Today, more and more often you can see a beautiful bush strewn with white berries on household plots and in urban plantings. When looking at it, it seems that the first snow fell in September. The snowberry, due to its compactness, organically fits into any plantings and decorates the design. In spring, it pleases with beautiful flowering, and in autumn - with dense brushes of fruits. The plant is not whimsical at all, so every gardener can plant a snowberry on the site. Planting and caring for shrubs will not be a hassle.
Features of the snowberry
The bush has a neat oval-spherical shape and grows to a height of no more than 1.5 m. Growing a snowberry does not cause any particular difficulties, because it is unpretentious, tolerates adverse climatic conditions, so the shrub can often be seen in urban landscape design. The plant blooms with pink flowers in summer, and the berries appear in September or October and last until January,falling off in severe frosts.
Snowberry can grow in the shade, is not afraid of severe frosts, withstands drought. It can grow anywhere, but still, if you want to grow a luxurious bush, you should choose a sunny area with a slightly alkaline or neutral reaction of the soil environment. The plant feels great on fertile loams.
Snowberry Varieties
Deciduous shrub belongs to the honeysuckle family, in nature there are 15 of its varieties. Despite the name that speaks for itself, the snowberry bears fruit not only with white berries. For example, the Chinese variety surprises with black fruits. Pink snowberry grows in North America. Planting and care for this variety are practically no different from its snow-white counterparts. In nature, the shrub chooses places near water bodies, as well as in mountain forests.
Best places to plant a snowberry
The shrub feels great both in the shade and in the sun, endures a long drought, it is not afraid of even severe frosts. That is why the snowberry can decorate areas where nothing is accepted. But still, gardeners noted that the most luxurious bushes grow on fertile soils. The snowberry feels great in the sun, loves soil with a neutral reaction, in extreme cases, slightly alkaline. Therefore, if you want to grow a beautiful bush, you should listen to the above recommendations.
Planting a snowberry
Before planting a bush for permanent residence, it is necessary to thoroughly dig and fertilize the site with rotted organic matter. Such preparation will be appreciated by the white snowberry. Landing and care do not cause any particular difficulties. If the seedlings are dug out of the ground, then who should not be shaken off. If the snowberry has been transported, then it should be dipped in a clay mash before planting.
Shrub can be used both for single plantings and for forming a hedge. In the first case, you need to dig a planting hole with a depth and diameter of about 0.6 m. To make a beautiful hedge, you should dig a trench up to 0.7 m deep and about 0.4 m wide. You need to stretch the twine along it to beautifully arrange the snowberry. Planting and care require the placement of bushes 1 m apart, such a distance is necessary for the normal development of the plant. The substrate for the snowberry is prepared from humus, peat and sand, wood ash, superphosphate and dolomite flour can be added.
Reproduction by division
Not only in care, but also in reproduction, the snowberry is unpretentious. Ornamental shrubs grow beautiful and he althy both from cuttings and from root shoots, layering or seeds. But still, the most popular method of reproduction is the division of the bush. An adult plant annually lets out abundant root shoots, it can also be used to form a luxurious hedge.
Betteronly in autumn and spring, a snowberry takes root in a new place. Planting and care involves preparing the pit and substrate. When propagating by dividing the bush, it is necessary to dig up the plant and divide it into several parts along with the root system. Some gardeners like to increase the amount of snowberry with layering. To do this, you need to make a small groove, put the shoots of the bush there and pin them with wire for better fixation. From such cuttings, a good root system will form by the end of the growing season. Without a threat to an adult bush, a young snowberry can be separated with a pruner. Planting and caring for cuttings is no different from caring for other shrubs.
Propagation by cuttings
Everyone can make a beautiful green hedge in their area. Experienced gardeners, in order to save money, buy one bush of a snowberry, and then, when it grows, they cut green or lignified cuttings for the purpose of reproduction. With the right approach, beautiful shrubs grow from such shoots. Green cuttings are harvested in June, and lignified - in the fall. Store them in a cool room in the sand. Some gardeners are trying to grow a pink snowberry with the help of seeds. Planting and care in this case is very problematic, because this variety rarely takes root in our latitudes.
Shrub care
Snowberry only needs to be watered in a timely manner and from time to time loosen the soil, weed weeds. Under one bush you need to pour about 25 liters of water,do it better in the evening. The snowberry responds well to feeding. For this purpose, fertilizers for berry crops can be used. For example, the drug "Agrico" based on 10 liters of water 50 g can be fertilized twice a season.
It is best to form a bush in early spring, when the buds have not yet blossomed. It should be borne in mind that the buds will form on new shoots, so they should not be cut off, otherwise the snowberry will not bloom in the summer. Description, reproduction, care, planting - all these nuances should be well known to the gardener who decides to make a hedge on his site. When pruning, the shoots need to be shortened by a quarter of the length, in extreme cases - by half (it all depends on the preferred shape of the bush). First of all, it is worth removing the shrunken, broken, thickened, old branches. To rejuvenate the shrub, you should trim "on the stump", that is, make the height of the bush at a level of 60 cm from the ground.
Worthy decoration of the site
Snowberry is used in group and single plantings, it is also good as a hedge. The shrub can be seen in city parks, in home gardens. Due to its unpretentiousness, the snowberry fills the areas where no other plants take root. The bush pleases the eye with its appearance throughout the year. In spring, it is covered with green leaves, throughout the summer it blooms with pale pink flowers, and from the beginning of autumn until severe frosts, the snowberry is dressed in a white outfit thanks to its berries. compactnessbush allows you to give it any shape. Many have already appreciated the decorative qualities of the snowberry, and every year the number of its fans is only increasing.
