In 1964, in Canada, a new species of apple was randomly introduced. One of the Canadian gardeners noticed a strange branch on the apple Macintosh. This branch had no lateral shoots, it grew directly, and along the entire length short fruit branches with large fruits were formed. After experimenting with grafting and pruning, the gardener brought out a column-shaped apple tree, which is now being grown in Russia.
Today, more than a dozen varieties of columnar apple trees are grown in the CIS. In addition, the experiments of breeders led to the fact that other colonial trees - cherry, pear and plum - were removed.
Rules of landing
Planting column-shaped apple trees can be both from the bones, and seedlings. But it is worth noting that growing saplings is not an easy task, so it is better to buy them in a reliable nursery. When transporting, do not forget that young seedlings are very fragile! In addition, in the nursery you will be told how to care for the columnar apples correctly, so that the harvest was excellent.
The planting scheme for all varieties of colonial trees is the same: a spacious hole for the roots, the distance between the trees is about 90 centimeters. In the pit, 100 grams of superphosphate and 50 grams of potassium fertilizer should be added before planting. The planted tree is watered abundantly.
The intensive growth of colonial apple trees obliges gardeners to fulfill certain rules that guarantee the harvest. First, all the flowers that were formed in the first year, must be deleted. Only at the end of the second year you can leave on the seedling up to 5 apples. Annually increasing the number of apples, you will help the tree to adapt to the heavy load. Noticing that this year apples have a smaller size than in the past, reduce the number of left fruit, since the tree can not cope with the load.
Features of care
Care for colonoid apple trees includes rooting, as well as apple trees they are superficial. Sow around the trunk of cereal culture or spicy herbs and from time to time mow. Additional mulching also does not hurt.
Immediately after planting column-shaped apple trees, care for them should include a constant drip irrigation. In case this is not possible, water the trees twice a week using the trunk mulch circles. Straw in this case is the best solution, as it does not need to be updated, the shape should be corrected, and the moisture should be additionally moistened. But for the winter when sheltering the column-shaped apple trees, this mulch must be removed, so that it does not attract rodents. For shelter use lapnik, dry wood shavings. You can bury the trees for the winter with snow.
An important stage of care is the pruning of column-shaped apple trees, which is carried out not in autumn, but in spring. This is due to a deficiency of growth hormones, provoking the laying of a huge number of kidneys that take away strength from the tree. In the spring of the first year, the seedlings are removed by two
As for fertilizing, organic fertilizers are used from April to June. You can use slurry, urea , nitre, or fermented chicken droppings .
Despite the apparent complexity, the cultivation of these trees is quite possible even for beginning gardeners. The troubles and care of the column-shaped apple trees are more than compensated by a rich harvest of fragrant apples. And compact trees will allow you to plant a lot of other horticultural crops on the vacated space.