Evergreen soft needles, unpretentiousness and beauty give Thue an important place in landscape design. It’s easy to keep its beautiful outline, the main thing is to maintain the splendor of the crown with a regular haircut. You can do without specialists if you learn to recognize the tendency of certain species to certain lines, know the timing of trimming, and repeat in practice an individual workshop for “dummies” on a haircut.

Why prune a tree

The tree tolerates a haircut perfectly - it owes to it the well-groomed appearance of a dense, massive crown. If you do not limit the thaw in growth, habitus, i.e., the set of branches, having increased the volume, will become loose and liquid, with gaps. The growth will be beaten out of the total mass by randomly sticking branches.

Sanitary pruning is shown from time to time. It will save the plant from sick or injured branches and dead needles and is required after damage to the tree by frost and pests, yellowing and browning, the appearance of fungal diseases. A shaping haircut is performed to thin out the overgrown crown, limit the growth of the plant, give it silhouettes that change the natural shape. Correction trimming is designed to maintain topiary shapes. Its intensity is lower than the forming, but it is performed more often.

Did you know? The topiary is called the topiary, and its final result, a tree of a beautiful and unusual shape, is called topiary. This art was developed back in ancient Rome, where a topiary (topiarius) was called a gardener who was engaged exclusively in this art.

What you need for a haircut

Highly specialized equipment in a small area is not required. Here you can get by:

• mechanical clippers;
• sharp secateurs;
• sharpened sickle;
• gloves.

The small thickness and flexibility of the habit during trimming does not create obstacles for the pruning shears - the main thing is that the tool be sharpened, otherwise it is easy to injure the tree. The length of the handles of garden shears reaches any height, the wood of large branches lends itself to the sickle. Coniferous resin can cause allergies and is poorly laundered from the skin, so use work gloves and protective clothing. If you are the owner of extensive thuja plantings or have conceived several intricate figures from shrubs, it is worthwhile to seriously prepare for their pruning.

Did you know? According to one of the existing versions, Noah's Ark was built of gopher wood, which is close in sound to the Hebrew “coffer” (resin), so coniferous wood could be used to create it.

For a professional approach and improve the quality of work, add to your arsenal:

• brush trimmer;
• power garden electric shears;
• straight shears without drive;
• tape for the formation of spirals;
• wooden slats;
• stencil rings;
• special wire frames.

Arrays of hedges are sheared faster with a power tool. The main work on the creation of geometric elements is carried out with scissors with a power drive, which will help get rid of thick knots. Straight scissors will cope with the final touches when correcting minor imperfections or with the tender needles of young shrubs. Wooden slats will help to mark the levels of haircuts and draw out the desired height of thuy curbs on garden paths.

And frames can be purchased in garden centers at the same time as seedlings; they are used from the very moment of planting until the end of the tree's life for complex figures. Keep tools clean, dry, and keep blades sharp. This is important not only for the speed of work, but for plant health.

When to perform the procedure and with what frequency

If you plan the timing of pruning correctly, the tree will delight you with good condition and picturesque views. It is optimal for sanitary shearing to be carried out twice a year: for the first time in the spring, and again in the autumn. To begin with, determine the purpose and calculate the vegetation phase, because in conifers, due to physiological characteristics, it does not coincide with fruit trees. It is not recommended to cut thuja in the rain - this will delay the healing time of wounds.

A corrective haircut is appropriate at any time, except for winter, because it is necessary to constantly correct the shape damaged by growth. The frequency of circumcision often depends not on the whim of the gardener, but on the variety, or rather, the rate of growth per year and natural forms. Spherical, cone-shaped and pyramidal species require easy sanitary alignment of a dense crown once, or permanent formation, if you change the natural geometry.

So, the pyramidal Smaragd is sheared because of low growth rates once a year, but the hedge grown with it will require a double haircut. Moreover, it is necessary to form plants immediately upon planting, without waiting for the achievement of certain parameters, otherwise you will not get an even and dense array. This versatile variety will easily tolerate more frequent pruning, as it grows quickly and lends itself to the most complex formations. A ball on a stand, a chess piece or an animal can be obtained from it.

