Decorating garden plots has become increasingly popular lately. In order to decorate the territory, plot owners purchase various exotic plants. Ornamental plant The dwarf birch, native to the tundra, perfectly decorates the garden and complements the landscape of any complexity. The birch tree is miniature but attractive and can tolerate low air temperatures.
Description of the plant
Dwarf birch is a shrub with a height of 20 to 70 centimeters. The leaves of the plant have serrated edges and can reach 15 centimeters in length. In autumn, the green color changes to bright red, which perfectly decorates nature. The plant bears fruit from May to June with small nuts with a very small diameter.
The tree resembles a creeping shrub that clings to the soil with its roots. Thus, one bush can occupy a significant area.
The wild birch bush grows in the mountainous tundra at an altitude of more than 500 meters. The plant does not resemble a birch tree neither in appearance, nor in height, nor in the color of its bark. Your name miniature tree derived from the word “yora”, which means “bush”. The thickets that the birch forms are impenetrable. Often they are intertwined with dwarf willow, which makes the path through their growth almost impossible.
It is correct to consider a dwarf birch as a shrub. Betula nаna grows no higher than 80 cm. The bush is covered with snow in winter, which protects it from blizzards and severe frosts. The leaves have a serrated edge. The foliage itself is smooth on top and shiny in color. The bottom of the leaf is matte, with a small fluff. In May, the plant blooms and produces earrings that look a little like the earrings of Russian birch . Autumn plant is incredibly beautiful, as it turns bright red or bright Orange color, thereby decorating the fields and mountains.
Yornik tolerates northern climate well . You can meet the wild version:
Growing conditions
The low-growing bush loves a sunny place, despite the ability to grow at low temperatures. The maximum that a tree can withstand is partial shade. The best place for planting - this is the one in which melt water collects in the spring. At the same time, birch can tolerate short-term droughts.
When planting in the ground, it is important to use drainage. The soil should conduct moisture well, and the substrate should be acidic or semi-acidic. The crop can be planted using seeds. They can be planted immediately after collection, or in autumn period. The seeds are frost-resistant. The best seeds for planting are those that were collected in the year of planting. Every year, seed germination may deteriorate.
You can also plant a tree as a seedling. When purchasing, it is important to check that the roots are not damaged or overdried. A few days before planting, mineral fertilizers, humus and humus should be mixed into a hole 1-1.5 meters deep. When planting, the lump that is present on the roots is not removed.
The drainage that must be present in the ground should be represented by pebbles, crushed stone or expanded clay. After planting, the seedling should be watered with water and, if desired, mulched.
Rules for caring for birch
To prevent the tree from getting sick and drying out, the soil should be constantly moistened. If the birch tree is planted in a place where water accumulates, then it is important to carry out regular watering only in summer time. You can feed the crop not only with humus, but also mineral fertilizers. It is best to apply nitrogen fertilizers to the soil in the spring, and nitroammophoska in the fall. The plant needs soil nutrition every year.
Pruning of branches begins in the second year of the crop's life. Dry and diseased branches should be removed in early spring. You can form a crown not only in spring, but also at the end of August.
Caterpillars, cockchafers, armyworms and aphids can infect dwarf birch. The plant should be treated with appropriate medications or it is best to take preventive measures.
Garden addition and design
Yora is used in decoration land plot. Use it when creating:
- alpine slides,
- exotic landscapes;
- miniature mountain elephants;
The birch tree will complement the area decorated in Japanese style, and the tree should be planted near bodies of water. You can supplement the birch with bergenia, gentians, ferns, and moss.
This crop makes an excellent hedge that will gradually grow and weave. The bushes can be trimmed, so you can decorate them culturally. If you plant a shrub in a pot, you can get a bansai.
The dwarf birch is a decoration for any home garden. Growing shrubs does not require special knowledge or expense, and your imagination will help you design the landscape in a stylish and modern way.
