Not every tree has the ability to secrete poplar fluff: male plants are harmless and do not cause trouble. Therefore, the people who plant these plants are doing everything possible to prevent the appearance of females on the streets of the city.
But everything is not so simple: poplars have one unpleasant feature. They are very fond of changing their sex when, for some unknown reason, female earrings suddenly form on a male plant. This mainly happens in large cities with unfavorable environmental conditions. For this reason, the culling of female trees does not particularly solve the problem of poplar fluff.
Feel the scale!
If we turn to the scientific classification, it should be recalled that it belongs to the genus of dioecious (sometimes monoecious) fast-growing "deciduous" trees belonging to the "Willow" tree family.
Moreover, the genus of poplars is one of the most numerous and most widespread representatives of this family on the planet.
Almost the entire northern hemisphere of the Earth (in temperate latitudes and subtropics) is poplar distribution area.
Such a large tree can be found both in Russia, but also in all countries of the hemisphere (Europe and Asia, North America and even East Africa). It is able to adapt to any type of soil, tolerate droughts, severe cold and waterlogged soil.
Today, several dozen poplar species (more than 90) grow on Earth. This includes such species well-known to Russians as “pyramidal” and “ordinary” poplar, “white” (“silver”) and “black poplar” (“black”), “balsamic”, “laurel”, “fragrant”, “Canadian " and many others.
Caring for mature trees
After 6-7 years, loosening of the soil can be skipped. occurs extremely rarely, once a month is enough, and with regular precipitation, you can not water the tree at all. After this time, the trunks are usually sown. From time to time it is necessary to carry out pruning to form the crown. After this procedure, all sections with a diameter of more than 2.5 cm are covered with garden putty.
Pruning should be done every year, starting at a young age. It is worth cutting half the length of the shoots, leaving 10-20 cm on the poplar. The shoots should not stick out from the crown, it should be even. Since the growth rate of pyramidal poplar is quite high, pruning may be required more often.
Did you know?
Poplar is the only tree that continuously oxygenates the atmosphere. The rest of the trees are capable of producing oxygen only during daylight hours.
If you want to rejuvenate the plant, you only need to cut the tops, which are about 10% of the tree's total height. After the pruning procedure has been carried out, fertilizers are necessarily applied, regular watering and loosening of the trunk circle are carried out.
Heavy pruning should be done in winter or early spring, before active sap flow begins. Pruning a pyramidal poplar is a rather painstaking job, but the beauty and health of the tree depends on it.
Botanical facts
Poplar is a large tree with an adult height of 30 to 60 meters. The trunk can be more than one meter wide.
Various types of poplar have the most diverse and somewhat “fantasy” crown, which can be either “pyramidal” and “tent-shaped”, and “ovoid”, “ovoid-pyramidal”.
The bark near the trunk is usually cracked and has a brownish gray as well as dark gray color. In this case, the twigs are smooth, with gray or olive-gray bark.
In the spring, poplar has large leaf buds (5 to 10 millimeters in size), which are extremely resinous, fragrant and have a very aromatic smell.
The poplar leaf has a shape (wedge-shaped, heart-shaped or broad-ovate), which largely depends both on the shoot, where it grows, and on the specific location on this shoot.
According to the classification, poplar leaves are petiolate, alternate, glabrous (sometimes pubescent).
On the outside, they are dark green, and on the back, they are much lighter. In the process of spring budding, young poplar leaves are extremely sticky and sticky due to the resin.
Step-by-step planting process
In order for a tree to take root, certain rules and recommendations must be followed. It is best to plant in autumn or spring - it is at this time that the trees take root better. It is necessary to plant cuttings, which must have several live buds.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the step-by-step instructions for planting poplar:
- It is necessary to dig a hole 1 meter deep.
- Provide a good seedling.
- Deepen the seedling into the hole. In this case, the root collar should not be deeper than 2 cm.
- Sprinkle soil over the seedling.
- For greater stability, tie the young tree to a support until it gets stronger.
