A magnificent combination of lush clusters of snow-white inflorescences, bright green summer and crimson autumn crowns, as well as large ruby ​​berries - that is why everyone loves viburnum. But this culture is famous not only for its external splendor, but also for its nutritional qualities, healing and honey properties. In order to grow a beautiful and healthy plant, you need, first of all, to know the rules of planting, as well as caring for viburnum.

The principles of planting viburnum in open ground in the country

Thanks to the painstaking efforts of breeders, today at home it is possible to grow both ornamental (without berries) and fruitful shrubs, both miniature and tall, groundcover, as well as tree-like and traditional bushy plants of viburnum.

Despite the unpretentiousness of this culture, there are still some principles of planting and caring for it, which are important to observe in order to get a plant that is full in all senses.

Did you know? A feature of viburnum is that, in comparison with all other plants, only it has a bone in the shape of a heart. And the name of the berry comes from the fact that green early autumn fruits turn red at the end of September, as if “repenting” under the sun to a crimson color.

Selection of planting material

When choosing viburnum seedlings, it is necessary to give preference to samples with a height of not more than 20 cm, sold with a closed root system (in a container or pot with earth or clay). An open root system is also suitable, but it will need to be pre-processed, which will be discussed later.

In the latter case, it is necessary to focus on the stems and roots of a young plant:

• on no parts should be rot, mold and stains;
• healthy roots and shoots look whole, smooth and fresh, have no damage (neither mechanical nor caused by pests, including galls).

If you purchased a seedling with an open root system, make sure that immediately after the purchase, the roots are wrapped in a damp cloth.

According to experts, the best varieties of plants, including decorative ones, are:

• Viburnum opulus Roseum ( Viburnum vulgaris Roseum );
  

• Viburnum rhytidophyllum ( rugose leaf );
  

• Viburnum lantana ( pride );
  

• Viburnum tinus ( evergreen );
  

• Viburnum Boule de Neige ( Buldenezh ).
  

Terrain selection: in the sun or in the shade, soil requirements

Guelder-rose is very exacting to illumination and openness of the territory, and also to a high level of soil fertility and air permeability:

• light shade / partial shade is allowed at the landing site, but in general the plant loves the sun, and, as practice shows, in the last growing conditions the plant is less susceptible to disease;
• viburnum prefers any highly fertile and light soil with weak or neutral acidity (pH 5.5–6.5);
• the plant grows poorly and develops in swampy, sandy and podzolic soil (the fruits appear much later, and in some cases the plant is so frail and flabby that it does not bear fruit at all);
• mandatory is a deep level of groundwater (at least 1 m from the surface of the earth - stagnation of water has a detrimental effect on the plant);
• Good precursors for the plant are vegetable legumes (beans, lentils, peas), the root systems of which nourished the area with nitrogen.

Important! Guelder - rose bears fruit better when grown in a group method (planting 3-4 bushes at once): this provides cross-pollination of the crop.

Kalina: landing time

Suitable planting dates:

• in spring (good rooting, adaptation before the onset of cooling);
• in the autumn period (root system buildup and growth acceleration with the arrival of heat).

Moreover, if the seedlings are planted in the spring, it is important to have time to do this before the buds open, and then you need to constantly moisten the soil in which the young plant is grown. Autumn rooting is done a couple of weeks before the frost (but the required air temperature should be at + 4 ° C), presumably when the entire foliage falls.

Preparation for landing

To avoid drying of the rhizome, this part of the planting material immediately after purchase must be treated with a specially prepared clay mash. When the roots stay in solution and then dry well, they will be more protected from injury or damage during growth.

Did you know? In the old days, in Kievan Rus they believed that viburnum brings girls a happy fate. That is why there is an ancient tradition of interweaving viburnum inflorescences into girl’s wreaths, and dishes with berries and bouquets with flowers of the plant are, according to popular beliefs, mandatory attributes of a wedding.

Site preparation:

1. The selected area must be cleaned of debris and weeds, carefully digging up the soil and introducing rotted compost at the rate of 1 kg per 1 m² of area.
2. In order to understand whether the acidity is normal on the site, you can conduct the following experiment: remove a small part of the earth from a depth of 15 cm, and then spill a few drops of vinegar on it - if the soil hisses and foams, then this is an alkaline environment.
3. In the latter case, it is necessary to correct the pH reaction through the use of fluff lime, chalk or dolomite flour.

