New varieties of apricots are adapted to the harsh climate, but their successful cultivation requires certain conditions.
The site should be protected from North and East winds. Northern winds are cold, while Eastern winds are dry, and their impact dehydrates plant tissues, which in turn leads to their damage. Wind protection can be in the form of a forest or buildings, or at least a blind fence. Low places where cold air drains are completely unsuitable.
Plant on the slope
It is better to have a small slope-5 … 20°. On this slope, there is a good outflow of excess water, and at the same time, the soil is not eroded. The direction of the slope is of great importance. In a cool region, apricots should get as much heat as possible during the summer, which is not enough. In the hot summer, trees develop better, accumulate a significant supply of nutrients, which helps them safely transfer all the troubles of winter time.
The Eastern slopes are also unsuitable, because rapid heating by the morning sun after a night frost is more harmful to plants than the frost itself. The southern slopes are very good: the soil and air on them are well warmed. But sometimes there may be a lack of moisture on the southern slopes, and watering is required. In addition, in winter, trees are heated by the sun, and night frost can lead to cracking of the bark.
This disadvantage is easy to prevent: you should whitewash the trunks and branches of trees with garden whitewash in late autumn, when the rains have passed. White color will reflect the sun’s rays well. Whitewash is extremely useful for apricots, wherever they grow. The Western slopes are dry and warm, their warmth is not much inferior to the southern slopes, they protect plants well from the most dangerous winds.
Soils for growing apricots should be light, structural, and well permeable to water and air. The structural properties of the soil implies that it is composed of a variety of components: clay, sand and peat in about equal parts. You can only use red clay, not blue. In such a loose, crumbly soil, it is good to add compost or other rotted organic fertilizers, as well as mineral fertilizers, but you should not work too hard.
Briefly about leaving
The apricot needs annual pruning: it reduces the crown of the tree, regulates the yield, and improves the quality of the fruit. Most importantly, pruning, while maintaining even old trees in a state of constant growth, helps them effectively fight diseases and other adverse factors. Pruning should be carried out in March – the first days of April, before the beginning of growth processes, and the sections should be carefully covered with garden water or oil paint on natural drying oil.
The optimal distance between trees is 4 x 5 m. The apricot has a beautiful spreading crown, resembling the cap of a mushroom. Freely planted apricots can adorn any area throughout the year.
Two weeks in late April-early may, they delight you with a magnificent bloom, the delicate aroma of their white and pink flowers. In summer, they are also decorative: the ends of young shoots are red, which gives the trees an elegant appearance. In late July and early August, the greatest joy is, of course, the sight of branches bent under a load of Golden-orange fruit.
Fresh apricot fruits are inferior in size and quality to their southern counterparts, but jams and compotes from them are excellent. In autumn, it is in our strip that apricot leaves are colored in a variety of colors: from yellow to dark purple due to night frosts.
Apricots serve as one of the main ornaments of the Japanese garden, where they are planted freely and picturesquely on a slope with ponds. Visitors to the Japanese garden, located in the center of a forest that is still bare at the beginning of may, can admire the yellow flowers of forsythia bushes, the fragrant blooms of pink Sakura and white apricots.
Many springs have passed
Since the first time on the branches
Those flowers bloomed, —
Oh, when and in our world
Forever lasted the time of blooming!..
Ki no Tsurayuki
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