Many owners of home garden plots and summer cottages plant shrubs with high decorative properties. One of them is barberry. Planting and caring for this shrub is not particularly difficult. The article discusses how to properly plant an acquired plant, take care of it. Tips on propagating barberry and combating pests and diseases that affect it may also come in handy.
Varieties and varieties of barberry
Barberry - spectacular ornamental plant with elongated fruits of bright red, yellow or white color. It is hardy, drought tolerant and hardy shrub with elliptical leaves of the most diverse colors: green, yellow, red, purple. The berries of the common barberry are edible and are widely used in cooking and medicine. They have a pleasant sour taste and are used to make compotes, kissels, jams, marshmallows, syrups, etc.
Barberry with ripe fruits
Due to the presence of many useful substances- apple, wine and citric acid, carotenoids, vitamins, mineral salts, fruits and leaves of the plant are used to make drugs:
- reducing blood pressure;
- having a bactericidal effect;
- preventing the development of lamblia in the human body;
- to stop bleeding;
- relieve fatigue;
- fight against psoriasis.
Exists three main varieties of barberry, each of which has many varieties:
There are also types of barberry that have outward signs similarity with common barberry:
- a hybrid of Provencal barberry, obtained by crossing an ordinary and Siberian plant species;
- growing in the Himalayas Spinous;
- barberries of Zimbold, James, Diels.
Planting barberry
In order for the seedlings to develop well, bloom profusely and bear fruit, it is important to carefully consider the choice of a place for planting and soil preparation. For barberry, soil with normal acidity is most suitable, if its pH is more than 7.0, it is recommended to add slaked lime before or during planting.
Barberry seedling
The optimal distance between the bushes for a single planting is 1.5 m, when creating a hedge - 0.5 m. Barberry does not tolerate stagnant water, therefore, it should be planted in the highest places of the site and drain the soil by adding sand to improve the aeration of the root system of the plant.
Attention! Despite the endurance and unpretentiousness, the barberry is photophilous, when planted in the shade bright colors the colors of its leaves are fading, may fade decorative elements on the leaves, for which this plant is especially valued: spots, stripes and other patterns.
Boarding order:
- A landing pit is being prepared with sides of 40 x 40 x 40 cm.
- A small layer of sand is laid at the bottom of the pit, then a mixture of soddy soil with 8-10 kg of humus or compost. If organic fertilizers are absent, mineral ones can be used instead (200 g of superphosphate and 100 g of potassium sulfate). At high soil pH (high acidity), 400 g of lime or 200 g of wood ash are added to it.
- The plant is placed in a pit, the free space is filled with the prepared earth mixture, watered abundantly, the surface is mulched with peat or compost. The root neck of the bush should be at the level of the soil surface.
- The top of the plant is cut off leaving 3-5 strong buds at the bottom.
It is very important to cover the plant well for the winter.
Best time for its planting or transplanting in the fall - from September 15 to October 15, in the spring - from the 20th of March to April 15. Plants that are purchased in a container can also be planted in the summer, choosing a non-hot day and protecting the first days from direct sunlight.
Seedling care
The main care operations for barberry bushes are:
- loosening the soil, facilitating the access of oxygen to the roots of the plant;
- watering in dry weather, weeding with weed removal;
- pruning of weak and diseased branches, the formation of a bush;
- top dressing.
In the first 2 years after planting, the seedling should be covered for the winter with burlap to protect it from the cold. Mature bushes are fairly easy to tolerate negative temperature. If the winter is severe and frost damages the branches, they are pruned with the onset of spring to healthy buds.
Barberry responds very well to mulching
Barberry is a fast growing shrub that is recommended to be pruned regularly in spring or fall. This will allow not only to remove the skeletal branches located in the central part of the bush, leading to its excessive thickening, but also to give a beautiful haircut with a haircut. decorative form. The first pruning is done a year after planting, removing half or two-thirds of the growth of the branch. The best time to trim your barberry hedge is June and August.
Attention! Some varieties of barberry have sharp spikes, so when caring for them, protect your hands with strong gloves. Regular watering (once every 4-7 days) is required only when the soil dries out in dry hot weather and newly planted plants.
Fertilizer and top dressing of barberry bushes
Barberry does not need too frequent feeding. The first feeding of the plant is carried out a year after planting, then every 3-4 years. In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are applied (20-30 g of urea is dissolved in 10 liters of water per 1 bush), in the fall - phosphorus, potash (15 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium salt per 1 plant), organic fertilizers. It is good to combine these preparations with trace elements.
