How long does a Christmas tree grow: by year, to adulthood, how much does it grow in a year

How much and how fast do spruce trees grow?

More and more owners of private houses and summer cottages are planting not only fruit trees, but also conifers on their territory. The reasons may be different:

improve your possessions;
grow a hedge;
create a shaded place to relax;
when planting under windows on the sunny side, protect the room from sunlight;
improve air quality (conifers emit a large amount of phytoncides that are beneficial for the respiratory system);
use the tree as a New Year's beauty, so do not buy a Christmas tree for the house;
admire the green crown not only in summer, but also in winter for decades.

But if you hope that in a year a teenage tree will grow from a small Christmas tree, then these are vain hopes. But our article will tell you how to speed up the growth of the green beauty or subsequently stop it.

How to change the growth rate

The rate of plant development can be influenced, although not significantly. They can be speeded up or slowed down a little if necessary.

Speed up

Acceleration is facilitated by the introduction of nutrients and growth stimulants when growing a tree. Spruce trees need to be regularly fed with foliar fertilizers. It is advisable to use complexes for coniferous plants. Growth stimulants are also very effective. Here you need to give preference to drugs that, in addition to stimulants, contain vitamins, polysaccharides, and polyamides. They not only accelerate the development of the plant, but also provide it with necessary substances.

What influences the development of spruce?

First, you should pay attention to the fact that two seedlings purchased at the same time, but planted in different areas or even in opposite corners of the same area, will grow differently. It all depends on the growing conditions, which include many factors.

Quality and conditions for growing planting material.
The quality of the soil - the Christmas tree can grow even on soil depleted of microelements, but only without stagnant water. In especially rainy weather, you will have to make grooves - drainage systems so that the roots of the tree do not rot.
Lighting – the myth that conifers are shade-loving plants remains a myth. On the sunny side, the needles will acquire bright shades. And in the absence of good lighting, blue spruces, for example, will turn into ordinary green ones. The lack of light will also affect its shape - the tree will stretch upward, losing its decorative effect.
Watering. Despite the fact that the seedling does not react well to overwatering, the plant needs to be watered regularly.
Winds that constantly blow in the same direction (for example, from the sea) can significantly affect the development of spruce - expose one side of the tree, bend its branches.
The lack of fertilizing will affect the growth rate, plant shape and needle color. Stores sell special soils and fertilizers for coniferous plants.
Antifungal (fungicidal) and insecticidal treatment in the form of spraying and pollination.
A protective barrier in the form of a metal mesh, a wooden cone, or natural covering material (canvas, burlap) will help protect the tree from attacks by animals, and in winter it will save young fragile branches from excess snow.

Thus, in order for the Christmas tree to turn into a beautiful spruce, it is necessary to take into account abiotic (inanimate nature), biotic (living nature) and anthropogenic (human) factors that influence the growth of the seedling.

Growth factors

The rate at which spruce trees grow is influenced by several factors:

belonging to the species and variety;
climate in the area where coniferous crops grow;
weather;
the location and degree of illumination of the area where the tree grows;
quality of care;
availability of fertilizers;
absence of diseases and harmful insects that can slow down the rate of growth and development;
plant age;
condition of planting material.

Taking into account the above factors, each tree will grow individually. And we can only talk about approximate growth rates. It is impossible to calculate exactly how many centimeters or meters a plant can grow after a year or another period of time.

How many years will it take to grow a spruce tree in the country?

How many years will it take to grow a spruce tree in the country?
How to grow spruce
How to plant a Christmas tree
How to propagate spruce

Most owners of their own plots would be happy to plant a spruce on it. This tree is not only evergreen, but is also considered very characteristic of the Russian landscape and is simply ideal for decorating a piece of land in a landscape style. But not every site has an area that allows this to be done.

How to speed up the process?

But there are also those who would like to see a mature spruce on their site as quickly as possible. In this case, it is worth choosing varieties of fast-growing trees. These include seedlings that grow actively in the first years after planting, and then growth slows down.

