Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Family Pinaceae. Native to the eastern part of North America. In the mountains it forms pure and mixed stands.

A slender tree up to 25 m tall, with a broad conical crown. Bark of old trees brown, deeply furrowed. Main branches are almost horizontal, with their tips and thin lateral twigs hanging down. Foliage flat, small, up to 1.5 cm long, narrowed toward the apex, blunt at the tip, shiny dark green above with a longitudinal groove, beneath with a slightly protruding keel and narrow stomatal bands, arranged comb-like on the shoots. Cones small, ovoid, up to 2.5 cm long, grayish-brown.

Location/site: Tsuga is a very shade-tolerant species.

Soil: The soil mix consists of sod (turf) soil, leaf soil, and sand in the ratio 2:1:2. Performs poorly on calcareous soils, achieves better development on sufficiently fertile, deep, fresh soils.

Planting: Planting time - spring (end of April) or late August - early September until early October. Spacing between plants in a group 0.8 - 1.5 m. Root collar at ground level. Hole depth 70 - 80 cm. At the bottom of the hole a 15 cm layer of coarse-grained sand. Tsuga poorly tolerates transplanting, so its place in the garden should be decided in advance. Grows slowly.

Care: At planting add "Ksmiru Universal" to the soil substrate at a rate of 150 - 200 g per planting hole. Mix the fertilizer thoroughly with the soil.

In subsequent years fertilization may not be necessary (fallen needles, decomposing, enrich the soil with organic matter). Tsugas are moisture-loving, they require regular watering: once a week one bucket of water for each mature plant (older than 10 years). They tolerate low air humidity poorly, so they should be sprayed with a hose at least once a month, and if the summer is hot, more frequent watering and spraying 2-3 times a week is recommended. Tsugas grow better near water bodies. Shallow loosening of the soil up to 10 cm is desirable only with strong soil compaction. Young plantings are usually mulched with a peat layer 3 - 5 cm. Tsuga grows slowly, especially when young, so pruning is not required. Frost usually damages the tips of the annual shoots in young plants; mature plants are quite winter-hardy. During the first two years young seedlings must be covered for winter (after November 10) with peat and spruce boughs (in spring the peat should be raked away from the stems). Reddening of the needles in winter from frost does not harm the plants. Spruce boughs protect seedlings from sunscald.

Propagation: by seeds, cuttings; ornamental forms by grafting onto the species.

Use: A very ornamental species with a light, graceful crown, whose branches on a freely standing tree droop to the ground. Good in small groups and especially effective as a solitary specimen on a lawn. An additional decoration of the cascading crown are the small, hanging light-brown cones, abundant on free-standing trees. Good near water bodies and on forest edges. In cultivation since 1736.