In July, plants can be fertilized with the Kemira-universal complex preparation at a concentration of 15 g per 10 liters. Nitrogen fertilizers - ammonium nitrate, urea contribute to powerful growth, the formation of leaves and stems of seedlings, potassium and phosphorus provide abundant flowering and fruiting bushes.
barberry seeds
Reproduction of barberry
At propagating barberry seeds, they are separated from the stone, kept for 3-5 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Dried seeds are buried in the ground by 1-2 cm, with the advent of spring, the seedlings are thinned out, leaving a distance of 3 cm or more between them. After 2 years, seedlings can be transplanted to another place. When spring sowing seeds, they must first be stratified: mixed with sand and placed in the refrigerator for 2-5 months. The stratification temperature should be between 2-5 ºC. In order for the plants to bear fruit in a few years, several specimens must be placed side by side, as this is a cross-pollinated shrub.
cuttings produced in the morning in the middle of July. The preparation of the cuttings consists in removing the lower leaves, shortening the upper leaves by 2 times and placing them in an aqueous solution of heteroauxin or other root former for 3-5 hours. After washing with water, the cuttings are planted in a greenhouse. The soil should consist of equal parts of soddy soil, humus and peat, to which a small amount of sand is added. Within two weeks, the greenhouse is regularly ventilated and the soil is moistened, and when the cuttings are fully rooted, the film is removed.
Young plant ready for planting permanent place
For breeding barberry layering in the spring, a powerful one-year-old shoot is selected in the lower part of the bush, bends down, fits and fastens in a small groove, which is covered with earth in such a way that only the upper part of the branch looks out from under the ground. By the end of the season, the layering will be able to take root, it is separated from the bush and transplanted.
Diseases and pests affecting barberry
The most dangerous insects for barberry are moth, aphids and sawflies. Signs of damage to the aphid plant are drying and wrinkling of the leaves. The pest can be eliminated by spraying the bushes soapy water(for 10 liters of water take 300 g laundry soap). Other pests can be destroyed with a 1-3% solution of chlorophos.
Powdery mildew on barberry leaves
Also, barberry can be affected by fungal diseases, for example, powdery mildew, as seen in the photo, leaf spot, rust and other diseases. To destroy powdery mildew pathogens, the bush must be treated with 1% solution of colloidal sulfur, cut off diseased branches and burned. If the plant is affected by rust, it should be treated three times with 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid or colloidal sulfur once a week. In case of spotting disease, copper oxychloride (30-40 g per 10 l of water) is used twice before the flowers bloom and at the end of flowering. Plants affected by fungal wilt are treated with copper oxychloride or Bordeaux mixture. If bacteriosis occurs, manifested by cracks and tumors on the stems, it is necessary to cut off the diseased shoot, capturing the healthy part of the plant and burn it, and spray the bush with Bordeaux liquid or its analogue.
Rust
By planting a barberry on your backyard, you can get great pleasure from amazing beauty this plant, create beautiful compositions using its branches, densely strewn with fruits, as well as using berries for cooking many dishes and medicinal tinctures.
Barberry for the garden: video
Growing barberry: photo
In most varieties of barberry plants, it is easy to notice signs of decorativeness with an unaided eye, therefore they are often used as hedges, and dwarf species for decorating borders. There are 175 species in the genus, growing mainly in the mountains in the north.
Varieties and types
Most common in floriculture barberry Thunberg originating from China and Japan. This is a shrub reaching a height of 1 meter, with dense stems spread out in diameter by 1.5 meters. Characteristic spines cover yellow in early age, then brownish and purple-brown stems and can grow up to 1 cm in length. The leaves are bright, rather small (up to 3 cm in length), green in color, autumn time acquiring a reddish or purple hue.
This barberry blooms annually, starting from the last days of spring. Inflorescences are formed by yellowish-red flowers of 2-4 pieces. beautiful berries coral-red colors can hang all winter on a bush, they are not suitable for human consumption, which birds use with pleasure.
This species easily tolerates drought, has no special requirements for the soil and practically does not suffer from pests, which is not typical, for example, for the common barberry. At the same time, it can be easily trimmed.
With such advantages, it is not surprising that there are more than fifty interesting varieties of Thunberg barberry, different in foliage color, size, shape and frost resistance:
Under a meter tall, with a round crown, yellow (in the summer months) or yellow-orange (in the autumn) leaves, flowers up to 1 cm in diameter, yellow on the inside and reddish on the outside, a little frosty, and therefore it needs to be covered from the cold in the first 2-3 years;
- similar to the previous variety, with bright yellow leaves with a thin dark red edging.
