Berry Bushes: The Best Varieties and Cultivation Rules

Fruiting shrubs, with proper care, delight the owners of garden plots with a regular and abundant harvest of tasty and healthy berries.In addition, with proper care, these plants can become a real decoration of the landscape. When choosing a particular type of fruit crops should take into account its features. This is the only way to grow a healthy and abundantly fruiting shrub. From this article you will learn about the types and varieties of berry bushes, as well as the rules of planting and subsequent care of them.

In a variety of types of fruit and berry crops it is very easy to get lost. Breeders bring all new varieties suitable for cultivation in a variety of climatic conditions. When choosing a particular fruit crop for dacha, it is worthwhile to get acquainted in advance with its features, properties and conditions of cultivation necessary for it. Raspberriesperhaps the most widespread. Initially, this plant was wild and grew mostly in forests and ravines. And only birds and wild beasts enjoyed the healing and delicious berries. Fortunately, drawing attention to this shrub and the magnificent properties of its fruits, raspberries "tamed".

At the moment, dozens of varieties are available for cultivation. Most of them give red berries, rarer types are raspberries with yellow and dark purple fruits. Raspberry bushes can grow and successfully bear fruit under favorable conditions and proper care for a long time. On average, the shrub can produce a stable yield of 10-12 years. A significant disadvantage of most varieties is their poor resistance to frost. Even the most winter-hardy raspberry bushes are likely to die at temperatures below -30⁰. Remontant varieties that produce fruit several times during the season are very popular. Large-fruited types of shrubs allow you to shoot ripe berries weighing 10-12 grams. They are considered the most productive.

It is difficult to imagine a garden plot without bushes black or red currant. A relatively recently bred subspecies with berries of light color is less common. This unpretentious plant has deservedly gained popularity and is cultivated in all regions of our country. Most often, gardeners grow several varieties of this crop. Berries of red, black and white currant have excellent taste. They contain a lot of vitamin C and other valuable trace elements. The fruits of the shrub are used for making desserts, homemade preparations. Especially useful for their use fresh. Shrubs grow neat, rarely their height exceeds 1.5 meters. With regular pruning and care, it is easy to form a beautiful rounded crown.

Gooseberry appeared on the territory of Russia in the XVI century. This thorny shrub is called the "northern grape". Gooseberry fruit is often used by European winemakers for making cheap, but no less fragrant and high-quality wine drink. The berries of this shrub are rich in vitamins and have a pleasant sweet-sour taste. Gooseberry is used for making jam, stewed fruit, jellies, sweet desserts. Eating berries fresh in the summer period saturates the body with useful substances and helps to strengthen the immune system before the cold season.

The shrub is able to bear fruit for more than 20 years. The first crop can be harvested in the third year after planting. Gooseberry has only one drawback - the presence of a large number of sharp thorns on the branches. Because of this feature, harvesting is not very easy, and often even painful. Unfortunately, breeders have not yet managed to bring a variety of gooseberries that do not have thorns.

Blackberry familiar to many only as a wild plant.Indeed, in the gardens and at the suburban areas, it began to appear relatively recently. This berry is a distant relative of raspberry. The difference is the dark color of the fruit and their taste with characteristic sourness. Wild species of shrubs are covered with thorny spikes. Through the efforts of breeders, most of the “domesticated” varieties of this plant no longer have thorns. At the moment, there are upright, creeping and remontant blackberry varieties. Also appeared variety in color of the fruit.

Yemalina, as the name implies, is the result of the crossing of two related berry crops: raspberries and blackberries. A shrub appeared in a completely random manner in a private garden of an American judge. In the future, professional breeders actively undertook the breeding of new varieties of trees every spring. This shrub is very unpretentious and can grow even in areas with cold winters.

Berries, most often having a dark pink color, combine the beneficial properties of maternal crops. They have immunostimulating, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory properties. Emealin is drought tolerant, prefers lit areas.

Berries honeysuckle contain a very valuable trace element - selenium. Shrub is not very common among gardeners, and there is a big omission. In people, the fruits of honeysuckle are called "youthful apples." The shrub looks very beautiful during the flowering period and may well play a decorative role as well. Honeysuckle fruits are small, have an elongated shape and blue-violet color. This is one of the first fruit-bearing crops - ripening berries occurs by the end of May. The shrub is resistant to external conditions, does not require complex maintenance, and tolerates low temperatures well.

The disadvantage is the slow development of plants. To accelerate growth requires regular feeding.

Blueberries - low perennial shrub with thick shoots. Often found in the wild in some regions of the country. Garden varieties like shade and humidity, in the absence of these conditions, the bush develops very poorly or even dies. The plant has a height of 35-40 cm. The fruits are very similar to the berries of honeysuckle, but have a more rounded shape. Shrubs bloom in May with delicate pink flowers. The harvest ripens in the first half of summer.

