How to plant and grow viburnum, how to care for the plant?

Many gardeners and owners of house territories planted viburnum because of its decorative and useful qualities. The shrub grows very quickly, maintaining an attractive appearance until frost. Its fruits have many useful substances needed by the body. For those who are just planning to acquire this shrub, it will be useful to know how to plant and grow viburnum, how to care for the plant.

Kalina belongs to the genus Adoxova, in which there are about 160 species. Presumably, the plant got its name because of the fruits of bright red color (they seem to be red-hot).

The description of the shrub suggests that (depending on the species), the leaves can be toothed, whole, lobed or palmate-lobed. Flowers have a white or pink shade.

Garden viburnum blooms in late May - early June (depending on the variety and region of growth). The berries of the plant are red; in some varieties, they are black with a blue tint and bitterness. If favorable conditions are created for the plant and proper care is provided, then it can bloom and bear fruit for up to 60 years.

Kalina is grown because of its beneficial properties, although some consider the bitter taste of berries a disadvantage of the plant. Some gardeners choose decorative species with which to decorate the site.

There is a very large variety of types of viburnum. Some species are found in cottages, in gardens and parks, others are present in nature.

The most common species is viburnum. The shrub can grow up to four meters in height. The leaves in early spring acquire a pale green color, but by the summer it changes to a saturated green, and by the autumn it becomes completely pink or red. Berries have a round or elliptical shape.

There are many ornamental plant species.

• "Nanum" and "Compactum" - one of the most compact types (size from 60 to 100 cm). Their slow growth and long-lasting spherical shape attract many gardeners. Plants make it possible to make hedges, decorate gardens, park areas.
• Roseum - shrub that blooms very beautifully. White lush flowers make it noticeable in early June. By autumn, the flowers turn pink and then turn red. The shrub also has medicinal properties.

• Boulle-de-neig - the shrub is distinguished by white large inflorescences in the form of balls, which, initially having a pale green color, gradually turn into white. This shrub is widely used in decorating gardens because of its extraordinary beauty. The alleys decorated from these bushes look especially impressive.

• "Aureum" it is distinguished by the fact that at the beginning of spring its foliage has a yellow color, which turns into green by summer. The shrub is decorated with cream-colored flat inflorescences.

There are a lot of varieties of viburnum. But some of them are especially popular among summer residents.

• "Garnet bracelet" fruits later than others, but gives a good harvest. The bush has a spreading crown and belongs to the middle-growth shrubs. Oval fruits weigh within grams and have a maroon color. "Garnet bracelet", unlike other varieties, is not afraid of aphids.
• "Shukshinskaya" Kalina got its name from the name of the writer, actor and director Vasily Shukshin. This mid-season variety has a high yield. Red round berries weigh half a gram. Lovers of viburnum celebrate its pleasant taste.
• Variety "Maria" noted as vigorous shrub. The taste of the berries - sweet and sour, tart. Autumn foliage has yellow and red color.

• "Taiga Rubies" attributed to productive varieties, but, unfortunately, unstable to pests. In the berries there is both sweetness, and sourness, and bitterness. In autumn, leaves turn purple.
• "Zholobovskaya" Viburnum belongs to the compact varieties.Her berries are elongated. One of the sweetest varieties. In the fall the foliage becomes burgundy color.

Plant and propagate Kalina can be in different ways. The main thing is to follow all the necessary rules.

Neutral and weakly acidic soil is the best medium for viburnum. The plant does not like a podzol, peaty, sandy soil. The depth of groundwater should be at least one meter.

In the sunlit places, viburnum feels good, but the ideal conditions for it are penumbra. Experienced gardeners came to the conclusion that the advantage of the shaded area is that the pests bypass the viburnum planted in such a place.

Viburnum can be planted in the spring and autumn season. Each gardener must proceed from the weather conditions of their region. There is no difference in spring or autumn soil preparation or in the process of planting.

The hole must be at least 50 cm deep (and have the same diameter). Between the bushes leave a distance (at least two and a half meters). It should take into account the variety: there are sprawling bushes and more compact varieties.

Before planting the plant directly, peat is added to the ground, two glasses of "Nitrophoska" and watered abundantly. In a few days she is ready for a sapling. The roots of the plant gently straighten in the hole: to do this, a mound, on which it is convenient to straighten the roots. Then the seedling is covered with earth, which is well tamped and watered abundantly. The root neck of the bush is five centimeters deep into the soil.

In the fall, planting is done in the same way (you need to be in time until the first frosts come).

Viburnum propagation occurs seed and vegetative way. However, the seed method is a rather complicated and long process, therefore it is used extremely rarely. The vegetative method has several options: reproduction by vertical or horizontal layers, using cuttings or basal processes.

• If the breeding method is selected by seeds, then you need to be patient. To accelerate the germination of seeds they are placed in a container with wet sawdust for two months. After the sprouts appear, they are placed in the refrigerator for a month. After that, you can plant the plant in a box (to a depth of about three centimeters). Landing in the ground occurs in spring, the seedlings need to be well moistened and protected from the sun.
• When breeding cuttings need to consider that they must be green. The material is harvested at the beginning of summer (at the moment when the shoot is flexible and can be easily bent to the ground). For the cutting, the middle of the shoot is suitable, on which two or three nodes must be present. The lower cut is made oblique, and the leaves are removed. The cut must be processed with “Korneovin” or held in the “Heterosuksin” solution. After that, the plant can be planted in the prepared sand-peat mixture. The cutting is placed in the soil at a depth of 1-2 cm, the space between the cuttings should be five centimeters. The cuttings are covered with a transparent cap and (using a spray bottle) they are sprayed with water three times a day.