Variety barberry bagatelle with a darkened brownish-red leaf color (variegated red - in autumn period), a flat-spherical crown, a little less than half a meter high, in need of shelter from the cold;
With narrow sheets of dark red color, wide (up to 2 and a half meters in diameter) crown, yellow flowers, pinkish and red berries, freezing only at 1 year of age;
- up to one and a half meters in height, with dark purple foliage with a light green border, red flowers, coral-red berries, hanging on a bush for a long time, in need of shelter from the cold;
Variety Barberry Coronita - similar to the previous variety, but with smaller pointed leaves;
With a thin greenish border on a dark brown leaf;
With brownish-red foliage, columnar crown, pinkish-red round leaves in young years and red later, about 1.3 meters tall;
It has a mosaic color of foliage (bright purple with bronze-red and grayish-pink stains in youth and darkish pink or purple-red with gray spots in older years), reaches a height of 1.7 meters, is full of yellow flowers, requires shelter;
Variety barberry harlequin 1.3 meters high, with red, dotted with white and gray stains (which are more in comparison with the previous variety), sheets that require shelter;
- a very elegant variety with small light green leaves (purple in autumn), a narrow oval crown up to 1 meter high, with branches directed to the top, richly blooming in light yellow hues;
Dwarf variety with small green leaves (orange-yellow in autumn), about half a meter high;
- bred in Holland, with a cushion-shaped crown, up to 1 meter in height, with roundish small leaves up to 2 cm in length, light green in the summer months and orange-yellow in autumn, blooming from the end of May with a yellowish-red tint frost-resistant down to -28.8°C;
— dwarf variety up to 70 cm in height, with reddish-orange leaves, quite hardy;
Variety barberry tini gold - is also dwarf plant up to half a meter in height and up to 1 meter in width, with a crown in the form of a ball, yellowish-golden leaves (yellowish-orange in autumn), blooming in the transition of spring to summer in yellow and red hues.
Can be found in the forest-steppe of Russia, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus. It has a height of about 2.5 meters with brownish-yellow stems covered with 2-centimeter spines. Its foliage is dark green, forming small bunches. It blooms in the first summer days with tassels with yellow gleaming flowers exuding an interesting smell.
With the onset of autumn, the foliage begins to turn yellow. The berries of this species, unlike the Thunberg barberry, are completely edible - refreshing, sour in taste. Common barberry is characterized by good resistance to winter cold, drought and dust, as well as low requirements for soil (preferably light and limed).
Despite the fact that a shaded area is quite suitable for a shrub, it will bear fruit abundantly only in good light conditions. Not afraid of pruning. The main disadvantage of this species is susceptibility to fungal attack, which is most often manifested if the summer turned out to be damp and cold.
A very popular variety of common barberry in floriculture is considered atropurpurea with red foliage and height up to 2 meters. The flowers of this variety are yellowish-orange, and the berries are dark red.
A hybrid of the Thunberg barberry and the common Atropurpurea. It has a height of up to 2 meters. The foliage is dark purple in summer and turns red in autumn. The flowers, painted reddish-yellow, form tufts of 8-10 pieces, blooming in the last days of May. Berries are dark red. In addition to the fact that this species is unpretentious and frost-resistant, it also copes well with pruning, drought and is practically not subject to diseases.
Distributed in rocky areas of China, Japan and Primorye. Outwardly, it is very similar to the common barberry, but reaches as much as 3.5 meters in height, with grayish-yellow stems dotted with 2-centimeter spines. The foliage is relatively large (up to 8 cm long), shiny, has teeth on the edges, bright green in spring, yellow or red in autumn.
Flowering occurs at the end of May and is characterized by the appearance of elongated inflorescences in the form of brushes up to 10 cm in length, formed from 10-25 yellow scented flowers. Sour berries of this species can also be eaten, red, up to 1 cm in diameter, can be stored on a bush for a long time. Not whimsical to the soil, resistant to winter, drought and pests, especially powdery mildew.
Barberry planting and care
Many species and varieties of barberry are very fond of light. It is with this feature in mind that it is recommended to choose a sunny site for planting.
Container barberries with closed roots do an excellent job of transplanting at any time, while specimens with bare roots prefer early spring for planting - while the buds have not yet opened, or autumn - during the leaf fall period.
With single plantings, it is advantageous to place the bushes at a distance of about 2 meters from the rest of the vegetation and among themselves. To make a barberry hedge, it is recommended to plant plants at 2-4 bushes per meter.
Watering the barberry
Barberries do not react well to waterlogging of the soil and water them very rarely - only during planting and until the bush takes root.
After the soil is sufficiently stably loosened to saturate it with oxygen.
Soil for barberry
The required soil pH at the time of planting is 6-7.5. Sand, garden soil and humus are suitable for the soil mixture in equal proportions.
Acidic soil should first be limed using wood ash(200 g per bush) or slaked lime (300-400 g).
How to feed barberry
IN spring period when the barberry is 2 years old, it needs to be fed with nitrogen fertilizers. Great option is urea - in proportions of 20-30 g per 10 liters of water.
