth and shiny, even at the bottom. Only when the tree reaches the age of eighty can cracks appear on the trunk below.
Buds ovoid, large. Usually they are twenty centimeters long and five in diameter. The buds are dark green when young and turn brown when mature.
Nordmann's fir also has its own varieties - golden, gray, weeping, upright.
Korean fir
The birthplace of this plant is the mountains of the southern part of the Korean peninsula. This plant tolerates high altitude conditions well, including winter frosts, as it grows at an altitude of 1800 meters above sea level. The peculiarity of this type of fir is that it grows very slowly at a young age. However, after a few years, its growth is greatly accelerated. This is a relatively low fifteen-meter tree, with a rather thin trunk up to eighty centimeters. Crown of traditional conical shape.
The peculiarity of this species is the color of the bark. Young trees have a thin, smooth, ash-colored bark. With age, this color changes to purple or dark brown with a chestnut tint. At the bottom of the trunk of trees that have lived for several decades, the bark is covered with cracks.
NeedleKorean fir is very beautiful, thick and lush. However, the needles are harsh and slightly curved upwards, have a saber shape. Below, each needle is an ash-silver color that spreads along two stomatal bands.
The cones of this type of fir are very beautiful, cylindrical in shape, of an unusual purple color. However, the size of the cones is small, reaching only three centimeters in diameter, and only seven centimeters in length.
This very beautiful tree is very popular in landscape design, as its varieties are very different from each other. For example, "Blue Standard" has bright purple buds, while "Piccolo" reaches a height of only 30 centimeters.
Balsamic Fir
This type of fir (photos of the tree and cones are given in this article) was brought to the territory of Eurasia from across the ocean, as it is naturally distributed in the USA and Canada. Balsam fir grows in latitudes with a rather harsh climate, up to the tundra. It is also found in the highlands, at an altitude of up to two thousand meters above sea level. The peculiarity of this plant is that it is not long-lived, like other types of fir, its limit is 200 years.
Balsam fir is not very tall - up to twenty-five meters. The thickness of the trunk in this case can reach seventy centimeters.
The bark is ash-colored and smooth on young trees. Brown with a reddish tint, the trunks are found in old plants.
Balsam fir needles up to threecentimeters in length. The needles are not sharp, dark green, soft. If you rub a few needles in your palms, you can feel a pleasant characteristic smell. The peculiarity of the needles of this tree is that its needles are "long-playing", they do not fall off for seven years.
This fir has very beautiful, interesting-shaped cones, up to ten centimeters long, but at the same time narrow - just over two centimeters in diameter. Young buds are very beautiful, they have a dark purple color. When they ripen, they change color and become brown and resinous.
Interesting varieties of balsam fir. "Hudson" - a dwarf tree with dense branches and a wide crown and variegated color of needles. "Nana" is also a low shrub-like plant, only 50 centimeters in height. The color of the needles is unusual, has a yellow-green tint.
How to plant fir?
Like all conifers, the fir tree (the photo and description of which became the subject of our review) is an unpretentious plant. However, certain features and rules for planting and caring for this tree must be known.
When planting, it is better to take a container culture, since such plants can be planted almost all year round. They take root well in spring, summer, and even autumn. The only time it is not recommended to plant plants is during severe frosts in frozen ground.
What is the advantage of container crops?
Kom with roots is saved as a whole. For conifers, this is extremely important. The thing isThe fact that on the roots of all coniferous plants, including fir, a special microorganism lives - mycorrhiza, which helps plants absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil. When dried, this microorganism dies. If it is proposed to buy a coniferous seedling with an open root system, then in no case should you buy it. Most likely, such a tree will not take root.
Coniferous fir tree is the champion in endurance, perfectly withstands drought. Nevertheless, it must be planted correctly so that it subsequently grows well, looks beautiful, fluffy. One of the first conditions for the proper planting of fir is the choice of location. It should be well lit, sunny or, in extreme cases, light partial shade. The second condition is to properly dig a hole in which to plant fir.
How to properly dig a hole when planting?
It is necessary to dig a hole for the future plant, approximately 20 centimeters wider and 30 centimeters deeper than the clod of earth protecting the roots of the seedling. How to correctly determine the depth of a dug hole? This is easy to do - put the shovel handle across the pit. It will serve as the defining level. Place a seedling with a clod of earth in a hole and look at the level of how deep the plant will be planted.
In no case should you deepen the root neck, from there the first root of the seedling will grow after planting. This place only needs to be lightly sprinkled with earth. Therefore, if you have deepened the hole too much, then you must definitely add earth ormake a drainage layer. Broken brick can be used as drainage. Fir does not like when moisture stagnates in the roots.
Working with the drainage layer and feeding the plant
The drainage layer is lightly sprinkled with earth. After that, you should again measure the depth of the hole, whether it is suitable for the seedling or not, not forgetting to use the shovel handle. If everything is in order, then a little mineral fertilizer can be applied to the layer of earth covering the drainage, one hundred grams will be enough. After that, be sure to mix the soil so that there is no direct contact of the fertilizer with the roots of the plant.
Place the seedling in the hole and fill in the open space around the roots. It's good if you use a special mixture for this:
- Sod land - 3 parts.
- Sand - 1 part.
- Peat - 1 part.
