Soddy pike - types, reproduction and care, use in landscape design. Soddy meadow: description, planting, application

Deschampsia (soddy meadow) or another name for this cereal is pike, a plant widespread in our latitudes. It is decorative with its inflorescences - clouds of small flowers of different shades, depending on the variety. Deschampsia looks great in a single landing on the background of a lawn, near large stones or in mass plantings as an edge near big trees or large shrubs. She is also good in a mixborder with tall perennials - irises, Rogers, digitalis, geleniums and other plants that can be picked up in the article.

Meadow soddy(Deschampsia cespitosa) - perennial grass up to 1.2 m tall during flowering. Forms a dense, slowly growing tussock. Wintering leaves are thin (up to 3 mm) bluish-green.

It blooms in June - July with large (up to 25 cm) spreading panicles with small yellowish-green spikelets, gradually acquiring a light golden color.

It has a lot of varieties and varieties that differ in plant height, leaf length and shades of inflorescences. Here is some of them:

"Bronzeschleier" ("Bronzeschleier") - up to 1.5 m high and about 70 cm in diameter. Inflorescences at the beginning of flowering green gradually become bronze, retain their shape well in winter.

Goldtau is one of the most large varieties. Height up to 170 cm, bush width up to 50 cm. Golden inflorescences for one and a half months.

"Goldschleier" (Goldschleier) - the height of the cereal is up to 1 m, the width is about 50 cm. It keeps the shape of the bush well, as it grows rather slowly. It blooms with golden yellow inflorescences, which gradually fade and become grayish.

"Ladywood Gold" ("Ladywood Gold") - a plant about 80 cm high. The leaves are golden green in spring. The flowers are also golden.

"Northern Lights" ("Northern Lights") - plant height about 30 cm, does not bloom.

The leaves are green with a white longitudinal stripe, sometimes turning pink in cool weather. By autumn, they acquire a brownish-pink hue.

Location:

Deschampsia prefers sunny or slightly shaded places, almost does not bloom in partial shade.

Any soil, but always moist.

Care:

In early spring, it is necessary to cut off old leaves and stems. Moreover, this should be done as early as possible, as it begins to grow at low temperatures.

It must be borne in mind that it easily propagates by self-seeding.

Winter-hardy without shelter.

Distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Wet and swampy meadows, shores of swamps, reservoirs, sparse forests, glades, roadsides in the tundra, forest, forest-steppe, steppe zones Europe, Asia and North America, as well as in the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Perennial with dense bushes-tussocks with large quantity thin, long, dark green leaves that do not die off for the winter. In June-July, it forms shoots 20-70 cm high (altissima form - up to 120 cm) with graceful spreading panicles 8-25 cm long and shiny small spikelets of green, yellowish, pale purple color, becoming straw-golden as it ripens. It has many decorative subspecies, varieties with bronze and pale green color of inflorescences, denser inflorescences, more compact tussocks.

Deschampsia cespitosa "Schottland"
Photo Severyakova Elena

Amazingly decorative garden plant, represented by a huge number of varieties that differ in leaf length, stem height and shades of spikelets.

"Bronzeschleier". One of the most luxurious cultivars up to 1.7 m high and 75 cm wide. Panicles change their color from green (when opened) to bronze-brown, often remain decorative until spring. Very resistant variety.
"Goldschleier"The size of the bush is 1 x 0.5 m, the inflorescences are spreading. Flowering begins with a golden yellow color. The tips of the leaves are dark red. It grows quite slowly. A great tussock for use in a regular garden.
"Goldtau". The size of the bush is 1.75 x 0.5 m, the inflorescences are sprawling. It blooms with golden-yellow spikelets, which lose their decorative effect after a month and a half.
"Schottland". Strong strong variation with dark green leaves and slightly greenish, then yellowing flowers up to 90 cm high, peduncles arranged vertically.
"Tardiflora". Height up to 90 cm. It is characterized by a slightly later flowering.