Size and shape, appearance, the color of the bark and the shape of the leaves, the dwarf birch (Betula papa L.) does not even remotely resemble the Central Russian silver birch (Betula pendula Roth). She also does not have weeping earrings hanging down - the dense short inflorescences of the dwarf birch are directed upward. True, the flowers, like those of all birches, are pollinated by the wind, and the fruits are exactly the same small nuts with small membranous wings. The branches of the dwarf birch are dark cherry, smooth, early stages growth - densely velvety. The leaves are small, round and coin-shaped. The size of a plant directly depends on the amount of heat it receives. The species amazes botanists with its abundance of forms. South of the Arctic Circle (the southern border of the species is the Nizhny Novgorod region), the birch tree turns into a full-fledged shrub, reaching 60 cm in height. In northern latitudes, it spreads and crawls, clinging to the moss floor of the tundra. This strategy can be explained quite simply: in winter, when severe frosts strike, you can hide under the snow, where it is not so cold. Branches not covered with snow will freeze and die. Because of this growth habit, dwarf birch is often called dwarf birch, or dwarf birch. The word “ernik” comes either from the Nenets “era” - “bush”, or from the colloquial Old Russian “ernik” - “reveler”, “rake”, “joker”. And indeed, although the dwarf birch is not tall, it is very difficult to get through its continuous carpet thickets, since the legs get entangled in the branches spread on the ground, and the gait becomes unsteady. The branches of the birch tree are not just spread out on the ground, they intertwine and take down adventitious roots, rooting quite firmly in the soil. This living carpet is spreading across the tundra slowly, but surely - at a speed of one meter Lg per ten years. By about the age of one hundred years, the central part of the mother bush dies off, and the rooted shoots B begin new life as independent plants.
Seed propagation plays a much less noticeable role in the life of the dwarf birch than in the life of its majestic Central Russian relative. The dwarf birch produces seeds in abundance, but, unlike other species, not every year. They ripen not in August, like its closest tree relatives, but in the spring, and they are carried away from the mother bush, where they will germinate and give rise to new plants, not by the wind, but by melt water. But the main thing is that this shrub grows and matures very slowly. The young plant begins to branch at the 7-8th year of life, and before this time the single stem “gains height.” The dwarf birch blooms and produces fruits for the first time also late, only at the age of 30-35 years. The range of the dwarf birch is quite wide - the polar-Arctic tundra of Siberia, Europe and North America. To the south the view extends into both the forest-tundra and forest zones. In the alpine region of Altai and Sayan, dwarf birch gives way to a very similar species, round-leaved birch. These species differ very slightly: the dwarf birch has smooth branches, while the round-leaved birch has rough, warty branches. Sometimes round-leaved birch is considered a subspecies of dwarf birch. Some botanists combine all types of small birches into one species - this group also includes Middendorf birch and skinny birch.
Those who have been to the tundra know that mushrooms grow here to enormous sizes, and trees, on the contrary, become smaller. The common boletus, which, true to its name, should grow under a birch tree, looks like a real giant in comparison with the dwarf birch tree, which clings tightly to the ground and creeps along the mosses. Perhaps in these parts it is more correct to call it a nadberezovik. But have you ever wondered why this mushroom is so drawn to birch, regardless of its size? It turns out that in order to better absorb nutrients coming from the soil, birch needs helper mushrooms. The underground, usually invisible part of the fungus, called the mycelium, produces enzymes that promote digestion. nutrients, in particular phosphorus. The fungus also benefits from such cooperation: in return it receives carbohydrates and phytohormones from the plant. And the plant enters into symbiosis with fungi, forming mycorrhiza (literally: mushroom root). Among the birch symbionts - White mushroom, black milk mushroom and even russula.
Dwarf birch (lat. Betula nana)- a species of low-growing shrubs of the Birch genus of the Birch family. Other names are low-growing birch, dwarf birch, dwarf birch, dwarf birch. In nature, the plant is found in many European countries, in Canada and Russia. Grows in small quantities in the Alps and Scotland. Typical places are hypnotic swamps, arctic tundra, moss forests.