There are rules to promote accelerated tree growth.

You should not buy large seedlings. The larger the seedling (2.5-3 m), the longer it will take to get used to new conditions, that is, get sick. As a result, a meter-long Christmas tree planted nearby can overtake its overgrown neighbor.

Conifers are planted in the spring. The landing site should be sunny. But the needles are afraid of the active spring sun, so it is recommended to cover young seedlings with natural light fabrics from spring until the heat subsides to protect the tree from burns. Or use the drug “Ecoberin” for sunburn of pine needles. In the spring, as soon as you can approach the Christmas tree, it is sprayed with a solution that consists of 2 grains of the drug, thoroughly dissolved in 100 ml of water. After dissolution, the concentrate is added to 1 liter of water and applied to the needles.

During the period of active growth, Christmas trees need regular weekly watering. But to avoid excess moisture, before each watering it is recommended to check the soil moisture by slightly stirring the soil.

The tree absorbs moisture and nutrients not through large roots, but through root hairs, of which spruce trees have a lot. On the one hand, in order for fertilizer to reach the root system more quickly, the soil must be loose. On the other hand, 80% of seedling growth problems are due to root hairs being accidentally cut off while digging the soil. Naturally, in this case, plant growth slows down. The tree really needs loosening, but it must be done extremely carefully.

To rid the seedling of competitors for moisture consumption and fertilizing, as well as to free the root system from unwanted interference, it is necessary to regularly remove weeds around the trunk at a distance of approximately 1 m. In the forest, fallen leaves and needles help to avoid unwanted competitors. In a garden plot, mulch can fulfill this role: it will protect against excess evaporation, weeds, and temperature changes. It will also provide organic nutrients. You can mulch with straw, chopped leaves, wood chips, bark, pine needles, and ready-made compost. But there must be a distance of several centimeters between the mulch layer and the trunk to reduce unnecessary moisture in the bark.

Any damage to the bark will cause the tree to waste energy fighting the wound. This means growing slower. If rodents, dogs, rabbits, and roe deer feel at ease on the site, then the trunk must be protected (with mesh, roofing felt, plastic, burlap). This is especially important in winter, when hungry animals are looking for food. But during the formation of the crown, the branches are also damaged. Any cut or wound must be treated with garden varnish. If signs of rotting are noticed, then such branches must be cut off.

Already in the nursery, the seedlings will receive the first portion of growth accelerators. Such stimulants will help the plant to better adapt to a new place and launch its active growing season. For better rooting, use, for example, “Kornevin”. The next feeding is carried out no earlier than a month after transplantation. And then, until August, every two weeks they perform foliar feeding (water the plant from above) with chelated fertilizer complexes. It is enough to apply other types of complex fertilizers once a season, for example, Bona Forte “Coniferous”. Autumn feeding is carried out with products labeled “autumn”.

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What kind of tree to plant at the dacha

Spruce belongs to the pine family - a large tree, a narrow, cone-shaped crown, a straight trunk. Breeders have developed many varieties with different needle colors, different shapes and heights, so when creating a landscape composition you can choose from a large number of options. How many centimeters a tree will grow per year depends on both the local conditions and the chosen variety.

When developing a composition, it is necessary to take into account that the planted tree will not remain as small and beautiful for long. In a few years it will take up much more space than at first.

If you want to improve the area with an evergreen tree, you should not plant one dug up in the nearest forest. Firstly, it is illegal, and secondly, replanting a wild tree will lead to the fact that in a few years on your site there will not be a beautiful shaggy Christmas tree growing, but an uncomfortable, spreading monster, the lower part of the trunk will be bare.

An excellent alternative is to choose something from the refined varieties that breeders have worked on. It could be a Canadian spruce, a prickly spruce, or a blue or Serbian spruce. These varieties are well suited to life in midland climates and are quite good looking.