The above pike varieties have been growing in culture for a long time and are unconditional soloists in the garden. Of the other varieties, perhaps the following are interesting:

Deschampsia cespitosa "Bronseschleer"
Photo of Terry Irina

"Fairy's Joke"A strange viviparous specimen, producing tiny younger plants instead of seeds.
"Ladywood Gold". Selection from "Goldtau" with golden yellow leaves in spring. Grows up to 90 cm.
"Northern Lights". Variegated form of pike isolated from seedlings in Nebraska. Leaves with creamy white long spikes, sometimes slightly pink in cold seasons. Forms a tussock only 25 cm tall. Flowering was not observed.

There are several more varieties that, according to the description, differ little from those listed above, but their decorative effect can only be judged after a close acquaintance:

"Goldgehange". Flowering begins with a golden yellow color, flower stems sometimes droop.
"Goldstaub". Flowering is golden yellow. "Tautrager". Flowering is weaker than that of other cultivars. The size of the bush is 1 x 0.6 m. Drooping almost blue panicles quickly become rich yellow when blooming.
"Waldschatt". Dark brown panicles 60-90 cm high.

Caring for a personal plot often takes a lot of time, so sometimes gardeners simplify their lives and plant perennial herbaceous plants. They are unpretentious, grow on almost any type of soil, create spectacular greenery, give the garden a well-groomed appearance and delight the eye for more than one year. Such plants include the so-called meadow pike (aka soddy meadow), which causes a lot of problems for livestock feed stockists in their natural habitat, namely in fields, along roads, streams, in low-lying ravines. The fact is that with uncontrolled growth, it forms large bumps and clumps, thereby changing the once flat terrain.

On the contrary, transferred from the fields to the garden, cultivated by man, this culture shows itself completely with new side: lush green bushes with delicate leaves and a golden panicle give special sophistication and harmony to the "abandoned" corner of the garden.

Soddy Meadow is a representative of the vast Cereal family. It's perennial herbaceous plant, height from 20 cm to 1.7 m, depending on the variety. The leaves are narrow (0.5 cm), strong, rich green in color. On the outer side of the sheet there are slightly noticeable spikes, giving it a characteristic rigidity.

The inflorescence is a panicle, consisting of many silver spikelets. At the beginning of flowering (end of June), they look slightly drooping, blooming more and more every day, add in volume, and become like a fluffy ball. Pike flowers are characterized by a change in color as they mature, as well as in general, for the whole plant - with the approach of autumn, the leaves and stems acquire a golden-straw hue, then fade and so go to winter. Another feature of this plant is that the period of active growth falls on a period with low temperatures - autumn and spring; in summer, when the temperature is high enough, it is at rest.

Leaves, stem and roots form a turf tussock, so it is not recommended to take wild grass and transfer it to the garden, such forms adapt quickly enough and multiply like a weed, the process is difficult to control. For growing on personal plot special, less aggressive and more decorative varieties of soddy meadow grass have been bred.

Species and varieties most suitable for growing in the garden:

• 'Goldschleier', tall, up to 1.7 m, erect stems, panicles golden color, but quickly lose their attractiveness.
• "Goldgehange", by appearance similar to the previous variety, differs in drooping peduncles and lower height, up to 1.2 m.
• "Bronzeschleier", height up to 1.7 m, one of the most beautiful representatives of its kind. Panicles, when flowering, have a green color, after changing it to bronze or brown. Decorativeness persists for a long time, almost until spring.
• "Goldtau", height up to 1 m, salient feature- slow growth, therefore it is more often used to create regular compositions. It has beautiful green foliage with reddish tips.
• "Goldstaub" undersized variety soddy meadow, up to 0.7 m tall. It features a contrasting combination of dark green foliage and light yellow panicles.
• "Northen Lights", the smallest (up to 20 cm tall), representative of extraordinary beauty. On green leaves there are light, beige stripes, which change color to pink when the temperature drops. In relation to other varieties, it is characterized by slow growth and infrequent flowering.

Selecting a landing site

When choosing a place for planting, first of all, you need to decide what the plant is grown for. The fact is that if you need to get lush greenery, then it is better to choose a slightly shaded, moistened area.