Characteristics of culture
Dwarf birch is a deciduous shrub up to 120 cm high with spreading or erect shoots. Young shoots are densely pubescent or velvety, with age they are almost bare, with reddish-brown or dark brown bark, often with a bluish coating. The leaves are round-oval or rounded, small, short-petioled, up to 15 mm long, up to 20 cm wide, bluntly toothed along the edge. The upper part of the leaves is dark green, smooth, shiny, the lower part is light green, with scattered pubescence. In autumn, the foliage turns dark yellow or yellow. During flowering, anther earrings form on plants; they can be of two types - male and female; after pollination they fall off. Female specimens produce small elliptical nuts with three lobes and an attached scale.
Growing conditions
Dwarf birch is also successfully cultivated in acidic areas. garden soils, and on peat bogs, and fertile chernozems, and sandy loam soils, and loams. However, the culture develops best on light, slightly acidic, humus-rich soils. It is undesirable to grow dwarf birch on waterlogged, heavy clay and saline soils. The location is sunny, light shade is also possible.Reproduction and planting
Dwarf birch is propagated by seeds and cuttings. Seeds are collected when the earrings turn brown. Seeds are sown immediately after collection or in late autumn under cover in the form of peat or sawdust. This procedure is quite labor-intensive and not every gardener can do it, so experienced agronomists advise growing a crop by planting a seedling. Seedlings are available in large quantities in specialized nurseries; they should not be purchased from unverified places.It is not recommended to buy seedlings with an open root system; even if planted correctly, they may not take root. It is better to purchase seedlings in containers or with a ball of earth. Seedlings are planted in spring or autumn. landing pit prepared in a couple of weeks, a mixture consisting of garden soil, peat, humus and sand is poured onto its bottom in a ratio of 2:1:1:1. It is important not to forget about applying complex fertilizer (150-200 g per hole). Immediately after planting, the tree trunk area is mulched with a thick layer of humus or other available covering material. Watering is required.
Care
Dwarf birch is a moisture-loving plant, it’s hard to imagine, but in the summer it extracts about 250 liters of water from the soil. Therefore, watering for the crop is vital; during drought, the volume of water and the frequency of watering are doubled.Fertilizing is also necessary; in the spring the plants are fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, in the fall - with nitroammophos or Kemira universal. Preventive pruning is carried out annually in the spring, before sap flow begins. Formative as necessary, but within the same time frame.
Application
Dwarf birch has been actively used in landscape design. It looks great in group plantings, rock gardens and rock gardens. Shrubs look especially impressive in autumn, so they are often used to create autonalia ( autumn gardens). Dwarf birch goes well with evergreen low-growing conifers, as well as closely related species of birch - ferruginous birch, Finnish birch and Middendordfa birch.It is a close relative of the common birch and is a shrub with big amount branches. The height of the bush does not exceed one meter, and the width of its crown can reach one and a half meters. It has small and round leaves that are dark green above and light green below.
Sometimes dwarf birch is so small that only leaves can be seen on the surface of the lichen. The leaves are attached to the stems using short petioles. The earrings of this type of birch, in turn, are small and have a round-oval design. During ripening, they crumble into their component parts: scales and fruits.
The fruits are small, about 2 millimeters long, oval nuts with wings on the sides. Dwarf birch blooms in May, before the leaves bloom, with small, unisexual and unattractive flowers. Fruiting occurs starting in June.
Dwarf birch grows quite slowly. Its winter hardiness is very high, it is not for nothing that it grows in the northern regions of the earth’s hemispheres: North America, Northern Russia, Yakutia and Western Siberia. It is very often found in the highlands of the Alps. Her favorite places are rocky slopes and swampy areas of the Tundra.
The decorative type of dwarf birch is used for landscaping personal plots, areas around buildings, for landscaping park facilities and creating a landscape view in landscape design. Thanks to the compact, rounded shape of the crown, this shrub does not require constant trimming.