Barberry transplant in autumn
As for transplantation, both for the beginning of spring and in autumn, it should be noted that the roots of age-related (more than 3-4 years old) barberries can hardly withstand transplantation without an earthen clod, slowly getting along in a new place and recovering fully only after 1-3 years .
Pruning barberry in autumn
Pruning is done in spring and autumn. For this purpose, thin, dry, diseased twigs, underdeveloped and frozen stems during the winter are selected. It is best to prune with thick gloves, because the bush will prick.
The plant is well suited for forming pruning, giving it the appearance of a ball or other geometric figure.
Barberry shelter for the winter
In the first 2-3 years from the moment of planting, it is better to cover the barberry for winter with dry leaves and spruce branches, in the future - to do this if necessary, taking into account the climate and the winter hardiness of the planted varieties.
In a harsh climate with a high risk of freezing, it is better to plant the bushes in a place that is not windy and, at the same time, mulch the near-stem circles to warm the roots.
Barberry from seeds
For propagation by seeds, freshly harvested fruits must be squeezed out, sifted with a sieve, washed, dried a little to a state of flowability. Further, it is preferable to sow in shallow grooves (up to 1 cm).
Before sowing in spring, stratification should last 2-5 months at temperatures of 2-5°C. The soil must be loosened, the landing site must be open and adequately lit. After the appearance of 2 leaves, the seedlings need to be threaded, maintaining a distance of at least 3 cm.
Reproduction of barberry
Barberries are not difficult to propagate using green cuttings. The hardest thing is through the ordinary division of the bush. In the latter case, the bush is completely dug up and cut in two.
Diseases and pests
Since certain varieties of barberry are quite often affected by pests, it is recommended to periodically inspect the bushes and spray them with soapy water (300 grams of soap per 10 liters of water) and chlorophos (0.3%).
To prevent diseases caused by rust and powdery mildew at the beginning of the growing season, prevention is carried out by spraying with solutions of colloidal sulfur (1-1.5%) and Bordeaux liquid (1%). Having found an infection, one should resort to the help of fungicides (Abiga-Peak and the like).
Barberry useful properties and contraindications
The beautiful appearance of the barberry is combined with the healing power, which was known in ancient greece, Tibetan monasteries and in Rus'. Barberry fruits have antipyretic, antimicrobial and blood-slowing effects and remove toxins.
However, the ability to stimulate muscle activity makes them contraindicated for pregnant women due to the threat of miscarriage. When taking sedatives, you should also be careful about the use of barberry - the sedative effect of them is very strong. Unripe barberry berries are poisonous!
Barberry jam
To prepare barberry jam, you will need a kilogram of berries, a liter of water and 2 kg of brown sugar.
The berries are sorted, washed and their stalks are removed. Then they fill it with heated water and defend the night under conditions room temperature. The resulting juice is poured into a vessel, you can separate the bones from the berries.
For sugar syrup, boil water in a large saucepan, then lower the heat and add sugar. Stir the water so that the sugar is completely dissolved, and you can add the barberry. Next, cook over low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The jam is ready when the berries become soft and the mass reaches a thick state. Jam is poured into sterilized jars, rolled up and turned upside down, allowing them to cool completely.
10.06.2018
If you are looking for an interesting shrub for the garden, planting and caring for which is not difficult, then be sure to consider the barberry. It will perfectly complement the landscape due to its decorative qualities, and at the same time you will get edible berries which can be used in cooking.
Place and soil
For planting barberry, you need a well-lit or slightly shaded area with fertile sandy and loamy soil. They prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 7.5, i.e. moderately acidic to neutral.
The land needs to be fertilized and well drained. Barberry is quite drought tolerant and does well in dry, rocky soils, but does not tolerate heavy clay soil and constant moisture.
Barberry bushes are often planted, usually along fences or along the border of the site as a hedge. Plants grown in a sunny location usually produce more fruit and a brighter color.
Barberry is photophilous, drought- and frost-resistant. On moist soils, it forms numerous root offspring.
Types and varieties of barberry - description with photos and names
There are over 400 species of barberry plants. Many of them have sharp thorns, be sure to keep this in mind when growing bushes, especially if you have small children.
Among the most popular introduced into the culture are the following types:
- ordinary;
- ordinary dark purple;
- multipedal;
- Amur;
- barberry Thunberg.
Barberry ordinary
Under natural conditions, the common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is distributed in the European part of Russia, in the Caucasus, in the Crimea. It is a shrub up to 2.5 m high, with faceted yellowish or yellowish-purple, later brownish-gray shoots.
Kidneys are sharp, glabrous, up to 1 mm long. The leaves are thin, membranous, elliptical, obovate, up to 4 cm long and 2 cm wide.
