" Garden
Dogwood is not often found in our area. But since this plant has unsurpassed beneficial properties, it is worth thinking about starting to grow it in your summer cottage.
Planting a dogwood and subsequently caring for it is not a complicated procedure at all, which even a novice gardener can do. This shrub is unpretentious, and at the same time has tasty berries.
Dogwood prefers the warm climate of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, where it grows in mountain forests, on sunny edges, as well as in thickets of other shrubs. In addition, it grows in Ukraine, Crimea, Central and Southern Europe, as well as in Western Asia. In Russia, dogwood is successfully cultivated in various areas - the Moscow region, Krasnodar Territory and other regions.
The flowering of the common dogwood begins in March and ends in April. The fruits ripen closer to mid-autumn, depending on the region of growth. When the fruits are ripe, they begin to fall from the bush. The ripeness of dogwood fruits can also be determined by taste. The harvest is harvested every year in September, and the roots are harvested at the end of November..
For long-term storage of berries at home, they are picked as they begin to ripen. The fruits are placed in small baskets where they ripen, and then stored at a temperature of 0 – +2 C.
Pleasant, Dogwood fruits, sweet and sour in taste with a specific aroma, are often consumed fresh, and experienced housewives are rushing to buy dogwood to prepare delicious preserves, jellies, jams, juices, compotes, marmalades, or simply sprinkle the fruits with sugar and store. Berries can also be preserved by freezing.
In their raw form, dogwood berries are stored in the refrigerator (in a plastic bag with holes) for no more than 12 days.
Dogwood can be propagated using seeds, i.e. germinate it. To do this, take ripe berries, free the pit from the pulp and place them in boxes with damp sawdust or moss for one year, regularly maintaining a humid environment. This method is used to stratify the seeds before planting them. The seed of this plant is not divided into cotyledons. In this regard, it should be placed in the ground no deeper than 3 cm. Unstratified seeds germinate only after 2 years, and not all of them. Germinated seeds germinate in the year they are sown.
Caring for the seeds is simple: watering, fertilizing, and shading from hot sunlight at the beginning of growth. During the first year, seedlings grow up to 3-4 cm, by the end of the second - up to 10-15 cm. Dogwood berries grown from seeds are harvested 7-10 years after sowing.
Dogwood, like all fruit plants, retains its varietal properties during vegetative propagation. Dogwood can be propagated by grafting, green cuttings and replantings. The most effective way- reproduction by budding, the survival rate of the eyes is 92-97%
The best period for planting shrubs in open ground in the southern regions is autumn. The time for planting dogwood is not difficult to determine - as soon as the poplar leaves begin to fall. It is recommended to plant this plant in the fall, since when planting in spring you have to plant it in a fairly short time: between the time the soil warms up and the period when the buds of the bush begin to bloom.
In the autumn, dogwoods are planted no later than mid-October, 2-3 weeks before the onset of frost.. Well-watered and hilled shrubs manage to take root, tolerate winter well and begin to grow rapidly in early spring.
Autumn planting has a number of advantages:
Autumn planting also has certain disadvantages.:
Sometimes freshly picked dogwood berries with pericarp are planted in August. Germination in this case is 70-80% after 1.5 years from the date of sowing.
During planting, certain rules must be followed:
Below is a detailed description of the process of planting dogwood in a garden plot.
When purchasing seed, you should focus on the root: the more powerful it is, the faster the plant will develop. You should be wary of weak, weathered, thin roots with obvious signs of pain. You need to purchase powerful seedlings with 2-3 root branches at least 30 cm in length. The bark on the trunk should be intact and the branches undamaged.
To fully verify the viability of the plant you like, you need to lightly cut the bark. If the cut is green- it means the choice is correct, if brown– you will have to continue searching for a suitable dogwood.
The rhizome of the seedling should be well moistened. In case of long-term transportation, it is wrapped in damp material and placed in a plastic bag. If the roots have dried out during transportation, they should be placed in water for several days before planting.. If after purchasing it is not possible to immediately plant the seedling, it is buried at an angle in a shaded place. Here it is important that the soil covers all the roots, as well as half of the seed. A abundantly watered plant in this form can be stored for a month.
