With each passing day, various forms of arborvitae become more and more popular. This elegant and evergreen plant allows you to decorate almost any landscape and becomes a real highlight of the garden. Among all the abundance of various forms, the thuja folded Kan-Kan (theThuja plicata Can – Can) The article provides a detailed description of this variety, and also considers all the subtleties of its cultivation.

Botanical Description

Thuja is one of the brightest representatives of the Cypress family. In the natural environment, this tree is found on the banks of ponds bordering mountainous terrain or in the mountains. At the same time, the territory of North America and Canada is considered the traditional habitat in the wild.

Kak-Kan is an undersized evergreen species that can reach a height of no more than 1.5 m, while the total diameter of the tree often does not exceed 80 cm. The crown is formed by sufficiently large skeletal shoots. They grow unevenly and often move away from the center at an angle, branching to the sides. The crown shape of an adult tree is cone-shaped, with the correct shape, but in the first years it can be asymmetric. The trunk is flat and straight, brown, covered with fibrous bark.

The shoots are covered with flat needles of a scaly type, the needles are located quite densely, lying tightly to the base. The needles are dense, saturated green or dark green, with a bright glossy sheen. Hue can depend on both the age of the tree and soil and climatic conditions. In addition, in young needles, the tips are often painted in a yellow or cream shade, which is a characteristic feature of the variety.

Another characteristic feature of this arborvitae is the root system. The roots develop superficially, braiding the upper layers of the soil and forming a powerful rhizome of the fibrous type. This allows the plant to develop successfully even in mountainous conditions, with a minimum of fertile substrate.

Did you know? Among the native inhabitants of America, thuja has been the main medicinal plant since ancient times. All kinds of extracts based on it were actively used to relieve pain, improve overall health, and also to combat scurvy.

For a year, the total growth of the tree does not exceed 10 cm, this is a slowly growing hybrid, which needs to grow about 10 years before the formation of a full-fledged adult form. Kan-Kan begins to bear fruit already in 2-3 seasons after planting. The fruit is oblong or rounded cones, with a diameter of up to 12 mm. Small, brown seeds of flattened form ripen in them.

This cypress hybrid can be called one of the most unpretentious. The plant tolerates drought, as well as prolonged frosts and can grow on low-fertile substrates. However, a decrease in the average daily temperature below –30 ° C leads to wilting of young shoots, which will certainly affect the decorativeness of the tree.

Landing

For an effective planting of thuja, first of all, you need to choose the optimal site, the best tree grows in open and moderately sunny areas. The most suitable is a small slope located in a westerly direction. The species is not whimsical to the soil, however, the most valuable specimens grow on sandy or loamy soil fertilized with humus (5-10 kg / m²). Also, the substrate must necessarily differ in moderate moisture capacity, since excessive humidity can cause rotting of the root system.

Important! The best time to plant a thuja is considered to be early spring (early April). Planting in autumn is permissible only in the southern regions, since in colder areas until the winter the plant will not be able to form a complete root system.

The basic procedure includes the following steps:

1. Soak the root system of the plant in water at room temperature for 1–2 hours. If the tree sits from a pot, it is enough to moisten the root soil well before planting.
2. Dig a landing hole, it should be 30–40 cm wider and 20 cm longer than the root system. When planting several plants, a minimum distance of 1 m between the holes should be observed. But, if thuja sit as a hedge, the distance between adjacent holes can be reduced to 50–80 cm.
3. Lay on the bottom of each well a drainage layer of gravel, small gravel or expanded clay with a thickness of about 10 cm, then fill in 10 cm of fertile soil.
4. Place the seedling in the hole so that the root neck of the plant is 5–7 cm above the ground.
5. Fill the gaps between the soil and the root system with soil, and then lightly compact it.
6. Water the tree generously with clean water at room temperature.

Thuja care

Thuja on the site requires a minimum of attention, however, in order to get a really healthy plant, you have to try. To do this, the tree needs to be regularly watered, fed, trimmed, etc. Otherwise, in the absence of the necessary care, its growth will be significantly slowed down, which, of course, will affect the decorative effect.

Watering and feeding

The Kan-Kan variety reacts positively to increased soil moisture, but water stagnation is detrimental to the root system. Therefore, the plants are watered throughout the entire growing season about 1 time in 10 days. During the summer drought, the watering rate is doubled. For the procedure use only clean and settled water, heated to ambient temperature. The average fluid rate per adult plant is 10 l / procedure.