Stages of development

The growth rate of spruce varies at different periods of life. For the first 10–15 years it is relatively small, then it increases. Growth does not stop throughout life. An adult tree annually gains 30 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter.

A one-year seedling is no more than 4 cm high. By five years, the height is already half a meter, and the crown diameter is 30 cm. By ten years, it grows to 2.4 m and has a width of 1 meter. At 12 years of age, the height is 3.5–4 m, at 20 - 8 m, at 40 - 15 m, and the diameter is 3 m. At 60 years of age, the spruce rises 17 m and has a crown girth of 4 m.

How fast do Christmas trees grow?

Young spruce trees grow slowly. At first, they will only be able to stretch a few centimeters per year. Later, when the plant has already taken root well, if the soil is suitable for it and there is enough light, the tree will begin to grow faster - growth per year ranges from 8 to 50 cm. Of course, these are average figures. Dwarf varieties, for example, grow more slowly.

It takes about seven years for a tree to grow one meter in length. This means that the tree will grow “from scratch.” If you don’t go to extremes and purchase an ordinary seedling of about one and a half meters for planting, an excellent Christmas tree with a good height will grow in about 10-12 years.

What determines the growth of blue spruce?

First of all, the growth rate of a tree is influenced by what variety it belongs to: there are fast-growing ones and not. They have different annual growth rates.

If you do not take into account the type of tree, then its growth rate will be affected by growing conditions. The soil should be fertile, slightly acidic, loamy, moderately moist. Changing one of these parameters can lead to a slowdown or even stopping of growth and a deterioration in the condition of the tree.

On a weakened plant, pests easily appear and diseases develop, which also negatively affects the intensity of spruce development. Having chosen the right place for planting, you need to carefully care for the plant. Timely feeding and watering ensure normal tree growth.

We turn a forest Christmas tree into the first beauty

Plucking is a type of artistic cutting of conifers. This is a simple and old technique that does not require pruning shears. The entire operation is done by hand.

Why do we pinch?

1. So that an ordinary spruce, pine or fir turns into a decorative tree - it takes on the shape of a ball, pyramid, or cylinder.

Often a simple, but “plucked” tree is not inferior in beauty and originality - and sometimes even superior! - expensive varietal forms. Due to what? By plucking out buds and reducing annual growth. A bud is plucked out - and instead of one young strong shoot, three, four, five appear. This increases branching. As a result, you get not just a tree of an atypical shape - a spherical Christmas tree, a pyramidal pine, but also an unusually dense, fluffy crown.

2. To inhibit tree growth.

This is especially true for small gardens, when growing conifers begin to crowd each other and “crawl” with their paws onto paths and alleys. Pinching regulates the growth of the tree and gives the plant, if desired, dwarf growth. And this dwarfism can persist for decades. Let's say that in forty years an ordinary forest tree grows as tall as a three-story house, and the height of its “plucked” peer is a meter or two, as you like. Plucked trees may not produce annual growth at all.

3. To maintain the exterior of varietal conifers.

The fact is that varietal plants begin to lose their splendor over the years - for example, from spherical they become more spread out, not as dense as what you bought in the store. This is where plucking can help.

How to pinch correctly?

The tree can be of any age. But if you want to grow a “curly” tree, then it is better to start pinching when it grows a meter and a half. It is important that you can reach the “crown” of the plant. But you can also change a fairly large plant, two meters tall or more. You can begin to compact it. Although in the center of the crown the density will not increase. But it will increase along the periphery, and the tree will become more decorative.

The “crown” is the fastest growing branch. If you break it off, the tree will begin to grow in width and become a nice round nesting doll. Well, what if you want to stop the growth of the tree, but at the same time maintain its typical shape - a pyramid? Then we choose a weak side shoot to play the role of the “crown”. That is, we break off the “top”, and direct one of the nearest neighboring shoots vertically upward, fixing it with the help of a “tire” - a stick and wire. So, instead of a vigorously growing “top”, a weakly growing one appears.