Column-shaped varieties of Brabant, Kolumna, Fastigiatu, Yellow Ribbon are subjected to this procedure twice, if there are no cardinal changes in shape. Their dense elongated crown ideally forms columns with almost no human intervention.

The spherical Khozeri, Globozum, Woodwardi, Reinhold and Danika are slowly growing and are famous for their almost perfect roundness, therefore they require a single pruning for preventive purposes, and once every 2-3 years formation, without thinning. An exception is the need for their active formation to create borders - then cut them several times a season until you get the desired uniformity of the bushes.

Thuja haircut

Do not strive for curly haircuts if there is no time for thorough support of the topiary contours. Natural contours look harmonious. A sanitary procedure once a year is enough. A systematic haircut is needed when enthusiastic about the idea of ​​an interesting design solution in order to realize it in the country.

Follow the basic rules when conducting a haircut, and the crown of the tree will effectively transform, gain volume and density:

1. It is possible to cut strongly prominent seedling branches at the time of planting, but give the outlines only in the next season.
2. Remove dry branches completely, and patients with brown needles - gradually. Do not leave stumps from such branches.
3. To create a path, outline the cropping points.
4. Do not cut the branches briefly - stress will do the plant more harm than good. The reference point is a third of the length or from 10 to 30 cm of new greenery according to varietal characteristics, but not more than 30% of the green mass per crop.
5. The bare branches will not grow green, like deciduous plants. Such branches will dry out, so they are completely removed or the greens are not too cut.
6. Cut, stepping 1-2 cm to the kidney - so it does not dry until the cut heals.
7. The position of the branch and the direction of growth of the future shoot is important: cut, focusing on the external bud, if the branch is upward. Cut down to the ground, taking into account the place for the development of the inner kidney.
8. When trimming, do not rush: it is better to fix the uncut later than to expose the shrub - not overgrowing openings in the crown will mutilate the thaw.
9. Avoid leaving bare shoots in the crown. This will lead to the formation of bald spots, and the integrity of the composition will be violated.
10. Depart often, evaluating the result from a distance.
11. Perform the procedure regularly, the shape of the topiary needs support. Without adjustment, the shrub will become pristine by the end of summer.
12. Add the length of the branches, reducing the amount of cut by 5 cm for each subsequent pruning - the tree is proportionally increased in volume.
13. To thicken the inner part of the shrub, cut it inside, keeping the size.
14. Simultaneously cut in a small area, then move on to the next section.
15. A decorative haircut along an already formed crown will require trimming only part of the annual processes.
16. Be careful with radical pruning: if the tree has not been cut for many years, gradually remove part of the mass. Thuja does not tolerate severe shortening and may die.
17. Trees in shading do not need thinning of a rare crown. Carry out only sanitary measures for them.
18. Consider atmospheric conditions: avoid cutting in wet and rainy weather, this attracts pests and diseases. Mowing under bright rays after rain will lead to the appearance of brown bald spots and yellowed areas caused by moisture evaporation and sunburn. Wait for cloudy, dry weather.
19. Do not rely on the eye, stock up on blanks for shaping: twine for level control, arches, arches, rectangles of wire.
20. Do not try to tackle complex figures immediately; The experience of simple pruning will help beginners easily create tiers or a spiral.

Practice helps to avoid mistakes. It is better to hone craftsmanship on natural pyramidal or spherical varieties with rare pruning without correcting the contour. The thuja western will quietly survive the removal of part of healthy branches - the air circulation in the crown will only benefit it, protecting it from pests. And spherical varieties, for example, do not even need thinning, well increasing the density of the green cover.

After the haircut, the vegetative processes are stopped, but the sleeping buds wake up to start growing. They will fill the crown with fresh herbs for 2 months. To activate this process and support after stress, feed Kemira Universal with fertilizer (100 g per 1 m²) thrown in the spring. In summer, feeding is not necessary, but spraying with the Epin Extra stimulator is indicated. After 10 days, repeat the same procedure with Zircon.

