Potentilla Goldstar: variety description, planting and care, reproduction, application in design

Potentilla shrub is loved by gardeners and landscape designers for its beautiful and long flowering. The second name - Kuril tea - the plant received for a dark infusion with a tart smell, which is used by the inhabitants of the Urals and the Far East. Potentilla shrub Goldstar - one of the many varieties of culture. It is planted not only in garden plots, but also in tubs, voluminous pots on terraces, loggias.

Description and characteristics of Potentilla shrub Goldstar

Kuril tea reaches a height of 80 centimeters, the crown spreads over 1.2 meters. The leaves of Potentilla shrub Goldstar are gray-green, turning yellow by autumn. They consist of 5 lobes, for which the plant is called a five-leaf spring. The shrub blooms with bright yellow flowers from June to September.

The plantation is growing rapidly, each year increasing its volume by 15 centimeters. Prefers well-lit places, where Potentilla blossoms are brighter and more abundant. The plant is frost-resistant, shelter for the winter is not required.

Pros and cons of the variety

Potentilla shrub Goldstar has the following advantages:

bushes keep their shape well;
grow in one place for a long time;
easy to shape;
bloom long and beautiful;
hardy;
used as honey plants.

The disadvantages include the susceptibility of the plant to certain diseases and pests, as well as the exactingness of aerated soils.

Rules for growing Potentilla Goldstar

A shrub can grow in the same place for many years, so the planting area must be carefully chosen. When growing several stands, it is important to correctly determine the distance between them.

Site selection and soil preparation

Potentilla Goldstar prefers sunny places, flowering may not begin in the shade. The soil is selected light, well-drained, fertile. It can vary from acidic to slightly alkaline. Potentilla is a moisture-loving plant, so it can be planted on soils with high groundwater.

Timing

Potentilla Goldstar is planted in the spring, after the soil warms up well. By frost, the shrub will have time to take root well. You can also plant it in early September, but in this case it needs to be mulched with peat and dry leaves for the winter.

Group landing distance

Potentilla Goldstar can be planted singly or in groups. When planting several bushes side by side, the distance between them is kept within 60-80 centimeters. Such a distance is necessary for their ventilation, which serves as a prevention of diseases.

Disembarkation process

Kuril tea is planted as follows:

Dig a hole twice the size of the plant's root system.
Drainage is laid on the bottom, consisting of lime gravel, broken bricks, river pebbles.
The pit is half filled with a substrate consisting of humus, leaf soil, sand with the addition of 100 grams of complex mineral fertilizer.
A seedling is placed in the middle of the planting hole, then it is filled with the remaining soil (without fertilizer).

The trunk circle is abundantly spilled with water. To preserve moisture, it is mulched with peat or tree bark.

Pay attention! When planting, the root neck of the bush should not go deep: after watering, it will be level with the ground.

Further shrub care

Caring for Potentilla Goldstar is watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil. In addition, plants require pruning, both sanitary and shaping. Faded buds are also removed, due to which the decorative effect of the bushes is lost.

Potentilla trimming

To maintain a decorative look, Potentilla needs to be trimmed. The procedure is carried out in spring or autumn: old, broken, diseased branches are removed. In addition, gardeners do formative pruning, shortening branches by ⅓. When the plant reaches 5-6 years of age, it can be rejuvenated by cutting the shoots to 15 cm stumps.

Loosening, weeding and mulching

After rain or watering, the soil loosens. The procedure promotes access to the roots of air. At the same time, weeds are removed that interfere with the development of bushes and can be carriers of pests and diseases. To preserve moisture in the soil, the root system is mulched with peat, sawdust or tree bark.

Water and fertilize

The soil in which Potentilla is grown should be moderately moist. In dry hot weather, the bushes are watered twice a week. With sufficient rainfall, additional moisture is not required. Potentilla Goldstar bushes are fed with potash-phosphorus fertilizers in the spring, during the budding period and after flowering.

Diseases and pests

Potentilla Goldstar is quite resistant to the appearance of diseases and pests, but under adverse conditions it can be affected by the following misfortunes:

Rust. At the same time, yellow-brown spots appear on the lower part of the leaf plates. To rid the seedlings of this disease, you need to spray the ground part of the bushes with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, boric acid, or copper-containing preparations.
Spider mites. These pests appear in too dry and hot summers. They weave the branches with cobwebs, preventing them from developing.
Shovels. These butterflies are dangerous because they breed caterpillars that eat cinquefoil bushes. To combat them, Fitoverm is used, breeding and spraying plants according to the instructions on the package.

Breeding methods

Potentilla Goldstar is propagated on the site in several ways: by seeds, cuttings, dividing the bush, layering.

Division

The division procedure is as follows:

dig up an old bush with a pitchfork;
divide it into parts so that each division has rhizomes and buds;
bushes are planted in prepared holes, watered, mulched.

In order for plants to take root faster, the root system can be treated with root stimulants.

Important! The dividing tool must be sharp and disinfected.

Shanks

Reproduction by cuttings is performed as follows:

cut shoots 10-12 centimeters long;
the lower part is powdered with a rooting stimulator;
cuttings are planted in a shaded area of the plot;
covered with glass jars.

Water the cuttings as needed. Planted in a permanent place in a year.

Seeds

Reproduction by seeds is rarely used by gardeners, because the method is laborious, and bushes bloom much longer than those grown in other ways. Seeds are collected for this in the fall, sown at the end of winter, first in a planting box, then the seedlings are transplanted into separate pots. A year later, young plants are planted in open ground.

Layers

To propagate cinquefoil by layering, you need to do the following:

lower shoot is freed from foliage in the middle part;
bends to the ground, pins;
covered with earth, watered.

During the season, the pinning place is watered. In autumn, the cutting is separated and planted separately. For the winter, it needs to be covered with peat and dry leaves.

Potentilla Goldstar in landscape design

The bushes keep their shape well, so gardeners often use Goldstar cinquefoil for landscaping the local area. It is planted as a hedge instead of a fence, in the form of medium-sized borders. Shrubs look spectacular both singly planted against the background of a lawn, and in groups of several plants. Potentilla looks harmonious in mixborders, rockeries, alpine slides.