Inflorescences racemose, yellow, up to 6 cm long.
The berries are bright red, sometimes yellowish-red, oblong, up to 12 mm long, sour.
Barberry ordinary dark purple
This kind of appearance easy to distinguish in spring and summer by the color of the leaves, which turn dark red, and the sepals turn purple-red.
Barberry multi-legged, or multi-leaved
Grows in Central Asia. It belongs to a medium-sized group, reaches a height of 1.5–2 m, stands out with a bright, elegant color of shoots - from red to red-brown as they age.
There are quite a few spines. Flower brushes are small, compact, they grow from three to eight blue-purple fruits, covered with a dense wax coating. They are round, large, 11–13 mm long.
Amur barberry
Amur barberry (Berberis amurensis) grows everywhere in the Far East. It is a shrub up to 3.5 m high, slightly branched, with erect and short lateral ribbed shoots.
The leaves are membranous, obovate, oblong, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide, finely serrated at the edges, dull above, bright green below.
The inflorescence is a brush up to 10 cm long, consisting of 10–25 pale yellow flowers. The berries are bright red, elliptical, 10 mm long.
Barberry Thunberg
Barberry Thunberg (Berberis thunbergii), or Japanese barberry is common in the Baltic states, Belarus and in the central regions of central Russia. It grows in the form of a bush 1.5–2 m tall, with beautiful decorative leaves and dense, compactly arranged branches, especially elegant in autumn: at this time, the bushes seem to burn with a purple-carmine flame.
The plant is beautiful both in spring, when yellow flowers bloom with a red tint from the inside, and in summer, when bright corals of berries begin to turn red.
The fruits are elongated, elliptical, 10 mm long, collected in catchy bright brushes, but can also be single. In terms of decorativeness, Thunberg's barberry is not inferior to the best European varieties and forms of common barberry.
Growing barberry - reproduction, planting and care in the open field
Unpretentiousness, endurance, ease of planting and care are the reasons why people grow barberries. The aerial part of the bush is well formed and tolerates pruning.
How to propagate barberry
Barberry is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering, dividing the bush, grafting.
Reproduction of barberry seeds
The easiest way to propagate is to sow fresh seeds in the fall before the onset of frost in grooves to a depth of 1 cm.
Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected in a pink solution of potassium permanganate, washed and dried.
Seedlings appear in early summer. As soon as two true leaves are formed, the seedlings are thinned out so that there is a distance of at least 3 cm between them.
They are left to grow for another 2 years without a transplant, after which the resulting seedlings are ready for planting in a permanent place.
Propagation of barberry by layering
For reproduction by layering in spring, the strongest annual shoots of plants are bent, placed in grooves 3–5 cm deep and pressed along the entire length of the shoot with arcs and covered with soil, leaving only the top with two or three upper buds. Water if necessary.
After 2-3 months roots are formed. When the shoots reach 10–12 cm in height, they are spudded.
In autumn or spring, seedlings are cut off from the mother bush and transplanted to a permanent place.
Propagation of barberry cuttings
For propagation by cuttings in the spring, young shoots of barberry (with incomplete lignification) are selected from healthy plants no older than 10 years.
Cuttings with two or three internodes are cut off and immediately immersed in a heteroauxin solution for 10–12 hours.
After rinsing from the solution, the stalk is planted in a greenhouse or open ground, watered and sprayed 2-3 times a day with warm water.
A stalk planted in open ground is covered plastic bottle shading her. After 20-30 days, it takes root, and after another two months they can be planted in a permanent place.
For barberry cuttings, lignified cuttings (annual) are harvested in the spring around mid-April and stored at a temperature of about 0 ° C. Terms of cuttings: at the end of May, having renewed the cut, the cuttings are ready for planting.
The division of the barberry bush
The division of the bush is carried out in early spring or in autumn. For this, 3-5 year old plants with a loose crown are suitable, especially planted with a depth of 10 cm.
The overgrown shrub is dug up and the branches are cut short with a pruner and the root neck is cut into pieces so that each has roots and two or three shoots.
The wounds are sprinkled with crushed charcoal and the seedlings are transplanted to a new place. After 2 years, the plants are fully restored.
Planting barberry
Two-year-old seedlings or one-year-old seedlings are planted in a permanent place.
Planting dates for barberry - in the spring, after the soil thaws and before the buds begin to open, less often - in the fall during the period of mass leaf fall.
- Plants should be positioned so that they get as much sun as possible. On garden plot enough 1-2 pieces. When planting several bushes, the barberry planting pattern should be at least 1.5 x 1.5 meters.
- For hedges, plants are planted denser - after 0.5–1 m.
How to plant a barberry:
- For 2-3-year-old bushes, a landing hole is prepared with a depth and diameter of about 25-30 cm, for 5-7-year-olds - 40-50 cm.