Correct fir planting and watering
Try to plant the plant strictly vertically. The soil around the trunk of the seedling should be slightly tamped down with your hands to settle any voids that may have formed during planting. You can form a side around the plant from the ground so that water does not spread when watering. Water the plant well immediately. You need to do this from a watering can or hose, substituting your hand under the stream of water so that the soil does not erode.
You can pour water directly on the top of the fir, on the twigs - conifers love this very much. Water the seedling should be three times, letting the water soak into the soil each time. All you need to pour about a bucket of water.
The first watering is very important for the survival of the plant that needs to be hydrated. In addition, all the voids that still remain in the hole are gradually filled with heavy, damp earth.
Mulching
After the moisture has been absorbed, it is advisable to mulch the plant. You can do this with peat or coniferous wood chips, the spruce branches of the thuja are also suitable. Carefully cover the near-stem circle on the ground with this material, and it is not necessary to remove it during subsequent watering. It will perfectly pass moisture and prevent it from evaporating excessively.
Fir care
After planting, coniferous plants are watered quite often. Once a week, a bucket of water should be poured under the tree. The minerals that were introduced into the root system during planting will last for approximately 2-3 years. During this entire period of time, the plant does not need to be fed with fertilizers.
Sunburn
Young coniferous fir is afraid of sunburn. In spring and summer, when the sun begins to bake strongly, fir needles can burn, turn yellow and then crumble. This can be avoided if the plant is slightly shaded with straw, spruce branches or craft paper, burlap, leaving gaps for diffused lighting. It is also necessary to protect the seedling from the wind. To do this, it should be tied to a peg.
When and how to use fertilizer?
After the plant is well rooted, and this will happen in 2-3 years, you can start fertilizing it. Fir is an evergreen plant, it does not require rapid replenishment of nutrients as for deciduous trees. Therefore, she does not need much fertilizer.
The best fertilizer for conifers (including fir) is to add good humus or compost to the near-stem circle. How to do it? Loosen the soil a little, apply fertilizer and mix it with the ground. You just need to be careful at the same time, since the root system of the fir is shallow, so it’s worth adding fertilizer only on the very surface of the soil.
The following mineral fertilizers are suitable for fir: 30-40 grams of nitroammophoska per square meter of the trunk circle. Top dressing is applied once a year, in spring or at the very beginning of autumn. In no case should you fertilize the soil for fir in late autumn. This can provoke the growth of new shoots that do not have time to mature and suffer in winter, freeze.
Cutting
Nature endowed the fir with a very beautiful crown, as a rule, this plant does not need pruning. Unless in the spring you will notice a broken branch or a dried one after the winter, as a result of some kind of physical impact. For example, there was too much snow, and the branches of a young tree could not withstand the load.
If fir grows and develops in suitable conditions, then the immunity of the plant will be strong. The tree will not suffer from diseases or pests. However, if the plant experienced stress, for example, during a hot dry summer there was little watering and the branches dried up, the needles began to fall off, such a plant can be affected by diseases.
Firs usually suffer from fungal diseases. Especially favorable for the appearance of the fungus raw, warmwinter. You can fight it, use special drugs.
Phytotherapy
Of all the species of this plant, Siberian fir is mainly used for medical purposes (photos of the tree and leaves, or rather the needles were given above). Many different medicines are made from its resin.
Fir resin is formed in special formations, nodules, on the stem of the plant. It contains 30% essential oil and 70% vegetable resins. Turpentine is produced from fir resin, which is widely used. For example, for turpentine baths according to Dr. Zalmanov's prescription.
Essential oils of fir (photo of the tree and leaves above) are remarkable in that they have a calming effect on the human nervous system, relieve migraines, They can be used for baths and massages, adding to the base oil. Fir essential oil is also used for cosmetics, in particular, for very effective hair masks. There are no contraindications to the use of this natural remedy, except for individual intolerance, allergies.
From ancient times, not only resin or resin has been used for medicinal purposes. Needles, bark and even wood can also help get rid of many diseases. Fir needles contain a large amount of vitamins, especially vitamin C. Its content is especially high in winter, it helps trees and animals that eat needles to survive the cold.
In summer, the content of essential oils increases in fir needles. In addition to vitamin C, the needles contain vitamins A, E. Preparations from fir needles and decoctions have a diureticproperty, help strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Needles can help a person with heart disease, colds, broncho-pulmonary, rheumatic. The range of application of fir needles is quite wide. The successful use of preparations from fir needles in post-stroke manifestations is known.
Vitamin infusions are prepared from paws and needles. In order to preserve the content of vitamin C in fir needles, it must be collected in winter and stored under snow in the yard or in the freezer of the refrigerator. In summer, coniferous fir legs can be used immediately.
Fir branches are also used for bath procedures. This is especially useful in winter - add a fresh, small foot of fir to a birch broom for a steam room. This will enhance the healing massage. Under the influence of boiling water, the needles will begin to release useful essential oils that smell pleasant and have a good effect on the skin and respiratory organs.
It must be remembered that resin and needles should be collected only outside cities, in ecologically clean areas - in the forest, taiga, away from industrial enterprises.
Very useful are long walks in the fir forest. Here the air is always clean and saturated with phytoncides, which are excellent for the respiratory system. It strengthens the immune system well and helps asthmatics.
Musical plant
Fir is used not only for healing, but also for the manufacture of musical instruments. This wood has very good properties for creating beautiful sound resonance. When the tree dries inside the trunk and bark, empty resin passages are formed, which have a wonderful resonating effect.effect.