Reduce the amount of mineral and organic fertilizers if pruning is done more often than the variety requires. With fast fouling, it is also necessary to reduce the amount of fertilizer applied.

Be sure to water the trees immediately after cutting: make at least 10 liters of water under each young trunk; for older ones it is advisable to increase watering to 50 liters. Properly executed with a sharp tool, the sections will tighten independently. Resin with high healing components is secreted in large quantities by a healthy tree.

Wounds after removal of large branches require treatment if the plant is weakened. It is permissible to use a putty for fruit types: RanNet paste, Gardenovnik, Fasko garden varieties — although there is no coniferous resin in these products, they could do the sealing task. Replenish its lack of bio-balm "Robin Green" and var "Zhivitsa", which contain resinous substances.

Fall

In the fall, the tree is pruned, combining preventive care with shaping. The main condition is the lack of moisture.

Important! If you completely remove all last year’s growth, the thuja will not bloom and greatly slow down the growth rate.

Start preparations for winter should be from the end of August for cold regions and from September - to the south, according to the following plan:

1. Remove all injured and dried shoots.
2. Inspect the space near the trunk, when thickening, cut off healthy branches for air.
3. Lubricate the poorly healing areas of large sections with garden varieties.
4. Carefully inspect the plant: a third of the length of the branches that have grown over the summer should be removed, they will break off under the weight of ice and snow.

These manipulations will not only correct the shape, but also protect against heavy snowfalls. Do not overdo it with the intensity of circumcision, because flower buds are laid in the fall.

In the spring

In March, shelter must be removed so that the plant spread its branches. A warm climate without frost allows for circumcision in mid-February, but this procedure will slow growth. Before budding, do not prune the old branches if thinning of the greens is not included in the plans, otherwise the vegetation will stop, and the buds laid in the tops in the fall will not bloom next season.

In order not to make a mistake in the timing of spring pruning:

1. Focus on the average daily temperature of + 10 ° C for 10 days, then the kidneys are ready to bloom. Flowering begins in mid-April in the southern regions and shifts in the second half of May and mid-June in the north.
2. To achieve active growth, postpone pruning until the thuja has flowered, only then remove the frozen shoots.
3. Topiary cutting is best done at the end of May after flowering. If you shift it by June, the thuja will not increase the amount of habit needed for wintering.
4. The warm climate accelerates the vegetative processes, therefore, with early warming, cutting is carried out already from mid-April.

In summer

It happens that the best period for shaping is missed, then just follow the sanitary procedures during the first month of the summer and thin out the crown so that the heat can be more easily tolerated. From June and throughout the summer, continue adjusting the crown with the periodic removal of young needles, light tweezing (pinching the tops) and mandatory watering.

To properly carry out a summer haircut:

1. Inspect the plant, place marks on areas that require shape correction.
2. Partially remove the branches with yellowness, injured and dry cut completely.
3. With a strong thickening of the crown, evenly thin it, cutting off healthy paws. Make sure that this does not result in dips and gaping holes.
4. If the height is excessive, trim the top to the required size. Trim the protruding outgrowths to the desired length.

Formation

Thuja is widely used in planning landscaping of territories adjacent to the house, the culture is completely transformed after decorative manipulations.

The variety of shapes is impressive, design options are inexhaustible, but all the silhouettes will always come down to simple shapes:

• column;
• pyramid;
• cone;
• spiral;
• ball;
• cube

The makings of the variety will tell you the forms that naturally fit into the garden. An important role is played by experience - hone your skills on a haircut of simple geometry. Consider that from a stunted view a high hedge or a towering figure is not possible. Column-shaped varieties lend themselves to spiral shearing in compositions. Cones allow you to create arches or a figured entrance to an alley with a hedge.

When to start shaping

For a large-scale figure, wait for the 6th anniversary of the tree - then a powerful root system has already been formed, the thuja intensively builds up the crown and will more easily tolerate stress. It is useless to give shape to a small loose bush, unless you decide to grow on a frame. From the first days, monitor the number of trunks and the integrity of the future crown. A single clipping of branches that clatter is allowed and recommended.