When creating a row of pyramidal poplars, it is necessary to plant trees at a distance of 1.5x3 meters or 2.4x4 meters.
How does poplar bloom?
As a rule, full maturation, the ability to bear fruit and, accordingly, regular flowering in poplar appears in a period of up to 12 years.
Meanwhile, poplar blossoms every year when the first leaves appear on a massive scale.
It is noteworthy that when our poplar blooms, its flowers form cylindrical inflorescences - catkins. They are erect, drooping (up to 17 centimeters).
In this case, "male" inflorescences have a burgundy color, and "female", respectively, are light yellow. Earrings in female plants are somewhat longer than male ones.
It is noteworthy that the flowering period of a number of plants in the spring is the cause of problems for people with allergies.
Poplar was no exception in this sense. Since for some allergy sufferers, the problem period lasts exactly as long as the poplar blooms.
Diseases and pests
Like every other plant, the fragrant poplar sometimes gets sick and is attacked from time to time by pests. The most common diseases of these beautiful trees are some of them and cancer. A diseased tree must be urgently cut down, and the stump must be treated with fuel oil.
Young plants are often exposed. In this case, it is necessary to urgently apply silvicultural and agrotechnical measures. In addition, waterlogging of the soil must not be allowed.
The list of poplar pests is quite large. There are many insects that like to lay larvae on the leaves of trees. To combat them, insecticides are used. Each pest has its own preparation, so first you need to find out which enemies attacked the tree, and then look for a "weapon" against them.
Pooh. Heat. June
Of course, the key cycle in the life of a plant is the period when its fruits appear. During this period, there is an excellent opportunity to distinguish between "male" and "female" poplar plants.
The fruits are small dry capsules. During ripening, such capsules contain a huge number of dark-colored seeds (1-2 millimeters in size), which have a characteristic feature - severe pubescence with the finest white hairs.
Abundant flakes of fluff pluck from their boxes and fill everything around. At the same time, the boxes themselves, swollen from seeds, fall.
It was during this period (in the European part of Russia in early June, beyond the Urals in the region of early July) in their annual life cycle, poplars have earned, in general, bad fame. Poplar fluff has a strong effect on allergy sufferers.
Moreover, gathering in large heaps, it is capable of and often leads to a real fire. Especially if there are various wooden buildings on the way of the burning poplar fluff.
Thus, private wooden houses, barn buildings, country houses are “successfully” ignited.
In this regard, people need to be as vigilant as possible, cautious during such a period and not to allow incidents with burning poplar fluff!
Harmful effects on human health
Doctors say that patients began to complain about poplar fluff only in the seventies of the last century, when the air in cities every year began to become more polluted. By itself, poplar fluff can only irritate the mucous membranes, but the fluffs are ideal carriers of pollen and dust, which causes allergies in many people (for example, ragweed bloom can cause such a strong allergy that an allergic person may end up in intensive care).
Another negative point is that poplar fluff has the ability to instantly flash from any spark, causing numerous fires in the forest (people often contribute when they have fun by setting fire to snow-white fluffs).
It is not only down that is harmful: often the trees themselves are dangerous. For example, old poplar has not only soft and easily rotting wood, but also weak roots, which makes it extremely unstable. This means that during a thunderstorm with strong gusts of wind, the old poplar can fall at any time. At best, the poplar will fall on the road or buildings, at worst - on vehicles or people, which can lead to human death.
Poplars are beneficial
However, one cannot fail to say that poplars are beneficial. And considerable! One of the most important positive qualities of poplars, actively affecting the ecology of Russian cities, is the ability of these trees to withstand the polluted air of a large metropolis, especially near urban areas with industrial enterprises.
The fact is that the wide and abundant leaves of poplar actively purify the atmospheric air from dangerous impurities. At the same time, they emit much more useful oxygen into the environment, compared, for example, with coniferous plantations.