If the purpose of planting is a powerful flowering - sunny. Only in this case the desired result will be obtained. In general, absolutely any soil and place is suitable for a soddy meadow, it is unpretentious, it will grow everywhere, but it is more demanding on humidity, therefore, with good lighting, frequent watering will be necessary.

Reproduction methods

Reproduction of pike does not cause any particular difficulties, it is possible both by dividing the bush and by seeds, without growing seedlings.

Vegetative reproduction

In autumn or spring, daughter bushes, at least 10 cm in size, are separated from the main bush with a sharp shovel. Young growth is laid out in a trench prepared in advance so that all roots are underground, sprinkled with soil and watered abundantly. The distance between adjacent plants is 1-1.2 m, because they grow rapidly.

Reproduction by seeds

The sowing of the soddy meadow grass is carried out in open ground, before winter. Seeds are placed in the dug up soil, embedding is not required. They have a very high viability and germination, so they are not afraid of frost. There is also a negative quality of such "survivability" - a high possibility of self-seeding, due to which a flower bed can turn into a real weed. This process can be controlled by cutting the panicles in time, or, if you want to keep the decorative effect until the end of the season, by annual digging of the soil before winter. In this case, the seeds move to the lower layers of the soil, when planted more than 15 cm, they lose their germination capacity.

Care during growth

Plant care consists in timely watering and autumn or spring pruning. When all the leaves and stems have turned yellow, have lost their decorative effect, all the old parts are removed with a sharp pruner, with the exception of the root. If the removal occurs in the spring, you should not feel sorry for the green part of the foliage remaining after wintering - it will be replaced very quickly by young, juicy, green, bright shoots. If you do not cut the meadow at all, such a bush will not look very aesthetically pleasing.

Diseases and pests

The soddy meadow is not susceptible to diseases and pests did not like it. The only thing that can be difficult is the appearance of rust on the leaves. It is the result of incorrect (not short enough) pruning of foliage, as a result of which it cannot cope with the summer heat.

Lugovik, at proper care, is able to amaze with its beauty, riot of colors, power, rigidity and at the same time refinement, tenderness. Often it is used in the so-called Moorish lawn, which is a mixture of herbs, cereals and flowers. It looks good as part of a regular flower bed, for example with roses, or irises, lilies. Some craftsmen make incredible compositions from dry panicles, which continue to delight the eye not only in the garden, but also on winter evenings, decorating home interior and a reminder of the approaching summer.

Weeds are the scourge of gardeners and gardeners, and most time they spend fighting them. However, there are pleasant exceptions. So, a strong and tenacious weed meadow soddy learned to use for decorative purposes. Each of you has seen this plant in the meadows, it also grows willingly along the rivers, resembling a small tussock from which a cereal panicle grows.

general description

Today you can buy the seeds of this plant and plant it beautifully on your site, forming your own landscape. But if you walk along the river bank or wetland, then you will surely find dozens of adult "pikes" from which you can collect seeds. Soddy meadow is surprisingly tenacious, beautiful and interesting plant. They form dense sods and bumps. They love wet meadows and banks of reservoirs, fields and pastures. Soddy meadow, for all its decorativeness, is a harmful weed.

Characteristic

The main advantage of this species (if we consider it as a garden decoration) is vitality. Seeds germinate under almost any conditions, and an adult soddy meadow is unpretentious. The roots of the plant go deep into the ground. In meadows they can reach 70 cm, and in swamps about 20 cm. The stems are straight, up to 100 cm. The inflorescence is presented in the form of a beautiful multi-spike panicle, which fits very elegantly into any landscape. Panicle spreading, large, about 25 cm long.

Meadow soddy ("pike") belongs to the family of cereals. The inflorescence consists of spikelets of small size. Spikelet scales are uneven, they can be purple at the base, and yellow or green at the edges. The whisk can be used to make dry bouquets. They look very elegant at home in winter time, especially if you choose the right vase.

spring shoots

At a relatively low temperature in early spring the first shoots begin to appear, it is a soddy meadow coming out of the ground. The description would be incomplete, if not to say about the amazing gift, exceptional vitality. If you are going to grow "pike" on your site, then you can sow it before winter. Seeds will undergo natural stratification, and in the spring you will get strong and friendly seedlings.