- The recess is filled with a fertile substrate, consisting of equal parts of compost or humus and garden soil and sand.
- The seedling is planted, straightening all its roots, covered with earth and compacted well.
- Then they water, mulch (sprinkle) with peat or humus and cut the shoots to 3-4 developed buds.
Outdoor barberry care
When it comes to caring for barberry shrubs, you'll find it's quite easy, as it's unpretentious and only needs regular watering during dry times, weeding, loosening the ground around the bushes, and pruning old shoots.
How to water the barberry
During the first summer after planting, if there is no precipitation, water the ground at the base of the barberry well every week.
top dressing
An adult plant may suffer from a lack of trace elements. So, with a lack of calcium on acidic soils, the leaves become faded, yellow-brown or brown, and the yield decreases sharply. Therefore, lime is periodically (once every 5–7 years) brought under the bush, and wood ash - annually in the amount of 300–500 g.
pruning barberry
In the spring, before the buds begin to bloom, you need to cut off all the weak and diseased shoots - new ones will soon grow in their place.
Sanitary pruning of barberry at fruiting age consists in thinning
- thickened branches;
- shoots lying on the ground;
- dry, diseased and poorly developed branches.
It is desirable to treat places of large cuts with garden pitch.
Pruning barberry for the winter - video
Diseases and pests
Barberry is often affected by rust. Spots appear on the leaves in spring orange color- a symptom of the disease. When they are detected, they are sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid after the formation of the leaves, the next - after 20 days and one more - 20 days after the previous one.
Do you grow barberry in your area? If yes, then you are already own experience we saw how easy it is to plant and care for. If not, then plant - you will not regret it, you will succeed without much effort.
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Noble lush greenery, unpretentiousness, the ability to purify the air of dust and pathogens make nephrolepis one of the most popular indoor ferns. There are many types of nephrolepis, but any of them can become a real decoration of the room, and it doesn’t matter if it’s an apartment, Vacation home or office. But only healthy, well-groomed plants can decorate a room, so creating suitable conditions and proper care- the main task of flower growers.
The right herring under a fur coat - layers in turn, the order of which depends on the taste of the dish. It is important not only to put the fish and vegetables in a certain sequence. Food preparation is also important. Never boil vegetables for this snack the day before, they will lose some of their taste in the refrigerator overnight, they will become insipid. Boil vegetables 2-3 hours before cooking and cool them to room temperature. You can also bake carrots, beets and potatoes in the oven in foil.
In the garden first-aid kit of experienced gardeners, there is always crystalline iron sulfate, or ferrous sulfate. Like many others chemicals, it has properties that protect horticultural crops from numerous diseases and insect pests. In this article, we will talk about the features of using iron sulphate for the treatment of garden plants from diseases and pests and other options for its use on the site.
Many people cannot imagine their diet without ripe tasty tomatoes. Moreover, the variety of varieties allows you to choose the one that is most to your taste. There are varieties that are called salad, that is, it is better to use them fresh. These include the Honey tomato, whose name speaks for itself. In 2007, the Honey variety was included in the State Register of the Russian Federation. "Agrosuccess" offers seeds from the best breeders in the world that have passed additional testing
Retaining walls are the main tool for working with complex terrain on the site. With their help, not only create terraces or play with planes and leveling, but also emphasize the beauty of the rockery landscape, the change in height, the style of the garden, its character. Retaining walls allow you to play with raised and lowered platforms and hidden areas. Modern dry or more solid walls help to turn the disadvantages of the garden into its main advantages.
This plant has many faces. Among its many species, you can find shrubs that are highly decorative, and some plant species have edible fruits of a sour taste. In 100 g of berries - 5 daily norms of vitamin C and 2.5 norms of vitamin A. This plant produces an impenetrable hedge, and it is also a natural healer that saves from many diseases. All this is about barberry, planting and caring for which is not particularly difficult.
There are about 500 wild species and various varieties of barberry in nature. Many of them gave birth to cultivated varieties, and there are also many of them. When crossing different types plants were obtained, which are distinguished by a special decorative effect.
The most famous natural forms are the following:
- Barberry common. An inhabitant of the southern regions of our country. It grows up to 2.5 m. Arcuate yellowish-brown shoots are covered with dark green ovate leaves and tripartite spines, reaching a length of 2 cm. At the end of spring, the bushes are covered with fragrant flowers collected in a brush. Edible bright red fruits over 1 cm long ripen in autumn. Their taste is sour and refreshing. There is also a red-leaved form - Atropurpurea, up to 2 meters high with orange-yellow flowers and dark red fruits. And also there is a variegated - Albovariegata.