What place in the country is most suitable for growing dogwood? Any site is suitable for the unpretentious dogwood. To reap good harvests, the soil must be saturated with fertilizers, drained, moist and alkaline..
To check the acidity of the soil, drop 2 drops of table vinegar onto a handful of soil. In an alkaline environment, small bubbles appear, indicating the required amount of lime.
Dogwood does not survive in marshy soils. In addition, clayey areas and poorly lit areas should be avoided. Partial shade is ideal for the first 5 years of growing this shrub.. Then the dogwood can be transplanted to a sufficiently lit area of the garden. To save space, it is recommended to plant shrubs between old trees, which with their shade will protect its root system from drying out. Dogwood gets along with every fruit plant, with the exception of walnut.
To properly plant dogwood, you must follow these steps::
Dogwood does not require special care. The main thing is to water it constantly for one year from the time of planting. Watering is carried out 2 times during the week. To prevent water from spreading over the area, it is worth making a furrow around the seedling.
In the first growing season, you need to monitor the condition of the leaves. If they begin to dry out and curl, this indicates that the plant does not have enough moisture. Also During the first 3 years, gardeners need to monitor the cleanliness of the soil near the dogwood. Weeds growing at a distance of 1 m from the plant should be disposed of.
To ensure improved air exchange of the layer in which the plant's roots are located, it is necessary to periodically loosen the soil to a depth of about 10 cm. To make this process more convenient, loosen the soil the next day after watering.
For high yields, the shrub is fertilized several times throughout the year. It is believed that during the growing season, dogwood needs nitrogen-phosphorus supplements, and in the autumn - potassium.
Some gardeners add humus and compost alternately, or every year at the beginning of the summer period add water with chicken droppings to the plants in a ratio of 10:1. Others make fertilizers from 0.03 kg of ammonium nitrate and one bucket of humus. At the end of August, 0.5 liters of wood ash are poured under an adult plant. And at the end of the harvest, it is advisable to add 0.1 kg of superphosphates. However, lime is recognized as the most important fertilizer. Thanks to it, potassium is present in the soil, which affects the future number of fruits.
When caring for dogwood, regular tillage is important.. It is carried out annually at least 6-7 times, regardless of the age and fruitfulness of the bush. Processing begins in the spring and ends in the fall, after all the fruits have been collected. The final stage of loosening the soil around the plant is mulching it.
If there is a need to transplant a plant from one area to another, the propagation method is used by dividing the bush.
For one year, this method can be used in early spring or late autumn. The plant is removed from the soil and freed from old branches. The root is cleared of soil, and the bush is cut into several parts. The roots are trimmed, old shoots are removed. After which the individual parts are planted in the prepared holes.
The common dogwood is long-lived. It can produce excellent harvests for 100 years. Therefore, if you plant a dogwood, it will delight more than one generation with its tasty and healthy berries.
The dogwood shrub belongs to the genus Dogwood, which has about 50 species. The dogwood's distribution range extends from Southern Europe to North America. This plant can be found in Russia, the Caucasus and Asian countries. Delicious, tart jam is made from the fruits of the bush, compotes and other homemade preparations are made.
Dogwood is also of considerable value as a medicinal plant.
In mid-March - early April, buds bloom on dogwood branches that have not yet had time to become covered with leaves. The blooming dogwood looks very impressive. For a whole month, this amazing shrub will delight you with a variety of lush pink or golden flowers densely covering the crown.
Below is a description of dogwood with a photo, as well as information about the most common varieties in the middle zone.
According to the description, dogwood is a perennial shrub or tree 2-5 m tall. The root system is branched and superficial. Dogwood grows quickly, which can be successfully used to form a dense hedge. However, one should take into account the tendency for shoots to clog the surrounding area when planting dogwood next to other trees and shrubs. It is necessary to especially carefully monitor the condition of dogwood bushes if it grows next to or a flower garden.