Since poplars quickly recover after serious damage, rapidly growing young shoots, and certain species of it also have considerable decorative potential, it is poplars that are of particular importance in terms of landscaping the city's infrastructure.
Useful qualities of wood
Poplar, the types of which can differ significantly from each other, at one time was planted on the streets of cities for good reason. This is due to the fact that the leaves can absorb about 70% of dust and dirt, smoke. In other words, wood is able to effectively purify the air, enriching it with phytoncides and killing microbes. Studies have shown that the breed in question is capable of emitting much more oxygen than conifers.
Characteristics and habitat of oak
Another useful property of the topop is it unpretentiousness... Due to this, after the war, they were able to quickly plant greenery on large areas. In addition, previously a tall tree was planted near the house as a lightning conductor.
The city government began to pay attention to the poplar due to its decorative qualities, as well as its high reproductive capacity. Previously, landscapers tried to give preference to males, as large fluff can lead to serious problems. Old trees are pruned so that a large amount of fluff does not appear on the streets at the time of flowering.
The detrimental effect of fluff on human health can have many problems. It can irritate the mucous membranes, as poplar fluff carries dust and pollen. Certain substances that are carried can cause an acute allergic reaction.
What would Dr. Galen say?
Kidneys, greens contain pharmacologically active compounds useful for humans. And species such as black poplar and common poplar are generally classified as medicinal plants.
They contain a whole range of biochemical compounds useful for human health. Among them are glycosides and essential oils, gums and resins, various organic acids and other substances.
From the poplar buds collected in April, the famous "salicylic" acid, as well as "populin", are separated. They are used in pharmacology to create antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial drugs.
Poplar is also used in "folk medicine", where it is recommended to use decoctions of the kidneys in a number of diseases. Among them are intestinal diseases and pneumonia, cystitis and bronchitis, hemorrhoids and nephritis, stomatitis and many other ailments.
Useful "poplar water" even for people who want to quit smoking. It is also interesting that the extract from poplar buds is an integral part of some shampoos that deal with dandruff.
Reproduction
The fragrant poplar propagates by seed. The same method can be used in nurseries, but there is one difficulty: the seeds must be sown immediately after being harvested, and they must be ripe. To achieve this, it is necessary at the time when the poplar fluff scatters, to find a suitable place, fence it and water it periodically with water. The site should be located so that a large amount of fluff is collected on it. Because of such difficulties, the seed method is used little.
Propagation of poplar by cuttings is a method that is much easier and more convenient. For this, cuttings are used only for male poplar specimens, and this must be done before the buds begin to bloom. For rooting, take last year's shoots up to 12 cm long with two buds. It is recommended to plant them at a distance of at least 10 cm from each other, the buds should remain on the surface. Immediately after planting, water the cuttings well, then water them daily until they grow to 15 cm, then water as the soil dries. At the end of the year, the seedlings will be ready to "move" to a permanent place of residence.
There are poplar species that reproduce by root shoots. But this method has big disadvantages. Plants grown from shoots have underdeveloped roots and are often affected by pests and diseases.
Wood with special properties
Since this plant belongs to soft tree species, the physical and mechanical properties of dry wood (density not higher than 420 kg / cubic meter) of poplar are not very high.
Therefore, the priority industries for the processing of poplar wood are, first of all, the industries for the production of cellulose, inexpensive furniture, and a number of other areas.
As a result, poplar is used to make paper and containers for packaging, domestic matches and various artificial fabrics, kitchen furniture and cuttings for hoes, shovels and rakes, cutting boards for the kitchen, materials for the construction site.
In short, poplar is present in many areas of our life. The world would be different without the poplar.
Berlin
Berlin poplar is a hybrid derived from laurel poplar and black poplar. It has hard, durable wood, which is used for building houses and cultural management of forestry and parks.
The Berlin poplar is not found in the wild. This tree grows to a maximum of 35 m. The crown of the plant has a wide base and a pyramidal, tapering crown formed from thin skeletal branches.