- Amur barberry. It comes from the Far East and also grows in China and Japan. A shrub up to 3.5 m high is decorated with long tassels of flowers in spring, and in autumn with shiny edible juicy red fruits that do not crumble for a long time.
- Canadian barberry. In Russia, it is rare. A tall bush consists of shoots of dark purple color and is characterized by abundant fruiting.
- Ottawa barberry. This is the result of hybridization of the Thunberg barberry and the form common barberry with red leaves (Atropurpurea). The bush grows up to 2 meters. Yellow flowers have a reddish tint, and its fruits are dark red. One of the most famous varieties of this species is the Ottawa Superba barberry. It has very decorative dark red leaves and unusual red-yellow flowers. The variety is winter-hardy and almost not affected by diseases.
- Barberry spherical. This is a fairly frost-resistant shrub native to the mountainous regions of Central Asia. It differs not only in leaves that are not characteristic of barberry, but also in spherical edible fruits of dark blue color.
- Barberry Thunberg. Forms a low sprawling bush with small leaves and beautiful fruits with a bitter taste, unsuitable for food. This species is most suitable for decorating gardens and parks. For this, numerous varieties have been bred: Aurea and Bonanza gold with yellow leaves, Red Chief with dark red leaves, Harlequin and Cornic with variegated foliage. One of the most famous is the barberry Thunberg Atropurpurea. Its bush up to 1.5 meters high is covered with purple-red foliage changing color to bright carmine in autumn. The real decoration of the plant are yellow flowers collected in brushes with red stains.
Planting shrubs in the garden
Most varieties of garden barberry are unpretentious, but still they have their own preferences and they must be taken into account when planting plants in the garden.
How and when to plant?
Planting time depends on which root system the seedling was purchased with - closed or open. In the first case, planting can be carried out throughout the growing season.
In the second, her time is limited to two terms:
- in early spring, until the buds have yet blossomed, but the earth has already thawed;
- in autumn at the time of leaf fall, but at this time planting is associated with the risk of freezing the plant in winter.
Since the rhizome of the barberry is creeping and located in surface layers soil, they don’t dig a big hole for him. Its diameter depends on the age of the bush.
- For babies 2-3 years old, a hole 25 cm deep with the same diameter is enough.
- For 5-7-year-old plants, it should be larger - about 50 cm deep and in diameter.
- When using barberry bushes as a hedge, they are not limited to pits, but dig a trench 40 cm wide and deep for the entire length of the plantings.
But in any case, the reference point is the size of the root system of the seedling. She should not be cramped in the landing pit. It is necessary to prepare a place for barberry in advance so that the soil has time to settle, and there are no voids in it.
After a drainage layer of pebbles or broken bricks is laid at the bottom of the pit, it is filled with a soil mixture of the following composition:
- humus or well-ripened compost - 1 part;
- garden soil - 1 part;
- sand - 1 part.
Each bush will need 200 g of ash and 100 g of superphosphate. landing pit spilled with water. If the seedling is grown in a container, before planting it, together with the container, is immersed in water for 20 minutes so that the earth ball is well saturated with water. For plants with an open root system, the soaking time is longer - from 2 to 3 hours, and it is good to add a root stimulator to the water. If the roots are not dry, the seedling can not be soaked, but sprinkle the root system with a root formation stimulator.
If several bushes are planted, when choosing a scheme for their placement, you need to remember that they grow strongly in width, so the distance between them should not be less than 1.5 m. The only exception is planting as a hedge - 2 plants are planted per 1 running meter. It is very important not to deepen them when planting, the root collar should be slightly above the soil level.
Site and soil requirements
All barberries are drought-resistant plants, they do not need moist soil, so places with a high standing of groundwater or flooded in spring are not suitable for them.
They also require lighting. In the shade and even partial shade, the color intensity of the leaves decreases, and fruiting will be weak.
In nature, barberries most often grow on sand; in culture, they have not changed their preferences - they love light soil. Heavy soil with a high content of clay will have to be improved by adding sand. The reaction of the soil should be neutral or very close to it. Acidic soils must be limed.
barberry care
A properly planted bush does not require special care, but in order for it to show itself in all its glory, the gardener will have to take care of it.
Watering the plant
Only newly planted plants need weekly watering. When they have taken root, they should be watered only during drought and in extreme heat. The water must be heated in the sun. If, immediately after planting, the ground around the bush is mulched with chopped wood chips, bark or walnut shells, this will not only reduce watering to a minimum, but also stabilize temperature regime soil, make it looser.
Top dressing and fertilizer
Natural species often grow on poor soils and feel great there. garden forms more food demanding. In the first year, the plant has enough of those nutrients that are laid down during planting.