Planting Algorithm

Instructions for the direct landing of viburnum include the following:

1. Dig a hole for the seedling, which should be at least 50 cm in depth and 50 cm in diameter (taking into account the size of the root system of the young plant).
2. It is advisable to place expanded clay or crumb from the brick at the bottom, and sprinkle with a mixture of humus and peat (in equal parts), as well as complex fertilizer (60 g), on top.
3. Then it is necessary to pour 40 liters of water into the formed well and wait until the water is well absorbed.
4. Fill 2/3 of the total soil taken out of the hole into the hole, forming a small mound 10–12 cm high.
5. Place the seedling on a hill, carefully spread the roots and fill them with fertile soil.
6. In order to avoid the formation of voids between the roots, the trunk should be easily shaken and tamped near the trunk.
7. The deepening of the root neck should be at the level of 0.5 cm, and the height above the ground - 5 cm.
8. If you are planting more than one raspberry bush or other plants are already growing nearby, then keep a distance of 2-3 m between plantings.
9. Post-planting irrigation and mulching: peat, sawdust or compost are good as mulch. Needles that oxidize the substrate are categorically not suitable.

In addition to post-planting mulching, this process must be carried out several times a year, preferably in April-May, when the soil is still wet, but already well warmed up. This process helps to increase the shelf life of moisture in the soil, as well as the development of soil microflora and increase its fertility.

Video: planting viburnum

Rules for the care of young viburnum

The following procedures are important in caring for viburnum, the description of each of which is discussed in more detail below:

• maintaining a sufficient level of moisture in the soil as its top layer dries;
• systematic weeding and loosening of soil;
• timely pruning of bushes;
• preventive treatment of the plant from disease damage and pest attacks, as well as regular inspection for developmental abnormalities;
• fertilizing the plant with fertilizers.

We advise you to learn about the features of the neighborhood of common viburnum with other plants.

If you properly care for the plant, then it will not only actively develop and bring a berry crop, but will also be a wonderful decoration for your garden or summer cottage. It can be a wonderful hedge, or an element of landscape design, or just a separate, but beautiful tree-like shrub.

Watering and loosening

Volumetric characteristics of irrigation: after planting, a young shrub should be watered every week, moistening the soil to a depth of 30–40 cm (3-4 buckets), then the frequency of irrigation can be reduced. Remember that everything depends on weather conditions: if there is heat and drought, then viburnum should not be left without water for a long time, if, on the contrary, the weather is rainy and damp, then watering is regulated according to these conditions.

It should also be borne in mind that the plant does not like stagnation of water, so you should not turn the near-barrel territory into swamp slurry, which will destroy the culture. As for the adult plant, it will be enough to moisturize it only during the growing season and fruit formation.

Loosening and cleaning the soil from weeds are carried out in order to protect the plant from attacks of pathogenic bacteria and harmful insects, whose favorite habitat is precisely weed wild plants and stale soil.

In addition, soil aeration contributes to the strengthening and better growth of the root system of the culture. Loosening is necessarily done in late March-early April, after harvesting and burning last year's foliage and old mulch.

Important! Gardeners who prefer natural rather than chemical methods of preventive treatment, from June to harvest, spray the plant with infusions of potato tops, celandine, and tobacco. And garlic sprinkles prevent potential damage to viburnum by powdery mildew and fruit rot (when the weather is wet and cold).

Pruning and processing of bushes, disinfection of the soil

Pruning shrubs of viburnum is carried out in the spring (before the sap flow in the plant) with a sharp secateurs with the obligatory subsequent processing of the cut sites with garden varieties. It is necessary to remove all dry and damaged shoots, stems growing inside, and also cut the crown.

Fig. 1. 1 tier - Secateurs cut off the drooping branches of the lower tier at the branching points, transfer the branches to a horizontal position or to a position raised slightly above the horizontal; Fig. 1. 2 and 1 tier - The branches of the second tier also translate into a horizontal and slightly inclined position. Pruning is performed on branches located closer to the trunk so that the length of the remaining branches of the second tier is slightly less than the length of the branches of the lower tier. Figure 1. 3 and 2 tier - The branches of the third tier are transferred from a vertical position to an inclined and partially horizontal. The length of the remaining branches should be shorter than the length of the branches in the second tier.