Look at the photo of the dogwood bush: its fruits are oval or pear-shaped, burgundy in color from light to dark, and have a sweet and sour pleasant taste. Jams, preserves, and tinctures are prepared from the fruits and eaten fresh. In addition, dogwood fruits are widely used in folk medicine. Fruit ripening should be expected no less than 5-6 months after the buds swell, however, even during this period the dogwood will not be useless, as it will serve as a decoration for the garden.
And during flowering, its fragrant buds attract insects in large quantities. Dogwood is an excellent honey plant.
The genus dogwood belongs to the dogwood family and includes several subgenera and many species. However, only a few varieties of this plant are currently cultivated, which best tolerate the climate of central Russia.
Early varieties include:
“Elegant Dogwood”, “Elena”;
“Vyshgorodsky”, “Nikolka” - their flowering begins earlier, and the fruits ripen in early August.
When growing and caring for dogwood, you need to take care of the quality of the soil. The shrub grows well on both chernozem and loamy and clayey soils; the acidity should be neutral. Dogwood is a heat-loving plant, so it requires shelter for the winter. Among the frost-resistant varieties, “Priorsky” stands out. The best place for planting and caring for dogwood is open to sunlight, but it will also be comfortable in the shade. Moderate watering is required; it is not recommended to over-moisten the soil or, on the contrary, allow it to dry out excessively.
During the period when sap flow begins, dogwood should be fed with nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers, and during fruiting, potassium fertilizers should be added. Wood ash has a good effect on the growth of dogwood, which stabilizes the acidity of the soil and saturates the plant with necessary elements, including calcium, which promotes better fruiting. When growing dogwood, if the plant develops normally, there is no need for abundant fertilizing. If the leaves turn pale, fall off, and there are fewer fruits, the dose of minerals should be increased.
Dogwood is very resistant to various diseases and insect pests, but care must be taken that the plant is not affected by moths, codling moths, mealybugs and caterpillars. Dogwood is propagated both by seeds and vegetatively - by layering and cuttings. Both methods show equally good results.
People often ask, is it difficult to grow dogwood? Planting and care is not the most difficult thing. The main difficulty is to plant the seedlings so that they take root. And then the dogwood grows as if on its own. Dogwood is a delicious berry that many associate with the south, holidays in the Crimea or on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Yes, indeed, wild dogwood grows in the southern regions of our country. But today it is grown by gardeners not only in the south, but also in regions located much further to the north. Cultivated varieties are grown in household plots, the berries of which are much larger than wild ones. They are brighter in color and tastier. Of course, the taste also depends on the variety and the ripening period.
Dogwood is a frost-resistant plant; it easily tolerates temperatures down to minus 32-35 degrees, so it is suitable for growing in central Russia. Heavy fogs and prolonged rains, which inhibit the action of insects, have an unfavorable effect on its fruiting. But the dogwood, by the will of God, blooms for a whole month, so it develops normally. Fruits every year.
The yield of one plant depends on age: it ranges from 8 to 250 kg. The fruits are red, black, orange, yellow, purple, in shape - cylindrical, elliptical, pear-shaped, round, fruit weight - 2-6 g (pear-shaped up to 12 g).
Dogwood is a cross-pollinating plant. Some consider it to be self-pollinating but produce reduced yields. But self-pollination is considered a reserve act, an adaptation of dogwood to unfavorable environmental conditions.
When planting varietal dogwood, ensure that there is either a wild plant or another variety nearby. That is, to grow and have good yields, you need to have at least two or three plants on your site or at a neighbor’s nearby. It is very important! Dogwood, if it is comfortable, has as many flowers as it has fruits.
Many gardeners make a big mistake when planting one plant. You can wait many years, provide the dogwood with proper care, but still not expect a good harvest. There will be fruits, of course, but they will be single fruits, there will be few of them. This is unlikely to suit you.
This is a shade-tolerant and light-loving breed at the same time. It should be taken into account that in illuminated areas the dogwood blooms earlier. Although he stoically endures shade. The best option is when the dogwood is slightly shaded, since in open areas it feels oppressed by the intense summer heat.
We must manage to collect the dogwood on time. Ripe berries will fall to the ground and then harvesting will become more difficult.