Planting and care. Before planting, a hole is dug into which a mixture of garden soil, peat, humus and sand is added. Subsequently, the plants are fed with complex fertilizers, starting from spring until autumn. For feeding, you can use nitrogen-containing fertilizers such as mullein, nitrogen fertilizer and ammonium nitrate. In the fall, you can use nitroammophoska or Kemira-universal fertilizer for fertilizing.
After planting in the first 3-4 days, it is necessary to water the plant abundantly, and on hot days it is advisable to increase the volume of liquid.
To control weeds, loosen the soil in the area of the root system. In addition, the soil will be saturated with oxygen.
After the earrings have ripened, you can sow the seeds. You can do this right away or wait late autumn, after collecting the seeds.
Reproduction. Dwarf birch reproduces by seedlings or seeds. Seedlings are planted in the ground in spring or autumn. They choose loose, well-fertilized soils, but as practice shows, they take root well on any type of soil. At the same time, the dwarf birch loves moisture very much, so it needs to be provided with regular watering. When planting large plants with an open root system, their death is possible, since stronger plants do not like replanting and do not take root well.
Pests. The dwarf birch has its own significant set of pests. These include mole crickets, bladderworts (thrips), beetleworms, goldfish, silkworms, and leaf sawflies. When fighting them, the shrub should be treated with fungicides and insecticides.
Tundra is one of the most suitable places for its growth. In this regard, it is the most common plant of the tundra. In this place there are entire thickets of this type of birch, especially in the southern part of the tundra. Moreover, it is distributed over almost the entire area of the tundra zone. Its neighbors in these harsh areas are lichens, moss and dwarf willows. Basically, dwarf birch serves as food for animals, but larger specimens are used by the local population as fuel.
Dwarf birch Ernik
In the tundra, this type of birch is called “ernik”, which translated means “shrub”. It is very difficult to survive in the harsh conditions of the North, and therefore this type of bush has developed its own survival technology. It grows and moves further under layers of snow cover, spreading thick branches widely. Thus it is protected from severe frosts and freezing. Therefore, it does not grow as a straight tree, but spreading bush. Ernik is woven into the moss with its many branches to such an extent that on the surface you can only notice the leaves and catkins of the dwarf birch. With its thickets it occupies very large areas and with the same thickets it moves deeper into the tundra.
In such conditions, propagation by seeds occurs very rarely due to the fact that the seeds do not have time to ripen, and they rarely develop. The birchberry has another one ready, more effective method– vegetative. The bush literally crawls along the ground, clinging to it with its branches. As a result of such contact, auxiliary roots are formed on the branches and at the points of their formation, young shoots of dwarf birch emerge in the coming year. Seeds of dwarf birch develop at the beginning of great cold weather and remain in winter period in earrings.
Young dwarf birch shoots appear only in areas where nothing is growing at that moment. Such areas appear after animals visit these places, for example, caribou are reindeer. They very actively clear the territory of everything edible, especially since there is not so much of it in the tundra. This space is then irrigated by spring meltwater. The combination of all these conditions allows the dwarf birch to occupy this territory. In the future, having populated this area, it will become one of the links in a huge, and so necessary, root chain.
Despite its small size, the dwarf birch can live for about 100 years. After reaching this age, the process of rejuvenation of the bush begins to occur. Old branches begin to dry out and finally die. In their place, new young branches are formed, which begin a new life. But not all shrubs thus continue their movement across the tundra. Many of them dry up on the root, and bearberry settles in its place. As soon as young dwarf birch shoots appear in this place, the bearberry gradually begins to retreat. Based on this, we can say that dwarf birch is resistant not only to the harsh conditions of the tundra, but also has great “survivability.”
Botanical name: Dwarf birch or low-growing birch (Betula nana).
Genus: Birch.
Family: Birch.
Homeland of dwarf birch: North hemisphere.
Lighting: light-loving, shade-tolerant.
The soil: marshy, moist.
Watering: abundant.