The lower part of the tree is covered with cracked rough bark, a little higher up the trunk, the bark of the tree becomes gray and smooth. Young shoots have a gray-olive color, have a slightly ribbed surface. Growing up and gaining thickness, young branches become rounded in diameter.
The buds of the Berlin poplar are rather large, rounded with a sharp tip. The light green leaves are ovoid with a sharp wedge-shaped tip. The leaf surface is dark green, the lower part of the leaf is almost white.
The length of the leaf plate is 10-15 cm, the width is 6-7 cm. The Berlin poplar opens its leaves at the beginning or in the second half of May, throws out inflorescences in the form of long, fluffy earrings that ripen at the end of June.
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Fragrant
Fragrant poplar grows throughout Eastern Siberia, its homeland is the Far East. The tree grows along the floodplains of rivers, on the shores of taiga lakes, sometimes forming poplar groves without admixtures of other trees. In the cities of Russia, poplar alleys plant greenery at railway stations, city alleys, and streets.
A huge tree has a height of up to 20 m, sometimes there are woody giants up to 25 m high. The branches of the tree are located at an angle of 70 ° relative to the tree trunk.
These branches form a neat oval-shaped crown, up to 15 m in diameter. Young branches have a smooth yellowish or greenish-gray skin, aging with age, the skin on the shoots becomes coarse and cracked.
The older the tree, the rougher the ruptures of the burst bark. The tree is not demanding on the soil on which it grows, it feels equally well both on black soil and in clay soils. It tolerates frosts down to -40 ° C.
Quite demanding on air humidity, reacts negatively to prolonged droughts. The leaves of the fragrant poplar are oval, with a tapered pointed tip, the usual leaf size is from 6 to 10 cm in length, 5 cm in width.
The leaves are strong, leathery, the skeletal structure of the leaf is clearly visible in the form of thick veins, the edges are slightly serrated, finely cut. The color of the leaf blade ranges from light olive to dull green, turning the blade over, you can see that its color is light gray, almost silvery.
The leaves are firmly attached to the branches, slightly pubescent with a petiole (3-4 cm long). Male earrings are short, their length is no more than 2 cm, reddish tint.
Female inflorescences grow in length up to 5-7 cm, in female earrings a pistil with a three-part column and an ovoid stigma is formed. Fruit pods consist of four valves, elongated, oval.
Plants bloom almost simultaneously with the blooming of young foliage, full flowering occurs closer to mid-June.
Young plants develop very quickly, gaining height and width of the crown. In Siberia and the Far East, these trees live up to 200 years, poplars growing in cities often live only up to 25-30 years, after which they fall ill and dry out.
This type of poplar reproduces well by far-blown seeds or green cuttings (their rooting rate is up to 90%).
Pruning
Formative pruning
After planting, save only one apical leader shoot growing vertically upwards - it is thanks to him that the plant will stretch in height. The main criterion is that the crown should have an even shape, the shoots should not stick out of it. No trimming is required for columnar forms.
Sanitary pruning
Poplar tolerates pruning well. So you can not hesitate and, in order to rejuvenate, safely cut off from an adult plant (30-40 years old) - at least 15-20% of the height.
Large-leaved
Large-leaved poplar, also known as Ontarian or Aurora, is a very beautiful, showy plant with large leaves. In European countries, this tree grows up to 10 m in height, during our frosty winters it is significantly shorter.
When this tree freezes and its branches die off, a pair of new shoots form at the tip of each branch. As a result, the crown of this short poplar is very lush, the ends of the shoots are decorated with large leaves, on which cream spots are clearly visible.
This creamy color makes the large-leaved poplar very decorative; in the middle of summer, the color of the leaves changes to light green. The length and width of the leaf reaches 10 cm.
The tree is not resistant to frost and therefore short-lived. The average lifespan of this plant is 65 years.
Planting poplar Aurora is advisable in places protected from cold northerly winds, the tree needs abundant sunshine, the city does not oppress the plant with gas pollution.