Starting from the second year of life, the feeding scheme is as follows:
- in spring - nitrogen fertilizers: 20 g of urea per 10 liters of water;
- before flowering - full mineral fertilizer with trace elements (you can simply plant it in the soil, and then water the bushes);
- in September for each mature plant make 10 g of potash and 15 g of phosphorus fertilizers, embedding them in the soil.
pruning
This is the most difficult job in caring for this shrub. Numerous sharp spines can severely injure hands, so thick, better leather gloves are needed.
- Sanitary pruning is done annually in the spring, removing all frozen and dried shoots.
- For formation, the bushes are pruned only after flowering, as it occurs on last year's shoots.
- A hedge of tall bushes begins to form in the second year after planting.
In adult specimens, annual pruning annual and biennial branches by half or a third. Low-growing border varieties are usually not pruned.
Care in the fall, wintering
Winter is a tough test for newly planted bushes, especially if these are not too frost-resistant Thunberg barberries. Plants have been preparing for it since autumn. Timely autumn feeding and watering after leaf fall will help the barberry to better prepare for the winter. But this is not enough.
All young (and in Thunberg barberry and grown-up) plants need to be covered. Before shelter, they must undergo hardening with slight frosts, therefore, they begin the procedure with a persistent drop in temperature to -5 degrees and freezing of the soil to a depth of 3 cm. be dry air.
Small bushes are easy to cover with spruce branches and dry foliage, taking care of protection from mice. Barberry Thunberg is first wrapped in burlap or kraft paper, and wrapped with covering material on top, securing the shelter so that it does not turn around. At the base of the bush, you need to provide a space for ventilation. It is necessary to remove winter protection in the spring in time to give the bushes complete freedom for the growing season.
Reproduction of barberry
The barberry shrub reproduces both by the vegetative parts of the plant and by seeds.
The division of the bush is possible only in those forms that branch from its base. Usually divide the bushes at the age of 3-5 years. It is especially convenient to divide a plant if it is planted with some depth. Each division should have stems and part of the roots. For the procedure, a pruner is used.
Cuttings in some species of barberry do not take root well, but new plants will look like their parents. This is a good way to get many of the same hedge plants at once.
Reproduction by cuttings
June cuttings, cut in the morning, take root best of all. They are taken from the middle part of the green shoot of the current year. Lignified cuttings take root much worse.
- The cutting should have 4 leaves and one internode. Its length is about 10 cm, and its thickness is about 0.5 cm. The cut at the top is horizontal, at the bottom - at an angle of 45 degrees.
- The lower leaves are removed, the upper ones are shortened by half. The thorns are not removed.
- The lower part of the cutting is treated with a root formation stimulator.
- The cuttings are planted in a greenhouse with an arc height of about 20 cm. The soil is leafy, sprinkled with a layer of sand 4 cm thick, well moistened. Landing pattern: 5x7 cm, tilt angle - 45 degrees. Deepen them by 1 cm.
- Conditions of detention: always moist soil, air humidity about 85%, frequent spraying. The use of an artificial fog installation increases the percentage of survival.
Cuttings overwinter in a greenhouse, plants are planted in a permanent place in 1-2 years.
When propagated by seed, most plants will not repeat their parents, with the exception of the common barberry Atropurpurea. Most of such seedlings will retain varietal characteristics. Seed germination is low - in different species from 20 to 40%.
seed propagation
- The largest berries are freed from the pulp, washed and dried.
- When sown in autumn on a seed bed, the seeds undergo a natural stratification. In winter, they are stratified in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 months, depending on the type of shrub. Sow in the spring in the garden.
- Seedlings are thinned out in phase 2 of true leaves, but do not dive and do not transplant. They are moved to a permanent place only after 2 years.
The main problems in growing
Pests, diseases and methods of dealing with them
There are not so many of them, but they can bring serious harm to the plant.
- Powdery mildew. It appears in the form white plaque on all parts of the plant. Severely damaged leaves and stems are removed. The whole plant is treated with colloidal sulfur.
- Rust. Characteristic orange spots appear on the leaves. Control measures - treatment with copper-containing preparations or colloidal sulfur.
- Spotting. Spraying with copper oxychloride.
- Bacteriosis. If the upper part of the plant is damaged, all diseased branches are cut off. If the base of the trunks is affected, the plant is uprooted and burned.
- Barberry aphid. Spraying with soapy water.
- Barberry sawfly and flower moth. Treatment with a solution of chlorophos 2% concentration.
Decorative use of shrubs
A wide variety of species and varieties of plants allows you to choose the right shrub for decorating a garden in any style. It is often used in landscaping. A bush with brightly colored foliage can become a tapeworm or fit into an existing plant composition. It will decorate a mixborder, and low specimens will be appropriate on alpine slide. Barberries make an excellent hedge, either naturally or shaped by pruning, which this plant tolerates well.
