Recommendations for planting and caring for the barberry

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Barberry bushes are very decorative look not only in summer. Cultural forms of this shrub are very diverse and unpretentious. Its planting is often used as a hedge, given that the barberry easily tolerates cutting and trimming.. Especially valuable quality of this shrub - its unpretentiousness to the conditions of cultivation and care.

Barberry - a beautiful plant that can decorate any garden or play the role of a reliable hedge. In nature, there are about 500 species of this plant. Barberry varieties are distinguished by the height of the bush, the color of leaves and fruits (yellow, purple, red), size, color and number of flowers.

In contrast to the Thunberg and the monolith - ornamental species, the barberry is grown mainly because of the berries. From them prepare various preparations for the winter, liqueurs, a marshmallow. Berries are added to pilaf, marinades, and roasted vegetables in Central Asia and the countries of the Caucasus.

The benefits of this shrub berries are obvious - a high content of vitamins (E, C, A and various group B), organic acids (citric, malic and tartaric) and a complex of mineral compounds.

Is it possible to grow barberry from a seed?

From a small stone you can grow a beautiful bush at home. However, you should prepare for the difficulties in advance.:

• germination percentage very short (from 20% before 40%),
• the process is long (requires stratification of the seed)
• seedling will be ready to transplant to a permanent place only through 2-3 years,
• for berries vaccination will be required.

The barberry can breed also by self-sowing of the berries which fallen in the fall.

How to grow barberry from seed at home?

Let us consider in more detail how to do it correctly.

It is necessary to choose the most ripe berries, separate them from the pulp, rinse in running water. Then these seeds need to be sanitized, hold for 20 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, wash and dry.

Seeds can be immediately planted in loose soil, cleared of weeds, in furrows with a depth of no more than 3 centimeters. During the winter, the snow seeds harden under the snow and sprout in the spring.

You can do otherwise, if you could not plant the seeds in the autumn:

1. Decontaminated seeds mix with wet (attention - not wet) sand and keep them at a temperature of + 3 ° C until spring, on the vegetable shelf of the refrigerator.
2. In april their land on a garden bed.
3. When will two true leaves appear? seedlings thinned. Weak seedlings are removed - leave the strongest.

4. Before landing on a permanent place seedlings are better to grow another year in this “shkolka” (bed for very young plants, for which you carry out thorough care and control).
5. Fruits on seedlings will appear only in two years., but it still has to be vaccinated.
6. Barberry transplant in open ground.

Barberry is common in central and southern Russia, in the North Caucasus and the Black Sea coast, in Western and Eastern Siberia, the Moscow region and the Urals, where they feel quite decent on stony soil and without any care. Cultural forms of the shrub are also very unassuming:

1. For a young plant prepare a landing hole of no more than 50x50 centimeters (it is even with a margin).
2. Pit half compost or humus. (approximately, a bucket).
3. Desirable add lime for additional soil deoxidation (up to 0.5 kg).
4. Add approximately half a bucket of ordinary sand - This will increase the supply of oxygen to the roots.
5. Everything mix thoroughlyso as not to burn the roots.
6. By setting the seedling in the planting pit, sprinkle the roots with soil and water well.
7. Mulch peat, compost or rotten sawdust.
8. Last thing, cut the top of the plant, leaving 3-4 well-developed buds - so the plant tolerates transplant more easily and will quickly grow into a bush.

Like most garden plants, the barberry can be transplanted twice.:

• in the autumn - until the end of October,
• in the spring - until the end of April.

Departure after landing

All varieties of barberries are grown in the same way - whether you have a decorative barberry of Thunberg or barberry ordinary.

Recommendations will suit any varietal variety of this shrub.:

• timely watering,
• top dressing
• weed removal
• pruning in the spring before bud break and in late autumn.

Conveniently, the barberries are fed only once every few years on a standard schedule.:

• nitric - only in spring
• potassium phosphate - in the fall.

How to cut the barberry in autumn

Without pruning barberry bush easily reaches height 3 meters. This light-loving prickly shrub can not only serve as a hedge, but also produce very useful berries every year.

But this is only possible:

• if the bush grows well lighted place,
• has not too thickened crown,
• close grow pollinators - A few more barberry bushes.

And pruning bushes - one of the main conditions of fruiting.