Thuja requires at least 3 top dressings per season. In the spring, compost or humus is added to the plot, with a calculation of 5-10 kg / m². In summer, the tree is fertilized with any complex fertilizer based on phosphorus compounds. At the end of the season, potassium nitrate is added to the soil, it is introduced in the form of an aqueous solution, with a calculation of 30 g / 10 l of water / plant.

Loosening and mulching

Loosening of the substrate is carried out the day after watering or rain. Since the root system of the thu Kan-Kan is located in the upper layers of the soil, the procedure is carried out extremely carefully, to a depth of not more than 7 cm. To reduce the frequency of loosening and, consequently, the chances of damaging the roots, it is recommended to mulch the trunk circle.

To do this, use sawdust, coconut coir, hay, straw and other natural materials, the mulch layer must be at least 10 cm thick. The mulch is updated periodically, but at least 1 time per month.

Pruning

To achieve increased decorativeness, thuja is recommended and periodically trimmed, do this throughout the growing season. The formation of the crown is carried out already the next season after planting, for this the shoots are shortened by no more than a third, otherwise they may dry out. After about 5 years, the tree begins to carry out sanitary cleaning. To do this, in early spring or late autumn, remove all dry or damaged branches.

Important! It is recommended to treat the places of cuts with crushed charcoal, otherwise fungi can infect tui.

Possible diseases and pests

Also thuja on the site must be protected from all kinds of diseases and pests. They sharply reduce the decorativeness of the tree, and also gradually lead to the death of the plant. The most dangerous pest of any "folded" thuja hybrid is the May bug. They feed on young roots, which gradually leads to a deterioration in the absorption of nutrients by the plant from the substrate and slow death.

To protect against this problem, from mid-April, the tree must be subjected to protective spraying with any insecticidebased on amidaclopride (Prestige, Antichrush, Aktara, etc.). Do this procedure throughout the active vegetation, with an interval of 40 days.

The most dangerous thuja infections

Breeding

Tuyu on the site is propagated in several ways at once: by seeds, dividing the root and cuttings. Seed is considered to be the least effective, sowing seeds is a rather complicated and time-consuming process that requires a lot of time. In addition, seedlings will inherit only half of the varietal traits from the mother plant. Therefore, vegetative breeding of a culture is often used.

Did you know? The oldest thuja in the world grows in the province of Ontario (Canada). This is a species of western thuja, whose age is more than 1600 years.

For the reproduction of a young tree, division is used. Around April, thuja is removed from the soil along with the rhizome, after which it is divided into 2-3 parts with a sharp knife. Moreover, each of these divisions must have a full root bud. In the future, they are planted according to the landing technology described above.

From adult thuja, daughter plants are obtained by cuttings. To do this, in June, several two-year-old shoots should be separated from the mother tree, and then they must be rooted in separate pots at room conditions. Each such pot is covered with transparent polyethylene, to create an artificial greenhouse effect and moisturized regularly.To increase the development activity of the rhizome, the places of cuts of each cuttings before planting in a pot are treated with a solution of “Heteroauxin”. In addition, especially nutritious soil prepared from equal parts of turf land, peat and sand is used to accelerate root formation. After about a month, the cuttings become ready for planting in open soil.

The use of wood in landscape design

All thuja are considered ideal plants for use in landscaping, and Kan-Kan is no exception. The plant is ideally suited to complement all kinds of grassy and tree-like species, as well as become the basis of the garden.

Most often this variety is used for:

• tapeworm plantings, the tree looks great against the background of the lawn in the center of the plot or in the background;
• combination with all kinds of conifers, including creeping forms;
• creation of coloristic compositions, hedges and the "alpine garden";
• growing alleys along the curb and track;
• landscaping of balconies, terraces and loggias (when cultivated in an artificial tank).

Thuya Kan-Kan is an almost perfect ornamental plant. The tree does not require specific care, and is also able to actively reproduce in the simplest ways. In this case, the variety can successfully complement any landscape or become a center for landscaping the site. The main disadvantage of a tree is its low frost resistance, therefore in cold regions it necessarily requires shelter for the winter.