First impression after purchasing a holiday plot? Freshly mown grass and a few small conifers - thujas, Pfitzer junipers (larger green and smaller yellow), box trees and a fairly large Lawson cypress. Behind the mountain of stones there was a slender common juniper, two fir trees and pines of different sizes. At the end of the 35-acre garden, along the fence, I noticed a lot of small larches and self-seeded hazel. We proudly called this part… a forest! We also planted pines, birches and an oak that grew out of an acorn brought by some animal.
Plants came to our garden by accident. First, we planted Gracilis magnolia, Satschiko beautiful azalea and Cunnigham's White rhododendron.And then it went like an avalanche: pieris, heather and heaths, Sibirica dogwood, thujas, junipers, and finally ginkgo biloba. I don't know what kind of variety it is, because I bought it in a supermarket. While browsing through the catalogs, I found out - to my great surprise - that ginkgo is a coniferous tree!
When I plant new acidophilic plants, I prepare the following mixture: homemade compost soil, a small amount of ammonium sulphate, a compound fertilizer (such as Polifoska or Florovit) and a lot of acid peat. I put a handful of this mixture at the bottom of the hole, put the plant in, sprinkle the rest and put soil from the excavation on top. Treated in this way, my acidophilic specimens repay a hundredfold!
I don't know by what a miracle, but plants that prefer alkaline soil also bloom in the acid bed. Maybe it is my "green hands", which I inherited from my mother, that make everything successful for me? Tulips, daffodils, daffodils, hyacinths, pasque-flowers and primula grow together with azaleas, rhododendrons, pieris, funky and bergenia.And in the triangle between thuja, juniper and cypress a huge bush of catnip flaunts. It's strange that my catnip, because cats completely ignore it!
In spring, I sprinkle the soil around the acidophilic ones with a small amount of ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate and multi-component fertilizer. Then I loosen the soil thoroughly. Finally, I scatter the acid peat, which also protects against weeds. Plants probably like it, because there is not even a trace of it until autumn. When the cows start grazing in the meadows, I walk around and collect their pies. These slightly dried ones are the best. I put them into a specially prepared barrel and pour water in a ratio of 1: 4. After a few weeks, I have a slurry which, after dilution (half a liter for a 10-liter watering can), I water the plants.
Acid soil is liked not only by ornamental species. At the edge of the vegetable garden, I planted a row of highbush blueberries. Not only does it taste great, it also looks beautiful. In May, it is covered with lots of white-cream flowers, and in autumn it delights with intensely red leaves.I scattered sawdust from coniferous trees under the blueberry bushes - by autumn it turned into humus.
I was very proud to hear a compliment from my sister recently: "I would like to take this garden of yours with me!"