• Some gardeners choose the breeding of viburnum layers. For this spring pruned two-year branch with two to four buds. Next spring, an escape appears on this spot. Its top is slightly trimmed, tilted to the ground, placed in a groove about 5 cm deep, fastened (but not buried). You need to bury the plant when shoots grown from buds reach ten centimeters.Then fill the furrow with peat and humus. In autumn, the escape from the tree can be separated and landed on the prepared place.
• When used for breeding root shoots gardeners choose basal shoots that have reached a height of 20 cm, which at the base are tugged with soft wire, well spud. Repeat hilling over the summer three times. The following spring, the processes are detached from the tree and transplanted to another place.

Kalina, like all plants, needs a sufficient amount of moisture, nutrients (for active growth and fruiting), a regular procedure for the proper formation of bushes, as well as preventive measures to combat diseases and insects that cause damage. When spring comes, you need to clean the surface of the earth from last year’s leaves, loosen the soil near the tree.

At the very beginning of spring (until the buds open), viburnum can be treated with a seven percent solution of urea. She will not only fight pests, but also feed the viburnum with the nitrogen needed by the plant in the spring. In May, viburnum provide supplements with potassium. After flowering, make complex fertilizers. Throughout the summer, the ground around the trunk must be loosened and weeds are pulled out.

Kalina loves moisture. In the summer it should be watered weekly (provided that there is no frequent rainfall). During one watering the bush requires about thirty liters of water.

Due to the fact that the shrub is watered quite often, it is better to fertilize it with dry formulations. Any of them are distributed on the soil surface. Then the plant is watered. When the foliage opens, the bush is fed for the first time, pouring two spoons of urea into the soil. If urea was poured before the opening of the kidneys, then the second time to repeat this procedure is not required.

Potassium is added as a fertilizer before flowering. The plant requires two tablespoons of potassium sulfate or 500 ml of wood ash. After flowering, each bush is fed with a pair of Nitroammofoski spoons.

In the summer, viburnum is carefully examined for pests or diseases. In early June, the bushes need to process tobacco infusion. During the whole season it is possible to spray the shrub with the extract of onion peel and potato tops for prevention. Suitable and garlic infusion.

There are several of the most dangerous diseases and pests for viburnum.

• Mealy dew appears on the leaves in the form of white bloom, which eventually turns into brown. The disease spreads from the bottom up. At defeat of a bush with mealy dew one should not expect a harvest from it, and decorative specimens lose their beauty. The situation can be remedied by spraying the plant with a solution of colloidal sulfur (50 grams will be needed for a bucket). Fungicides are also suitable for this purpose.
• Frost burn appears in severe frosts. The disease is fraught with the death of wood. Leaves may be faded. Shrubs face complete drying. To prevent this, especially damaged shoots should be cut in early spring, and those affected by the disease only slightly should be covered with liquid clay.
• Ascohyte spotting viburnum is expressed in gray spots, because of which the leaves and flowers die off (over time, the tree may die). To combat this disease, you need to burn all the foliage in autumn in the fall, and in the spring to treat the tree with Bordeaux mixture.

• Gray rot affects the plant with excessive moisture and cold. Brown spots grow and destroy leaves and fruits. For the treatment and prevention in the fall, all fallen leaves are burned, and the shrub is treated with Vectra.
• Viburnum leaf beetle begins its work in the first days of May. Small brown bugs eat the leaves, damage the shoots and fruits. When insects invade, viburnum must be treated with "Fufanon" or "Karbofos".
• With the same preparations they spray the bush at the defeat of its black leaflet twistwhich sucks all the juices from the leaf, with the result that it collapses.
• Kalina's moth no less dangerous for the plant. These caterpillars destroy the kidneys, and then entangle the leaves with cobwebs and eat them. Caterpillar nests must be destroyed and the bush treated with Nitrafen. Such processing is carried out before the opening of the kidneys. The following processing is done before opening the buds using “karbofos”.

Rejuvenating and formative pruning can be done in spring, and sanitary - in autumn.

Pruning is done taking into account what the gardener wants in his area (a tall tree or a lush shrub). In order to enjoy the tree in the future, you will have to get rid of the root processes. When the trunk is two meters high, the growth point is nipped, after which the tree begins to branch. The formation of the trunk usually takes at least two to three years.

To form a bush you need to trim the branches a little. Old branches and branches growing inside the bush should be removed. This has a beneficial effect on the development of the plant and its yield.

Kalina is widely known for its healing properties: it contains vitamins C and P, as well as carotene, acids and pectins.

Decoctions and infusions of the fruits of viburnum are used in diseases of the kidneys, liver, heart, gastrointestinal tract, as well as to enhance immunity. With colds, viburnum is used as an expectorant and antipyretic. It has a plant and anti-inflammatory effect. With the help of infusions of viburnum, acne and boils are treated. Infusions are also used as a tonic for washing.

In some cases, viburnum can harm the body. So, it can not be consumed by pregnant women (consumption can lead to allergic reactions and harm the development of the unborn child).

It is not recommended to take decoctions and berries of viburnum for those who suffer from low blood pressure, arthritis, blood diseases.

Only red berries are suitable for food. And some varieties with black fruit, and completely poisonous.

Before the onset of winter, gardeners recommend picking up all the foliage near viburnum, removing old mulch. The shrub is treated with pests that can settle in the bark for the winter and ruin the plant (they hide in the upper soil layer). After that, the tree near the trunk fall asleep new mulch. When the first frost hits, all the fruits are picked from the bush.

On how to plant viburnum and care for the plant, see the following video.