Dogwood is propagated by seeds and vegetatively. The seed method does not ensure the consolidation of all valuable characteristics of the variety in the offspring. Moreover, with this method, plants begin to bear fruit in the fifth or sixth year, and vegetatively propagated ones - in the second or third year.
For breeding purposes, seed propagation is used (the best forms to select the most interesting for certain specified characteristics). But for seed germination, long stratification is required - 20-28 months.
There are interesting facts: if the seeds of ripe fruits germinate in 1.5-2 years, then unripe ones - in 6-7 months. Freshly harvested fruits (without drying out seeds), immediately sown, had a germination rate of up to 47% in April of the following year.
Agronomist Svetlana Nikolaevna Litvinenko proposed an accessible, accelerated method for growing dogwood seedlings from seeds. The collected seeds were treated with a 2% sulfuric acid solution for three days, then placed in a box with wet sand and placed in a greenhouse. The sand in the boxes was kept moist. After three months, the seeds began to hatch, and in the spring (after 5-6 months) they achieved germination of up to 78%.
Vegetative methods of dogwood propagation: layering, grafting (budding), cuttings. All these growing methods are very effective. But vaccinations are very difficult to take root.
Propagation by green cuttings is carried out in June, when young shoots stop growing. For better rooting of cuttings, all conditions for green cuttings are necessary. This is the use of growth stimulants, regulation of temperature, lighting, and humidity.
A very affordable, simple method of propagation is budding in July-early August or grafting with cuttings in March. Dogwood from seeds - one- to two-year-old seedlings - is used as rootstock material. Many experts consider budding to be the only reliable method of reproduction. The survival rate of the eyes is up to 70%. By the end of the growing season, the occulants reach 80 cm. The reliability of survival rate when propagated by grafting is very low - no more than 10-20%.
In the first year, oculants form 3-5 lateral shoots. By autumn they are planted in a permanent place, and in the second or third year the dogwood begins to bear fruit - instead of 6-8 years when propagated by seeds.
If you know that varietal dogwood seedlings do not survive in your area, then you need to sow seeds from varietal dogwood - you will get a semi-cultivated plant that is more adapted to your climatic conditions. By sowing several seeds, you will get plants with different properties - some will have larger berries, while others will have smaller ones; the taste, color, and shape of the berries may also differ. Even the timing of fruiting may be different. As a result of a lot of work, keep the plant that will satisfy you best. And this will be a dogwood of your own selection (at an amateur level), which has super resistance and super productivity for your climate zone. You can even propagate your own variety.
Dogwood grows on any soil, but prefers limed soil with sufficient manganese content (42 mg/kg of soil). Although it is a drought-resistant plant, it still prefers moderately moist soils. With prolonged drought, leaves begin to curl, flower buds may not form, and the length of growth shoots decreases.
Dogwood seedlings do not need to be planted in full sun. It grows well in partial shade from other, taller plants. This is a very good feature of it.
Planting holes for dogwood are made with a diameter of 80 cm and a depth of 60-80 cm. When planted in a permanent place, seedlings are formed with a stem height of 30-50 cm, with five to seven skeletal branches. Typically, branches are not pruned. Only remove shoots below the planned height of the trunk. The crown must be thinned out.
Planting depth of dogwood seedlings: when planting, the root collar should be at soil level. If you bury the seedling when planting, then over time there will be a lot of growth around the trunk. And if the root collar is above the soil level, then the seedling will take root very poorly and will take a long time.
Two seedlings of different varieties wrap around a metal post Seedlings of different varieties are planted at a distance of at least 3-4 meters from each other. But if you have little space in your garden, you can do it this way. Seedlings of 2-3 years old of different varieties are planted in one planting hole. Immediately intertwine (braid) the trunks of both around each other and over the years you will get one plant with flowers that can pollinate each other. That is, visually it will be one plant. Its trunk will look like a tight spiral.
A variation of this type of planting two seedlings in one planting hole would be to wrap the trunks not around themselves, but around a post (preferably metal), which is placed between the seedlings. The column remains there forever.