Bloom

Soddy meadow ("pike" soddy) begins to bloom in early summer, releasing a luxurious panicle. It is on it that numerous seeds ripen, which by the middle of summer will begin to crumble. Of course, you don’t need to trim a beautiful panicle. It is enough to know one rule, the seeds do not germinate when embedded in the soil by 5 cm or more. That is, in the fall it will be enough to dig up the ground on the site, and in the spring you will not have friendly growth.

plant development

In the first year of life, the "turfy pike" bushes. The gardener can control this process by constantly trimming the excess. Otherwise, as a result, the plant forms thick turfs, which gradually turn into spectacular bumps. Only in the second year a panicle appears, now the "pike" can bloom and bear fruit. Stems grow from high speed, new shoots appear.

It is this property that causes harm to the plant. The formation of tussocks leads to a change in the soil surface in meadows and pastures. It becomes bumpy and unsuitable for mowing. The leaves of old plants are unsuitable as hay. That is, the "pike" displaces other grasses, and is itself useless as a feed.

The use of "pike"

This is a very beautiful, decorative cereal plant. It is often used in the design suburban area. This is a very convenient plant, as it grows quickly, requiring almost no care. But landing cannot be left without attention. The fact is that the plant develops very quickly, so the extra stems and foliage must be removed in a timely manner, otherwise you will get an ugly bump.

But even after the flowering period is over, flexible and long leaves and straws can be used to stuff mattresses and pillows, and some craftsmen weave various crafts from this raw material.

Perfect condition anywhere

This is one of the main reasons why the "pike" has become a favorite of gardeners. It thrives in almost any soil, from swampy to sandy, although the latter is not typical for its growth. Thanks to various, especially variegated, varieties, it has become a favorite among gardeners. In summer, at temperatures above +25 degrees, the plant hibernates, while fully preserving its decorative effect.

"Pike" turned out to be a convenient and fertile material for breeding new forms and varieties. Their main differences are the length of the leaves, the shades of the spikelets, the height of the peduncles and other indicators.

Agricultural technology

"Pike" prefers to grow on wet soil, at moderate temperatures. If there is an area around garden pond, where constant dampness and nothing else wants to take root, then this perfect place for this weed. Too high temperatures can cause a loss of decorativeness, especially if the soil is not moist enough.

It prefers to grow in the sun, but it will also feel good in partial shade, however, in this case it does not bloom so abundantly. If the plant was planted on sandy soils, then it needs constant watering. In swampy lowlands, you can not moisten additionally. In the spring, you can feed with nitrogen or universal fertilizers.

Varieties

Meadow soddy Goldtau is the largest of all existing today. It reaches a height of up to 170 cm, and the width of the bush is up to 50 cm. A very elegant cereal that forms a dense bush. The leaves are thin, do not die off for the winter. Spreading panicles are golden yellow. The plant blooms in June-July. Winter hardiness zone - 4. This means that the plant calmly tolerates frosts down to -35 degrees. Drought-resistant, but requires frequent watering at temperatures above +25 degrees.

Goldshlier

Goldschleier is another popular plant form that is quite often used to decorate gardens. The height of the grass is up to 1 meter, the width of the bush is up to 50 cm. It keeps the shape of the bush well, since it grows rather slowly. It is especially beautiful during flowering, at this time the inflorescences are golden yellow. Gradually they fade and become grayish. Do not forget that the plant is large, so you need to choose a good place for planting.

Northern Lights

This variety is suitable for those who need to emphasize the beauty of a small pond that does not want to be covered with large bushes. Height about 30 cm, does not bloom. This is a plus and a minus, the lack of seeds does not give him the opportunity to encroach on the rest of the garden. The leaves are green, with a white longitudinal stripe. In cool weather, it can turn pink. By autumn, the leaves become brownish. Winter-hardy, can grow in partial shade, any soil, but always moist.