Important! If the thuja is sick, do not expose it to a decorative haircut, it will only need sanitary pruning.

To create a dense row of hedges, trim the tops by about one third, taking into account the straight line of the row. In the next season, straighten the plants again - this stimulates an increase in lateral growth and densification of the crown, and the thicker the bush, the better the coniferous barrier will look. If you like standardized forms, start forming as soon as they reach the required height. In this case, the trunk is exposed, without leaving stumps. Save the part of the top from which a cube, ball or other shape is formed.

Is it possible to cut off the top

Thuja is quickly restored, so cut off the top without fear. Forming pruning involves shearing the upper branches to reduce height and give a silhouette. Correction of the direction of growth by removing the top at the desired level leads to a horizontally growing tree.

If crown splendor is important, the top of the central trunk is cut off. In this case, the side shoots will receive more nutrition, and the crown will thicken. When creating low borders or high hedges, all plants must be of the same height, for this, overgrown tops are equal to cutting. Multi-stemmed small seedlings tolerate the removal of several trunks well, after which the main one will quickly gain strength.

Cone

Thujas trimmed with a smooth cone look great. Try yourself in the art of designer trimming, starting with this form if you are the owner of Smaragd, Brabant, Konika or Holmstrup.

Important! The inverted cone looks good only the first few days. Shading with the wide top of the tapering bottom will completely deprive the tree of the sun, and the needles will die.

The principle of its creation is simple, and the result will exceed expectations:

1. Take 3 slats of wood, 10 cm longer than the tree in length, for a frame that will help to avoid distortions.
2. At an equal distance, place each rail so that it fits snugly against the thuja, and together they form a “hut”.
3. Tie together the top of the boards with twine above the center crown.
4. Slowly trim the branches in the resulting face box.
5. After adjustment, remove the frame on each side, align the lower part of the needles at the trunk, freeing from branches.
6. Trim the resulting cone with smaller scissors and adjust the top.

Pyramid

To create a pyramid model, you do not have to be a high-class master. Varieties Smaragd, Kholmstrup, Brabant require only small corrections in proportions, they have the correct pyramidal shape by nature.

The principle remains the same as for the cone:

1. The number of rails should be equal to the faces of the pyramid. Usually 5-6 pieces are enough to create it.
2. Connect them at the top of the pyramid.
3. Remove branches that protrude strongly beyond the main contour.
4. Trim coniferous massif on all sides at the same time in one cutting session, so as not to break the symmetry on opposite edges.

Ball

Thuja is represented by many varieties with a ready-made spherical crown: these are Danika, Woodwardi, Globozum, Khozeri. The needles will independently form a dense array in the form of a ball. Using it as a basis, you can make more complex shapes - cubes, triangles, cocoons. For example, in Brabant and Smaragd, exposing the branches while keeping the needles at the ends will lead to a sphere of fluffy balls or a ball on the stem with a minimum of effort. From Smaragd, you can get rings strung on the trunk. Undersized Danica or Woodwardi do not need to be specially cut, just remove the long branches with scissors in time.

To get what you want, make sure the variety is suitable and follow these steps:

1. Cut the shoots on the crown, then the bush will grow side branches.
2. Remove the prominent stems that are knocked out of the total mass.
3. Spend the treatment with growth stimulants with a 10-day break: for the first time use “Epin”, then “Zircon”.
4. Add complex fertilizers, for conifers, a solution of 1: 400 regenerating "Florovita" is suitable.
5. The roundness will take several seasons, you will need only rare measures to maintain shape.

Spiral

Candles of Brabant and Smaragd in the parks are often formed in the form of interesting spirals. Their variations in the number, width and smoothness of the turns will decorate the garden in various styles. To achieve this effect, initially prepare a straight boom, cutting off excess trunks as they appear. You can try to visually change the wide bush in a similar way if you connect the trunks into one.