Maximum tree height: up to 1 m.
Average lifespan of a tree: 100-120 years.
Landing: seeds, cuttings.
Dwarf birch: description
The dwarf birch, the photo of which is presented on the page, is a close relative of the ordinary birch. It is a highly branched shrub. It reaches a height of about 1 m. The branches are raised upward or spread along the surface of the ground; in diameter they can cover an area of up to 3 m. With very small sizes, the shoots are hidden in the thickness of the lichen, only the leaves of the plant are visible on the surface. The leaf arrangement is regular.
The leaves of the dwarf birch are small, 5-15 mm long, 10-20 mm wide, round, dark green above, light green below. They are attached to shoots using short petioles 4-6 mm long. In autumn they turn yellow and bright red.
Catkins on dwarf birch are also extremely small. They have an oval shape. When ripe, they crumble into separate parts: three-lobed scales and fruits - small oval nuts 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, with narrow, membranous wings on the sides.
The flowers are small, inconspicuous, unisexual. It blooms in May, before the leaves bloom. Fruits from April to June.
Young shoots are velvety or fluffy, with dark brown or brown bark. Dwarf birch grows very slowly.
The bark of an adult plant is smooth and covered with a cork layer. The shrub's winter hardiness is quite high. IN wildlife found in the North of Russia, Yakutia and Western Siberia. Abroad, it grows in North America and northern Europe. Sometimes found in the mountains and Alps. Prefers rocky, swamp and tundra soils.
Dwarf birch in the tundra with photo
This shrub is considered one of the most common tundra plants. It is found throughout the tundra zone, growing especially abundantly in its southern part, where you can find entire thickets of dwarf birch.
Tundra dwarf birch can withstand long, harsh winters on frozen ground. It grows mainly in swamps, along with lichens, mosses and dwarf willows. In summer, the plant serves as food for tundra animals. Larger specimens of birch are used by the local population as fuel.
A photo of a dwarf birch in the tundra is attached.
Dwarf birch in landscape design with photo
In landscape design, the decorative form of dwarf birch is used. Trees are planted for landscaping garden plots, adjacent areas, for the design of public parks and landscape gardens.
Due to its small, rounded shape, this shrub does not require regular pruning.
Looks beautiful in rock gardens, alpine roller coaster and group plantings, combined with low-growing evergreen conifers.
Dwarf birch: planting and care
Dwarf birch is planted using seedlings or seeds. The plant is planted in spring and autumn. Dwarf birch seedlings successfully take root in any soil, but prefer loose, slightly acidic, well-fertilized, sandy loam and light loamy soil.
They like abundant watering. An adult plant in summer draws about 250 liters of water from the soil per day. Large seedlings with an open root system are more difficult to take root. Some of them die, while the tops of others may dry out.
Planting holes are filled with a mixture of garden soil, humus, sand and peat. In spring they add to the hole complex fertilizer, in the fall they use a phosphorus-potassium composition. Feeding is required in early spring and early summer.
Nitrogen-containing fertilizers (mullein, urea and ammonium nitrate) are suitable for this. Nitroammofoska and Kemira-universal are used as autumn feeding.
Abundant watering is necessary during planting and in the next 3-4 days. During hot and dry periods, the volume of water should be increased.
Loosening is required to control weeds and saturate the soil with oxygen; it is allowed to a depth of up to 3 cm.
Sowing of seeds is carried out immediately after harvesting or in late autumn. Collect seeds during the period of browning of catkins.
Pest protection
Pests of dwarf birch - , and , .
To prevent and control pests, the shrub is treated annually with fungicides and insecticides.
Interesting facts about dwarf birch Ernik
In the North, dwarf birch is called “ernik”. This name comes from the Nenets word “nana”, which means “shrub”. In the harsh conditions of the tundra, this plant has developed its own strategy for successful existence: it moves forward under a layer of snow cape, thereby protecting itself from freezing and death. Therefore, birchberry grows as a spreading, branched bush, and not as a straight tree.