Decorative and economic qualities

poor, fertile, medium fertility, drained, acidic, neutral, alkaline, sandy, sandy, loamy, clayey, slightly acidic

soil moisture

humid, moderately humid

Lifespan

illumination

straight Sun rays, penumbra

reproduction

seeds, division

Landing time

spring, autumn

Thanks to the evergreen leaves that form a neat rounded tussock, and a huge mass of spikelets, this one is very decorative. Narrow leaves (0.5-3 mm) grow to a length of 30-40 cm. Flowers appear in late June - early July, changing their color as they ripen. The panicle at dissolution is compressed, slightly drooping, during flowering it is loose, sprawling with numerous shiny spikelets. In the sun, flower stalks reach a height of 1.2 m, and in some varieties - 1.7 m. In late summer - autumn, they acquire yellow-orange hues and retain a straw color in winter until they lie under the snow. Soddy pike refers to plants of a cold-seasonal growth pattern: it starts growing in early spring at fairly low temperatures and high soil moisture. In July, when the temperature exceeds 25 ° C and the soil dries up, the pike falls into a dormant period. Closer to autumn, when it gets colder and the rains begin, it starts growing again.

Varieties

Many varieties of pike soddy differ in the length of the leaves, the height of the peduncles and various shades spikelets. Not all cultivars are very different from each other. So, Schottland, Tardiflora, Tautrager, Waldschatt very similar.

Bronzeschleier

Height 1.7 m, diameter up to 75 cm. One of the most beautiful and resistant varieties. Panicles change color from greenish (when opening) to bronze-brown. Spikelets on stems spread out in a wide fan retain their decorative effect until spring.

Fairy's Joke

Height 60-90 cm, diameter 45-60 cm. Viviparous cultivar producing tiny young plants instead of seeds. .

Goldgehange

Height 1.2-1.3 m, diameter 50-60 cm. Blooming panicles are golden yellow, peduncles sometimes droop.

Goldschleier

Height 1.75 m, diameter 0.5 m. Upright flower stalks make the plant very slender. True, after 1-1.5 months, the panicles lose their decorative effect.

Goldstaub

Height 60-75 cm, diameter 45-60 cm. Foliage is very dark. Panicles at dissolution are light yellow.

Goldtau

Height 1 m, diameter 0.5 m. Interesting leaves with dark red tips. It grows more slowly than previous varieties (it can be divided less often), so it is convenient to use in regular compositions.

Ladywood Gold

Height 90 cm, diameter 45-50 cm. Descendant of pike Goldtau with golden yellow leaves in spring.

Northen Lights

Height 25 cm, diameter 30 cm. Leaves with creamy white longitudinal stripes, sometimes slightly turning pink in cold weather. It grows slowly, blooms rarely and not abundantly. Often appears on leaves. It's better to raise this pike in school first.

Schottland

Height 90-120 cm, diameter 40-60 cm. Powerful cultivar with dark green leaves and slightly greenish panicles turning yellow later. Peduncles stand straight.

Tardiflora

Height up to 90 cm, diameter 40-60 cm. Blooms a little later than other varieties. It suffers from rust during hot periods, it is best grown in areas with a cool climate or.

Tautrager

Height 1 m, diameter 0.6 m. It blooms weaker than other cultivars. The drooping panicles, bluish when blooming, quickly turn yellow.

Waldschatt

Height 60-90 cm, diameter does not exceed 30 cm. Dark brown panicles. suffer less from summer heat, so it can be recommended for the southern regions.

Winding pike (Deschampsia flexuosa)

Another decorative look. It forms a dense curtain, like a soddy pike, but more elegant, up to 30-40 cm in diameter. Height in flowering up to 50-60 cm. Filamentous leaves fall down as they grow. It grows best in bright places or in partial shade. . In summer, some of the foliage may wither, it must be carefully removed. Divide in spring and autumn. Effective cultivar Aurea (Tatra Gold) with bright yellow-green foliage, especially in early summer. AT middle lane blooms rarely and not abundantly, so it does not weed.

Use in design

• long leaves, beautiful shape air inflorescences, ease of cultivation make pike in demand in various garden compositions. This is one of the canonical plants