Sanitary pruning

The bush forms impassable thickets very quickly. Pruning form not only the beautiful shape of the plant. Cutting broken, dry, old branches, you rejuvenate the bush.

Luckily, this type of garden shrub is practically not subject to fungal diseases. Thickened barberry bushes can be an intermediate link - in its thickets fungi will find shelter, and under favorable conditions will spread to their neighbors.

Therefore, all too thin and strongly thickening branches are also subject to removal.. This improves the ventilation space of the bush. This pruning is enough to hold twice a year.

Shaped pruning

The formation of a bush of barberry is not difficult. Simply it is necessary to remove all branches growing inside the bush - they certainly will create excessive thickening of the crown. Such a thick bush will definitely not bear fruit.

If your barberry is part of a hedge, then the number of branches will be in the tens. In this case, remove only dry and damaged branches. In fact, only sanitary pruning is carried out.

Ornamental shrubs can be cut with garden shears or special trimmers, giving the barberry plantings a wide variety of outlines.

Rejuvenation bushes

The main thing you need to remember when rejuvenating the barberry bushes, - flowers and fruits this plant forms mainly on annual growths. From this it follows that with a strong shortening of the branches, the harvest should not be calculated (this technique is only suitable for decorative forms of barberry).

For rejuvenation of fruit forms:

• or cut out the old branch to the ground and in its place form a young
• either trimmed translate growth into a branch.

Preparing for winter in Siberia, the Moscow region and the Urals

With the arrival of autumn, it is time to transplant young seedlings of bushes from the “school” to a permanent place or sow the seeds for growing new plants into the “school”.

Necessary to bring order to pristvolnyh circles:

1. remove various trash and dig up the soil under the bushes,
2. feed the plants humus or compost,
3. conduct sanitary pruning,
4. trim for rejuvenation if necessary.

Before the onset of cold weather, tree trunks are necessary. mulch loose peat, composted or dried leaves.

Only very young bushes are very sensitive to winter frosts (up to 5 years old) - their need to cover at the onset of the first frost. The easiest way is to cover with spruce leaves, this is especially true for evergreen barberry varieties.

Large bushes before shelter must be tied with rope or twine. A grid box is installed around, where dry leaves are filled to the top, and wrapped with a nonwoven material (for example, agrofiber) on top,

Reproduction of barberry and landing on open ground

In addition to the seed method of breeding barberry, seedlings of this bush can be obtained much faster using vegetative methods. The main advantages of such breeding:

• get ready seedling in one season,
• varietal properties of the plant are fully preserved - no vaccination needed.

How to propagate the barberry in the country?

Cuttings

The method of grafting allows you to get a very large number of seedlings per year and without vaccinations. However, without the use of heteroauxin or other root growth stimulants, barberry cutting is very slow.

1. Early summer (June) annual lateral branches cut into cuttings about 15 centimeters.
2. The bottom leaves are removed and processed according to the instructions of the root growth stimulator.
3. The cuttings prepared in this way planted in a mixture of humus, fertile soil, peat and sand (1: 1: 1: 0.5).
4. Install film cover.
5. Several times a day need to be ventilated and spray the cuttings.
6. Land of necessity loosen and water.
7. Take care of sheltering the “school” for the winter.

The next spring, seedlings can be planted in a permanent place.

Layering

As the layers from the lower parts of the bush choose spring strong annual branches in the spring.

1. Bend them to the ground and laid in the grooves 15-20 centimeters depth of
2. Fix the position of the branch a wire handle or a branch flyer.
3. Fall asleep ground so that one tip of the shoot remains on the surface.

In addition to watering, special care does not require cuttings. By the fall he will be ready for transplant.

Division bush

If there is a bush of barberry, which by all measures suits you, it can be divided into several. The best time for this is in the spring before bud break..

1. Caution dig up the mother bush.
2. Cut into pieces. Powerful roots sawed with a hacksaw.
3. Part-delenki seated in pre cooked holes.
4. Bush prunedin order to balance the ground part with the roots and improve the survival rate of the damaged plant.

Further care of the cut bush is no different.

Conclusion

Growing a barberry in the garden is not at all difficult. Caring for this shrub is not difficult, even for a gardener amateur. The plant is so unpretentious that it practically does not require additional feedings, any soil without stagnation of water will do for it. Densely planted bushes will create a hedge that will add a touch of classic English park to the design of your garden.