Scented tassels for every garden

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Scented tassels for every garden
Scented tassels for every garden
Anonim

Acacia is far from unknown in domestic gardens. If for no other reason, then because we only want one or two copies of it, every year we have to fight with the little seedlings that rear their heads in the crops, the lawn and the flower beds.

However, if someone travels to the Mediterranean area, they can come across another, interesting and beautiful type of acacia, the silk acacia. It's good news for them that this plant not only survives in the southern neighbors, it can also be grown at home.

GettyImages-454418297
GettyImages-454418297

Why do I have another acacia?

Yes, you might think that too, partly rightly so - but this tree is a little different. On the one hand, the canopy is not closed, dense, but umbrella-like and segmented, that is, it has a distinctly exotic appearance. The other is that it can be relatively easily kept low by pruning, up to 3 meters high, which gives you a really impressive ornamental tree.

If you like bigger, but not completely shading trees, the silk macaque can still be ideal, because if you let it, it can grow up to 10 meters tall, although this is rare in our climate.

„The sycamore can be thoroughly pruned in its dormant state, in autumn and winter; during the growth period, only damaged or diseased branches may be cut. By pruning, we can create an upward-growing tree; if we have a support, then an arbor that provides shade; or even a relatively small but shapely shrub. All of this is like patient sculpting: all we have to do is to cut off the branches growing in the "wrong" direction. And where we want to see a denser branch structure, we cut back a third of the branches every year, so we get more and stronger branching," advises Dávid Boross, an employee of Oázis kertéstég.

Flowers and fragrance

Selyemakác also differs from the usual in its flowering. Instead of the (even edible!) flower heads that hang in clusters at home, this species grows small brush-like flowers in various shades of pink. The long stamens are not only spectacular, but also fragrant, so bees and other pollinating insects like to visit them. Last but not least, the wind carries the scent, so you can enjoy the sweet, strong scents on the terrace and in the garden during the summer flowering season.

“Whether it is kept in a pot or planted outside, the silk macaque likes a sunny place. In our country, it is considered a winter-hardy plant, but the young plants - 2-3 years old - must be protected in winter: place the plant in the pot in a more sheltered, wind-free place, and cover the pot so that it does not freeze. The planted specimens are usually protected with a winter covering film, and the base is protected by 20-30 cm thick pine bark and avar. In summer, the plant in the hot sun hardly needs to be watered, as it is basically drought tolerant. Nevertheless, we recommend watering 1-2 times a week in addition to natural rainfall, which will be rewarded by more intensive growth. It's not very picky about its soil either, but prefers loose soils with good water permeability."

GettyImages-89178905
GettyImages-89178905

And on the balcony?

The silk mackerel can also live in a pot for a while, that is, it can also be grown on a balcony, although not permanently. While it can grow up to 2 meters in a single year when planted in open ground, it develops very slowly in a container. However, its sensitivity to frost is increased in the holder, so be sure to take care of this.

Propagating silkworms is not difficult, all you have to do is collect the seeds, which ripen in late autumn, when the seed pod turns brown. They can stay on the tree for a long time even in winter, so collecting them will not be a big problem. For propagation, the seeds should be sown in May, but this requires a little trick. Since the outer shell of the seed coat is thin but very hard, the seeds should be abraded or scalded before sowing so that the seed coat cracks. Small saplings are especially sensitive to frost in the first two years, so they can be overwintered by mulching.

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