Dogwood can be shaped as a tree or as a bush. Everything will depend on you - how you form the plant. If you do not remove the lower shoots, then over time the bush will grow. If you trim excess branches from the trunk during the first 3-4 years, a tree will form.
Dogwood is a long-liver. It can produce a wonderful harvest in a hundred years! So, if you plant a dogwood on your plot, it will delight more than one generation with its tasty, beautiful, healthy fruits.
Many interesting cultivated large-fruited varieties of dogwood have appeared, of which the most interesting for gardeners are Pear-shaped, Kapelka, Urozhainy, Seyanets Evgenii, Number two, Pervenets and others.
Dogwood, unfortunately, is not very common in our country. Nevertheless, this plant has unique properties, including medicinal ones. Therefore, it is worth thinking about growing it in your garden.
Planting dogwood and its further cultivation is not such a difficult task. Even a novice gardener can cope with this. This plant is very unpretentious and at the same time produces edible and tasty fruits. In our latitudes it is most often found
Dogwood is a small bush or tree, about 2-5 meters high. The diameter of its trunk ranges from five to forty-five centimeters.
Bush dogwood is easy to grow in garden plots. Growing a tree is a little more difficult, but it is easy to shape. By the way, a dogwood bush usually has several trunks.
The trunk of the plants is smooth, the crown has a beautiful and compact pyramidal or round shape. dogwood is very strong and lies shallow. The roots are located 20-120 centimeters from the soil surface.
Dogwood has no frequency of fruiting - the crop is harvested annually. That is why it needs constant feeding and good hydration. This article is for those who decide to grow dogwood. Planting and caring for this plant require special attention.
The dogwood fruit is a juicy drupe. Wild dogwood has elliptical or cylindrical fruits. The photo above is him. Bottle-shaped, pear-shaped and oval fruits are also found in domesticated plants.
The color of the dogwood fruit can be pale, slightly reddish, or almost black. There are also dogwood varieties whose berries are yellow and pink.
Inside the fruit there is an oval-shaped stone. The length of the seed is about one to one and a half cm. A seed can contain from one to three seeds.
So, you have decided to decorate your garden plot with this useful plant. It is best to pay attention to the common dogwood. This plant can be grown in several ways. You can grow it from seeds, or you can use it (spring grafting with cuttings and summer budding with a dormant eye, propagation by lignified and green cuttings or layering).
Those who decide to breed dogwood using seeds should remember that there is no guarantee that the resulting offspring will retain their maternal characteristics. In those places where this plant is widespread, seed propagation is used mainly to obtain rootstocks for graft propagation.
In places with colder climates, where dogwood has not previously been grown, seed propagation of this plant with numerous reseedings is practiced. This allows you to select the most winter-hardy forms and obtain plants that are adapted to special climate conditions. More resistant seedlings can also be grown from seeds that are brought from more northern places where dogwood grows. Planting and caring for them will be almost the same as for plants grown in warmer climates.
It is very difficult to grow dogwood from seeds, since they germinate difficultly, have a dense shell and are deeply dormant. If you sow them in the fall, they will partially germinate in the second year. Most of the seeds will germinate only in the third and fourth year.
Seed planting of dogwood begins with pre-sowing preparation and long stratification. If you have greenhouses, then you should use the method described below, in which germination reaches 80%.
Seeds (necessarily freshly collected) are placed in boxes filled with damp sawdust, moss or sand. The prepared boxes are placed in a greenhouse pre-filled with manure. It is best to use horsetail. The thickness of the manure layer is 40 centimeters. The earth is laid on top, in a layer of 10 centimeters.
Before planting the seeds for stratification, you must first soak them in water for three days. It needs to be changed periodically - this will speed up the physiological processes necessary for germination. You can hold the seeds under running water for a while. Thanks to this, substances that slow down germination will be washed out from the dense shells.
There is another technique that allows you to grow dogwood bushes or trees from seeds. The fruits of the plant are placed in barrels or bags and remain there until active fermentation begins. Subsequently, they are ground and washed. The seeds obtained after stratification are mixed with sawdust and stored in a cold place for a year and a half. After this period, with the onset of spring, the seeds are planted in the ground. In the first year, seedlings grow 3-4 centimeters. For the second - another 10-15 centimeters.
