Evergreen dressis one of the most popular garden plants, perfect for rockeries. Durable and luxuriantly growing outfit on walls or in pots, it creates delightful cascades covered with white flowers. Get to know the most interestingvarieties of evergreen clothesand see what planting looks like andcultivating an evergreen garment in the gardenWe also advise how to reproduce an evergreen garment from your own cultivation :-)
Evergreen garment - Iberis sempervirens
Fig. depositphotos.com
Evergreen garment - description and application
Evergreen garment(Iberis sempervirens), belonging to the Brassicaceae family, is an evergreen shrub that reaches 10 - 40 cm in height. As it expands, it creates cushions of small, leathery leaves that can even cover up to 2 m² of floor space.The white flowers of the dressappear in March and again in autumn. They develop gradually elongating the canopy in which they are gathered.
The evergreen garment is one of the five basic spring flowering perennialsthat can be planted in rock gardens between cracks. This group of plants is called spring rock five. The spring five also includes: rock dragonfly, phlox phlox, Caucasian geese and garden snake. Thanks to the ability to quickly branchevergreen dress perfectly covers walls and fills empty spaces in flowerbeds The basil soapwort is also perfect for this function, as its red-pink flowers will perfectly contrast with the white flowers of the garment. An evergreen garment planted in containers with other species creates decorative compositions, and charming cascades of clothes grown in pots decorate terraces and balconies.
Evergreen garment - variations
The most interestingvarieties of evergreen clothesare presented in the table. Due to their diversity, everyone will surely find a variety suitable for their garden.
Evergreen garment - cultivation
The most important element of growing clothesis to provide the plant with the right substrate. It should be sandy loam, suitably moist and permeable, with a reaction close to neutral. She feels best in a warm, sunny and sheltered position.
The dress is drought-resistantand will also manage in a worse position, but at the expense of appearance - it will quickly start to wood from the bottom, losing its attractiveness.
Evergreen garment - Iberis sempervirens
Fig. depositphotos.com
evergreen dressing - planting
Whenplanting an evergreen garmentit is best to put a 10 cm layer of drainage, e.g. gravel, on the bottom of the hole, thanks to which the seedlings will be provided with adequate oxygenation in the root zone. Then we pour out a layer of garden soil mixed with gravel and only plant a young plant on the prepared site. It must not be forgotten thatdressing grows strongly and quickly , so we place no more than 12 plants per square meter.
evergreen dressing - fertilization
Fertilizing your evergreen garment is an important step in its cultivation.It responds particularly well to fertilization with compost after the first spring bloom, thanks to its abundant and long flowering. In the spring of each year, we feed the plants with multi-component fertilizers, preferably slow-acting, such as Osmocote Substral.
evergreen dress - cut
To keep the plants nice, dense and bloom profuselythe shoots of the garment should be trimmed right after the first floweringshortening 1/3 of their length.When the plants lose their attractive appearance, you can make them rejuvenated by making them sprout new shoots. To do this, prune the plant 10 cm above the ground.
Evergreen garment - Iberis sempervirens
Fig. Daderot, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Evergreen winter dress
The evergreen garment is fully frost-resistant(the plant is assigned to plant hardiness zone 4).However, in regions with harsher winters, especially when snow is scarce, clothing may be exposed to cold wind and harsh sun drying. It is worthwhile to cover them with agrotextile or tunics. This will help to reduce water evaporation from the substrate and protect the plant against physiological drought.
Evergreen garment - reproduction
Multiplying the evergreen garmentcan be done in 3 ways:
- Reproduction of the seed dressing- the sowing date most often falls in May and June, i.e. in the period when spring frosts are no longer threatening. We sow the seeds into boxes. They require light to germinate, so they should only be gently covered with e.g. vermiculite, which will ensure adequate humidity. They should sprout within 2 weeks. About 10 weeks after sowing, we can transplant the seedlings into individual pots. We plant the plants in a permanent place at the end of August or September.
- Propagation of cuttings clothing- in the case of vegetative reproduction, the apical cuttings are prepared from August to September. Take about 10 cm long fragments of shoots from the mother plant. We place them in the substrate, preferably in a mixture of peat and sand, and provide adequate humidity. We plant them permanently from the beginning of April to the end of September.
- Multiplication of clothes by division- we start dividing the root ball in the fall. We divide the plant into parts so that each of them has several growth tips. Then we shorten the leaves and roots. We plant it directly in a permanent place and water it abundantly.
MSc Eng. Anna Błaszczak