Already in the fall, buds can be seen forming on the branches of pines, fir trees, and fir trees. Moreover, one bud on a branch is always thicker. And if this main bud is broken off, then the neighboring, lateral ones will develop more actively. That is, the branch will not give active growth forward. This is how an ordinary spruce or pine turns into atypically densely branched plants.

Extending the life of domestic spruce

The chance of maximum lifespan for trees in urban environments is much lower than in the wild. The lifespan of spruce in the city is reduced by air pollution, as well as water contaminated in winter with salt and reagents. In the forest, the air is cleaner, young growth is protected by old trees.

Ornamental varieties and seedlings brought from the forest require careful treatment of the root system. Before planting, it is important not to dry out the roots; in the open air they die after 15-20 minutes.

Mature spruce also does not tolerate drought well. The soil mixture for the tree should contain sand, turf and deciduous soil, but the tree will not grow for a long time on dry sandy soils. Later, it is necessary to ensure that there is no stagnation of water, otherwise the roots will rot.

To improve the growth and prolong the life of the Christmas tree, you need to periodically feed it with nitrogen-phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.

Fungal and bacterial infections rarely affect coniferous plants, however, spruce trees also periodically require sanitary pruning: the affected branches take nutrients from the tree, shortening its lifespan.

You need to care for your spruce even after it grows. After 15-16 years, the main (tap) root dies. The tree is nourished and held in the soil by lateral roots. If the tree grows in an open area, it is difficult for it to resist hurricane winds, so it is better to strengthen the trunk with supports.

Sitka spruce

How long does the Sitka spruce, the symbol of Alaska, live? On average, as long as ours - from 200 to 300 years. This wonderful shrub, about a meter high, is very popular in America when decorating parks, gardens and summer cottages. It turns out that such Christmas trees will be able to delight three or four generations of owners with their beauty.

Now let's see how many years the red spruce, which grows in Scotland, New England and Canada, lives. A little longer than our ordinary Christmas trees - up to four hundred years. And it got its name thanks to its reddish-brown cones.

The oldest copies

The oldest spruces on the planet often grow in nature reserves and in inaccessible mountainous areas.

When determining the age of trees, scientists adhere to a special classification:

Individually growing (non-clonal) trees of precisely determined age.
Old specimens with estimated age.
Clonal colonies.

Separately growing coniferous trees over 300 years old are considered long-lived. The oldest spruce whose age has been reliably determined is a tree that lived 468 years.

Clonal colonies live much longer than an individual organism. Clone trees are genetic copies of their ancestor, which has been propagated vegetatively for centuries.

Which is better: seeds or cuttings?

Typically, spruce grows from seeds. Foresters are the best people to tell you how spruce grows. They remove the top layer of soil, softening the soil for better seed germination. The seeds themselves, hidden in spruce cones, reach maturity at the end of September, but often cannot withstand frost.

Spruce can still be propagated by cuttings and less commonly by grafting. Such forms of reproduction apply to garden and ornamental spruce trees. But only a professional can use them. It is easier to grow a Christmas tree from a seed, but until it is two years old you will have to carefully care for it so that it does not dry out in the summer or freeze in the winter.

Spruce and feng shui

According to this eastern teaching, flowering and fruit-bearing shrubs and trees are considered the most useful. They attract the energy of life in the form of bees and birds, eventually becoming quite powerful emitters of joy and spiritual growth. According to Feng Shui, spruce trees are able to attract good energy to themselves. The worst option is a single spruce tree right in front of the house. In this case, the tree will seem to cut through the entire surrounding space with bad energy. If you cannot imagine your site without evergreen trees, choose pine rather than spruce. Feng Shui is more favorable to pine.

Preparation for cutting down, transportation of live Christmas trees.

To do this, specialists go into the fields and mark the trees with marking tape. The trees are cut using special equipment and packed into a net using a packaging machine. We must say that in our store only the premium class Danish Christmas tree is presented.