Lingonberries first became interested in European breeders. To grow this berry in garden plots in the 60s of the last century. At the moment, berry shrub perennial cultivated in many countries, including in Russia.

The fruits and leaves of lingonberry are widely used in official and traditional medicine. Rounded small berries of bright red color grow in clusters. They ripen by the end of summer. Shrub blooms in late May. On the branches with dark green leaves appear beautiful pink flowers.

Cranberry famous for its pronounced acidity. But this feature is due to its high content of acids and vitamins. These berries are especially appreciated for a large amount of vitamin C in the composition. The shrub grows wild in moist cool forests. In Russia, cranberries are very common in the tundra and taiga.

The plant produces a large number of creeping shoots. Flowers of dark pink color bloom in early summer. In September, cranberries are gaining maximum ripeness. Fruits are round, bright red or pink, growing mainly in pairs. The fruit is very good keeping quality. Bushes also have excellent decorative properties. They decorate the landscape with rich green foliage, delicate flowers and bright red berries.

Sea buckthorn is a perennial tall shrub.Most varieties have sharp thorns on the branches, making harvesting difficult. Relatively recently, several species of sea buckthorn with no prickly growths were bred.

Irga undeservedly considered a purely ornamental plant. This role she perfectly fulfills. And its fruits contain a lot of useful substances. The berries have a wonderful taste, a bit like cherry, and are very useful in all forms.

The plant is winter-hardy, undemanding to care. Shrubs fruit steadily for many years. Bright juicy fruits are very attracted to birds and pests, so the harvest should not be delayed.

Chokeberry, despite its name, does not have any similarities with the same shrub growing in the forests. In addition to the differences in the color of fruits, the plants have completely different leaves and crown shape.

The black worm, as gardeners call it, grows short, only about two meters. The plant is very demanding of moisture, needs additional watering during droughts. In this case, the plant does not tolerate shading. Therefore, it should be planted in a well-lit place.

Fruits of the Aronia chokeberry grow in small clusters, have a dark color, dense structure and astringent taste. After collecting the berries do not spoil for a long time. The plant has good resistance to many diseases.

Many berry shrubs can be planted with cuttings or sprigs. In particular, currant, raspberry, gooseberry, black chokeberry, sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, shadberry breed by this method. Planting material should be taken in early spring, when buds are swollen on the plant, or in the fall, after harvesting. Suitable for planting young healthy twigs.

A more reliable way is planting seedlings. Pay attention to the appearance of a young plant: it should be free from damage, signs of illness or fading. Healthy and strong seedling takes root much faster and develops steadily from the first months after planting. Some berry crops, for example, lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries, are best planted with seeds. After germinating the planting material, the seedlings are transplanted in open ground to a permanent place.

It is also worth touching on the issue of soil preparation at the site of planting seedlings, saplings or cuttings of future berry bushes. Soil needs to be dug and well loosened. It is advisable to make in the hole for planting organic and mineral fertilizers. After planting, the soil is abundantly moistened with warm water.

Young plants in the first years of life requires sufficient watering. As for moisture-loving crops, such as chokeberry, cranberry, lingonberry, blueberry, in hot weather, soil moistening is imperative. When drought, many berry bushes lose their palatability, fruits can become bitter, astringent or too acidic.

Bushes require regular sanitary pruning. In early spring it is necessary to remove all dried, damaged branches. You should not allow a strong crown thickening, it depletes the bush and makes harvesting difficult. We should not allow active growth of weeds in places with berry plantations. Weeds and plants create serious root competition for fruit bushes. Regular weeding is especially important for young bushes in the first 2-3 years of life.

Berry bushes give a large number of shoots. They grow from the soil in a small radius from the root zone of the plant.They must be cut off or carefully uprooted with the roots. To improve the nutrition of the root system, it is important to regularly loosen the soil, especially in newly planted plants.

Often the cause of disease or wilting shrubs is the lack of micronutrients. Therefore, several times during the season, both young and adult bushes need to be fertilized. Organic shrubs better to feed in the fall and early spring. During the growing season and the ripening of the fruit plants are very required minerals. It is best to purchase balanced fertilizers and make the necessary trace elements in a complex.

Very often, the fruit crops in the garden are attacked by pests. The vital activity of such insects has a very negative effect on the condition of shrubs and on the quality of the crop. Therefore, do not forget about preventive spring treatments of fruit bushes. If you find signs of illness or damage by pests, do not postpone measures to combat them.

Some types of berry bushes are sensitive to winter cold. Therefore, a mandatory item in the autumn garden work in the garden should be the preparation of plants for wintering. In particular, it is necessary to take measures to insulate the trunk and the root zone. For this, covering material, straw, spruce branches, burlap are used.

For information on how to get a big harvest of repair raspberries, see the next video.