It is worth noting that the seedlings will grow for a long time, and the plant will begin to bear fruit only after 7-10 years. Those who want to get healthy berries quickly choose other methods of growing dogwood.
Many people do not know how to plant dogwood using layering. It's actually very easy. Branches that grow close to the soil surface should be bent down and placed in a shallow ditch. Their tops are brought out.
You can use hooks to secure the branch to the bottom of the ditch. After this, the ditches need to be buried and watered throughout the growth period. Constrictions are also made with soft wire to improve the rooting of branches at the bend. In fact, gooseberries, currants, etc. are propagated in the same way.
Amateur gardeners should not get carried away with this method of dogwood propagation, since this requires the presence of greenhouses in which fog is artificially formed. In addition, special growth substances must be used. If all this is available, then this method will bring good results.
This is the best way that an amateur can use to have dogwood seedlings appear in his garden plot. Using it, you can get plants of various shapes and many cultivated varieties. Each of them has its own unique properties. Seedlings 2-3 years old are selected for grafting.
Dogwood is very picky about soil characteristics. It grows best on fertile soil with good loosening. It is necessary to water the dogwood regularly. Planting and caring for this plant will require your attention, especially at first. The soil around it needs to be mulched with mown grass, peat or sawdust.
You also need to water the dogwood correctly, only then will you reap a rich harvest. Throughout the summer, the soil is watered regularly. As we have already said, the root system of this plant is shallow from the soil surface.
A positive quality of dogwood is that it loves slightly shaded places.
So, what do you need to do to ensure that a beautiful dogwood grows in your garden plot? The photo above perfectly illustrates what a healthy and strong plant looks like. It must be periodically fed with fertilizers, carefully weeded and watered regularly. Dogwood is treated with nitrogen-phosphate fertilizers, and closer to autumn - with potassium fertilizers (wood ash). Compost and humus are sometimes used. Feeding with lime also plays an important role, since this plant vitally needs calcium.
A distinctive feature of dogwood is the ability to form both trees and bushes. Definitive pruning should be done in the first years of its cultivation.
The stem of seedlings should reach 50-70 centimeters in height. All shoots arising below this level must be removed. There is no need for special pruning to help increase the yield. Branches that thicken the crown are removed.
Be sure to remember: the roots of this plant are very easy to damage when weeding. The soil is cultivated no deeper than 10-15 centimeters. If the soil is swampy or very wet, the plant may die.
This plant is an excellent honey plant. In addition, it is a cure for a variety of diseases. Its fruits contain more vitamin C than gooseberries, rowan and lemon. Dogwood berries increase appetite and also have astringent, antipyretic and antiscorbutic properties.
Dogwood fruits are used for preventive purposes if there is a danger of exposure to mercury. The pectins contained in them bind harmful substances and promote their rapid removal from the human body.
A person suffering from gastrointestinal disorders should be given an infusion of the berries of this plant, as they have phytocidal and astringent properties.
You can make very tasty jam or compote from dogwood fruits. They can be combined with other fruits and berries. The berries are also consumed fresh - many people really like their unusual taste.
Dogwood is a plant that will feed and heal, and will delight the eye with golden spring blooms, and surprise with the autumn harvest.
So, if you properly protect your dogwood before winter and throughout the cold season, you will not regret it.
At the end of the article I would like to give one medical recipe for which the fruits of this plant are used. It will help everyone suffering from hemorrhoids.
First you need to slowly eat a full glass of dogwood seeds. They can be diluted with something or eaten together with apples, cabbage, potatoes, bread, meat, etc. The seeds can not be taken directly from the fruit, but use those that you had stored before or those that remained in compote or jam. After this procedure, the problem will disappear within a week.
There are many other recipes that will help you get rid of annoying ailments. But in addition to the therapeutic effect, dogwood berries have a tonic effect. Eating the fruits of this plant can prevent the occurrence of many unpleasant diseases and will become an additional source of vital energy.