After the trees have been sorted by size, they are placed on pallets and lightly pressed with a press for ease of transportation with precisely calculated force so as not to crush the branches too much. Then they are loaded into trucks and sent to selling companies, from whom you can already buy a Christmas tree wholesale or retail.

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Some low-quality trees remain in the fields and are not sold to consumers. The field is cleared of these trees, the stumps are uprooted, and after several years of rest they are filled with new seedlings. The production of live spruce trees is very environmentally friendly. All the time, as they grow, huge fields of living Christmas trees improve the ecology of our planet by releasing oxygen.

Diseases of common spruce

Ornamental conifers, such as the Little Jam spruce, have stable immunity to all kinds of pests and diseases, but they also have their own diseases:

Schutte
. This is a fungal infection of needles. Manifests itself in a change in shade from green to red or brown. Over time, needles fall out on the affected areas, and the branches become covered with a black coating. If such symptoms are detected, the affected plants are treated with fungicidal solutions every two weeks. Falcon and Quadris have proven themselves well.
Fusarium
is a fungal disease that affects the root system. This causes the needles to dry out and fall off. It is almost impossible to cure the disease on your own. It is better to turn to professionals who will offer to make stem injections and carry out treatment of the area.
Rust
. The first signs of the disease are yellowing and falling of needles, and then entire branches. Each needle is covered with peculiar yellow bubbles. To combat the disease, plants are sprayed with fungicidal preparations “Fitosporin-M” and “Abiga-pik”.

Why can't you plant a spruce?

Spruce is a female tree and, according to superstition, it is able to “survive” from men’s houses. Our ancestors did not plant spruce near the house for fear that nothing would be born. However, according to this logic, birch should not be planted either, since it is also a female tree. But there are no superstitions about this. Meanwhile, the same ancestors laid spruce branches under the corners of the house during its construction in order to protect the house from lightning during a thunderstorm.

According to other superstitions, it is under the spruce tree that the devil hides during a thunderstorm. Therefore, this tree is considered the habitat of the goblin and the evicted brownie. However, in Orthodoxy, spruce is a fairly respected tree, since it was it that saved Christ from the plague, for which it was awarded the honor of becoming evergreen.

How to stop?

Having grown a tree to a certain height, home or professional designers often wonder how to limit the growth of a spruce tree while maintaining its decorative value.

If you use the option of “cutting down” the crown to stop growing in height, the mature tree will look unsightly. Instead of one crown, several will grow, which will try to take a dominant position in crooked ways.

Cutting down the side branches will lead to bare branches, since the closer to the trunk, the fewer needles on the branches. But new buds don’t grow here.

To give the plant the desired shape and limit growth, you need to carefully monitor new shoots. In spring they actively begin to grow. They should not be cut off, but carefully torn off, turning them out of the bosom. This method is called pinching. In spring, young branches are very soft, and removing them without tools will not be difficult. The same method is used when forming a bonsai-style crown. Tools are not suitable here - only hand work with each branch.

Using the second method - cutting with manual or electric pruners, you can create living spruce shapes: a ball, a cone or a square. To use this method, you need to get a good tool so as not to crush the branches, namely: cut them. Regular sanitary cutting in order to maintain the existing height is carried out at the end of summer, before the onset of dormancy. In this case, the cuts will have time to tighten before the onset of frost.

If there is a need for spring pruning, then this should be done in early spring before the time of bud growth. If you follow all the recommendations, the Christmas tree will have the height and shape that you desire. And delight you with its beauty all year round. And in winter, decorated with New Year's lights and balls, it will create the best mood for the time of wish fulfillment.

See below for information on the growth of coniferous plants.

All over the world, the Christmas tree business is a fairly developed industry, using the latest achievements of technological progress and modern, well-proven technologies.

There are three main stages in growing a live Christmas tree:

Selling live Christmas tree seeds
Growing Christmas tree seedlings from seeds up to 2-3 years
Growing a Christmas tree until it is sold at the age of 7-12 years.

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Each company, as a rule, specializes in only one of the stages of production.