Pink snowberry: planting and care rules, reproduction nuances

Snowberry is an ornamental shrub of the Honeysuckle family. Deciduous plant - a natural inhabitant of the wildlife of China and North America. The bush is called wolfberry because of the poisonous fruits. Their beautiful snow-white color takes on a color cast depending on the variety.

Pink snowberry berries ripen in red, crimson, purple clusters and hang on the branches all winter.

Description and characteristics of the snowberry

Pink snowberry is called ordinary or rounded.

External features of the plant:

• deciduous perennial;
• bush height - up to 2 meters;
• thin flexible branches in young plants grow straight, in old ones they are lowered down;
• bark grey-brown, smooth;
• leaves on petioles grow from 1.5 to 6 centimeters long, oval in shape, sometimes with grooves along the edges;
• snowberry leaf is green on the outside and dark grey-green on the back;
• brushes of inflorescences are formed in the axils between the leaves and the stem along its entire length;
• flowers are small, pink;
• berries are smooth, shiny, round, 1 centimeter in diameter;
• up to 3 seeds ripen in a berry.

Adult plants form dense spreading crowns, so they are thinned out in late autumn or early spring.

Snowberry pink blooms from mid-July. The berries are painted in coral, purple hues and remain on the branches after the leaves fall in the fall. Dark bushes with bright bunches of berries decorate gardens and parks in winter.

Pros and cons

Positive qualities of the snowberry:

• resistance to pests;
• unpretentiousness to lighting;
• decorative.

Bees flock to the aroma of a blooming snowberry. Honey shrub will decorate the apiary. A late flowering plant will help the hive dwellers prepare for the winter.

The disadvantage of the pink variety is its low resistance to frost. It is suitable for growing in southern regions.

Berries are used in folk medicine as an external remedy for the treatment of skin diseases and wound healing. The fruits eaten from the bush cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and urticaria in humans. The saponins in the pulp and juice irritate the stomach lining. Frost destroys toxins, so birds feed on berries in winter.

An adult will not seriously get poisoned by two berries. But if children are walking in the garden, it is better not to plant a snowberry, as curiosity can cost them their he alth.

How to grow an ornamental crop

Planting a snowberry does not require special knowledge and skills. An unpretentious, parasite-resistant shrub that novice gardeners can grow.

When to plant in the ground

Snowberry is planted in spring, autumn, less often in summer. In dry weather, the bushes require more careful care - abundant watering and loosening.

Location

The plant tolerates shade and sun well. The roots of the bushes strengthen the soil of loose slopes. Pink snowberry will grow on depleted soil if fertilized at planting and fed throughout the year. The soil with neutral and low acidity is best suited for bushes.

Preparation of seedlings

Young bushes with open roots are lowered into a clay mash before planting for quick adaptation. Seedlings are taken out of boxes with an earthen clod and lowered into a planting hole without shaking it off.

How to plant

For a single bush, they dig a hole with a diameter of 50 and a depth of 60 centimeters. A trench of the same depth and a width of 0.5 meters is prepared under the hedge. The distance between individual bushes is 150 centimeters. There are 4-5 plants per linear meter of trench.

Drainage 10 centimeters thick is placed at the bottom of the pit or trench, and then a soil mixture of equal parts of river sand, compost and peat is added. Based on one bush, mix:

• dolomite flour - 200 grams;
• superphosphate - 200 grams;
• wood ash - 600 grams.

For seedlings with open roots, the place is prepared six months before planting, so that the earth is evenly saturated with fertilizers and sags. Planting of young bushes with a root ball of earth is carried out at any time of the year, and the soil is prepared 2 weeks before it.

The bush is lowered into the hole and sprinkled with soil, leaving the basal part of the stem on the surface. Then the plant is watered. Wet soil will sag and the stem will drop.

For 5 days after planting, the snowberry needs daily watering. 4 liters of water are poured under the bush.

Flower care

Snowberry grows well and bears fruit if the bush is moderately watered, fed twice a year and pruned.

Fertilizers and top dressings

The first feeding is done in mid-April. The soil is dug up with humus. One bush accounts for 6 kilograms of organic fertilizer, to which 100 grams of potassium s alt and superphosphate are added. Before flowering in July, August, the plants are fertilized with Agricola. 50 grams of fertilizer is dissolved in 10 liters of water and poured under one bush.

Water, loosening, top dressing

Snowberry does not need to be watered often. In rainy weather, the plants will do without watering. In the heat, one bush needs 15-20 liters of water. After watering and rain, the soil needs to be loosened.

Mulching will help keep moisture in the soil and not worry about loosening. The trunk circle is covered with a layer of peat 8-10 centimeters thick. In autumn, they dig up the soil.

Cutting

In the spring, remove branches damaged by frost. At the end of May, beginning of June, the bushes are given a decorative shape. Shearing is carried out before flowering, so that inflorescences form on cut branches. Without pruning, the bushes thicken and bloom poorly.

Protection from diseases and pests

Pests are not interested in the American poisonous guest, the snowberry. But gray rot and powdery mildew infect berries and leaves at high humidity. For prevention, plants are treated in the spring with Bordeaux liquid. The fungus is treated with fungicides Topaz, Quadris, Topsin.

Reproduction of the snowberry

Shrubs propagate by seeds and vegetatively. The easiest way to get young seedlings is in a way that is natural for wildlife - by rooting cuttings. Seedlings are also obtained by cuttings. Billets are cut in autumn or spring. Seedlings from cuttings need to be sprayed every day.

Seeds

The seed method of reproduction is used in breeding work. Wet seeds from the fruit are squeezed through a nylon flap, washed in a container with water. They sink to the bottom, and the pulp of the berries floats up. The washed seeds are dried and stratified - kept in the cold. Then they are planted in seedling boxes with soil, sprinkled with sand on top.

Growing seeds at home is difficult because soil moisture must be controlled. Seedlings are transferred to open ground only after 2 years.

Shanks

Snowberry is propagated by green and lignified cuttings. In the second half of November, early December, branches 10 centimeters long are cut. The cuttings are buried in containers with sand, which are cleaned in a cool place. In March, they are kept in a rooting solution and planted in boxes with soil. Green cuttings are cut in late May, early June.They are kept in spring water at room temperature to take root.

Winter and summer blanks are planted in boxes with soil mixed with sand. Until autumn, they are kept in a greenhouse, and in September they are transplanted into open ground.

Root shoots, layering, cuttings

By dividing the bush, the snowberry is propagated in early spring, before sap flow, but this method injures the plant. The bush is dug up, the root part is cut with a sharp shovel so that the main root processes and branches remain on each segment. Divided bushes are seated. After dividing, the bushes do not take root well.

Rooting cuttings and transplanting root shoots give the best results. The branch is bent to the ground, dug in and pressed from above with a stone or fixed with wire. Layers are deposited with a clod of earth. Young plants are transplanted after six months, and they take root well.

Application of a flower in garden design

A snowberry hedge divides the garden into zones. The green lawn is decorated with individual bushes. Bright flowers look beautiful against the backdrop of sprawling green thickets in summer. A versatile plant suitable for autumn compositions.

Next to the snowberry they plant viburnum, mountain ash, hawthorn. Tall dark green deciduous and coniferous trees beautifully set off bushes with purple berries.

Snowberry blooms and bears fruit in places with polluted exhaust air. Ornamental shrubs ennoble areas near highways, city parks.

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