It is easy to form trees using screen tape and a spray can:

1. Wrap the crown of the plant up to the base in a spiral ribbon, securing its end to the top.
2. Fix the second one near the ground so that the winding does not move.
3. Draw a clear line with spray paint, spray the stencil.
4. Direct the tool parallel to the turn.
5. For the first time, easily mark with a pair of scissors the line for subsequent cropping. Do not go deep into the crown, leave room for adjustment.
6. Cut the needles near the trunk along the outlined outline.
7. Make sure that the length changes are smooth, but clearly visible.
8. Remove the stencil from the tree, step back some distance, evaluate the work. Correct the parts if necessary.

Other shapes

Of the simplest curly shapes, an egg-shaped haircut is popular. A predisposition to this form exists in spherical thuja, especially in the Wagneri variety, it is worth slightly tweaking the protruding branches to it.

Did you know? Canadians from Western Thuja weave brooms, after cleaning with such an instrument the house is filled with a pleasant coniferous smell.

To create an egg from a plant with a vertically arranged crown, including Smaragda, you must do the following:

1. Cut off the top horizontally.
2. Use the stencil half-stained and, applying it in a circle, cut the protruding beyond the boundaries of the branch.
3. Pay attention to creating a smooth transition to the top.

The outlines of the column easily take on such forms as Kolumna, Fastigiata, Yellow Ribbon. If it fails, it can easily be converted into a cone, pyramid or spiral. The role of the stencil will perform a dozen wooden slats.

If a master with many years of experience can do this work by eye, the rest will need a step-by-step guide to action:

1. Fill the tree with rails on all sides, repeating the shape of the fence around the perimeter.
2. Connect the components of the fence using a metal ring equal in diameter to the planned column.
3. If there is no ring, drive the slats into the ground in a circle to secure.
4. Place such a circle centered in the form of the main trunk, otherwise the column will be curved and take the shape of an oval.
5. The first to cut the sticking branches.
6. A detailed study of scissors along the rails is to obtain an even line along the perimeter of the crown, without narrowing, expansion, bending.
7. A flat cut of the top will give the composition completeness.
8. If the top of the head is uneven, do not cut it too short, exposing the branches. After a month, the top will grow back, it will be possible to align it.

Cubes originally look that are not difficult to make from low-growing varieties of spherical thuja. For such a haircut, you will need 4 wooden yards and the following simple steps:

1. Mark the strict lines of the square on the ground.
2. Drive the slats into the corners with the length of the side of the square.
3. Connect the slats between the boards.
4. Start cutting the tree from the top, just above the frame.
5. The next stage is cutting the side faces.
6. Remove the frame and adjust the bottom of the crown.

To get a square column, use longer slats on the sides than at the base.

3D figures - aerobatics in garden design, but a little trick will allow you to create them yourself. Get any wire frame shape that you like in the garden center. It is easy to use, precisely sized and easily dismantled when the finished result.

After purchasing the template you must:

1. Plant a seedling or several thuja so that in the future they occupy the entire area under the frame.
2. Mount and install the frame, fix it by pressing it to the ground.
3. From time to time, cut off shoots that tend to leave the limits of the form - this way it is easy to form the desired one without damaging the extra cropping shape.
4. After the growth of green mass inside the frame, after a few years you will be pleased with the finished, correctly executed topiary figure.

Tuyu can be formed horizontally, in the style of bonsai or paws. For this:

1. Remove the side branches, leaving only the needles in the form of paws on the ends.
2. Bend the branches down, hanging a load pulling them in the form of heavy objects or securing the ends near the ground of the towline.
3. Pull the wire over an ungrown plant, which will prevent it from reaching up.
4. In the autumn, remove the wire barrier and cut off the vertically directed branches.

Having formed the crown of the thuja, in the future you will only have to maintain its attractiveness with infrequent haircuts. Given the life expectancy of thujas, special conditions for this will not be required. The amazing look of a perennial conifer as the main decoration of the garden is in your hands, it is only up to the scissors and the love of experimentation.