As for the apical processes, they should be shortened by 2-3 knots in order to avoid the reproduction of insects that feed on the plant sap (aphids, leaflets, scutes, caterpillars and similar pests).

Fig. 2 - In one season, a weak branch turns into a well-developed branch, in 2-3 years the third tier is restored. Fig. 3 - Now the branches of the upper tier will not be able to pick up most of the nutrients. All food will be evenly distributed over all branches, especially if the apex is transferred to the lateral branch. Fig. 4 - If necessary, it can simply be bent to the side and fixed in this position for one season. Fig. 5 - With shortened pruning, long branches are cut disproportionately. The cut is done over a pair of buds or over a branch located closer to the trunk.

An important role in the cultivation of viburnum is played by preventive treatment and regular inspection of the plant for signs of developmental disabilities, diseases or damage by pests.

The diseases that most often affect viburnum:

• frost burn
• powdery mildew;
• fruit and gray rot;
• spotting viburnum.

Common dangerous insects that can destroy a plant:

• black aphid leaflet;
• viburnum and honeysuckle gall midge;
• green lobed moth;
• leaflet and leaf beetle viburnum.

Insecticides are used to kill harmful insects, and fungicides are treated to protect the plant against fungal infections.

As the first remedies, Arrivo, Decis, Inta-Vir and the like are suitable, but well-proven fungicides are Bayleton, Skor, Topaz, Bordeaux fluid, etc.

Find out more

How to deal with aphids on viburnum Buldenezh, pest treatment, control measures

For the purpose of prevention, they are applied before flowering and before wintering, and if shrub treatment is performed, then the deadline is 3 weeks before harvesting, no later.

In the spring, it is also necessary to treat the upper layers of the soil and branches of the shrub with fungicides in order to destroy overwintered pests or preserved bacteria.

You can use a urea solution (7%) for this, but you need to do this until the buds open, so as not to burn the latter.

As practice shows, bacterial and viral diseases are fatal for viburnum, but timely prevention of the appearance and destruction of existing pest larvae that can provoke diseases will help to avoid them.

Fertilizing with fertilizers and preparing for wintering

As for feeding viburnum, any organic fertilizer should be applied to the near-trunk places once a year (preferably in autumn when plowing the area). Nitrogen-containing substances in combination with superphosphate and potassium salt (30 g / 50 g / 12 g, diluted in 10 l of water, respectively, per 1 bush) have also proven themselves well in this regard.

Instead, you can take ammonium nitrate, potassium salt, ordinary and double superphosphate (30 g / 25 g / 30 g / 30 g, diluted in 1 bucket, respectively, for 1 planting). A complex of mineral fertilizers is applied in the spring, before or after flowering, at the rate of 75–80 g of the complex per 10 liters of water for each well.

Did you know? Previously, it was also believed that viburnum has magical properties and protects from evil eye and damage. Clusters with viburnum berries were hung out in houses in a conspicuous place in one of the corners, thus putting “protection” of housing.

Kalina tolerates winter quite well, but nevertheless gardeners recommend protecting the young plant: for this, the branches of seedlings are covered with a layer of dense burlap and tie the shoots with a ribbon of fabric.

Soil protection is formed by coating the trunk sections with a 10-cm layer of peat or humus. Accordingly, before doing the above actions, it is necessary to remove the fallen leaves and old mulch from the near-barrel territory, burning them, and also treat the plant with preventive agents for diseases and pests.

It is also worth remembering that the fruits of this amazing plant can show off on the branches not only until the first heavy snow falls, but all winter until spring, so it is better to carefully cut the brushes of berries and put them away for storage, otherwise they will become easy prey for birds. And due to the fact that frosts give the berries a touch of sweetness due to the destruction of part of the glycosides, you can wait until the cold snap.

When viburnum begins to bear fruit after planting

Viburnum begins to bear fruit, as a rule, on the 4th – 5th year after planting, but if we take two or three year old seedlings obtained by the vegetative method of propagation, such specimens will bear fruit already in the second year after planting.

Important! To make sure the planting material is fresh, you need to slightly scratch the bottom of the rhizome: if green young wood appeared at the scratch site, this seedling is suitable for rooting it into the ground.

Thus, we can conclude that anyone, both an experienced and a beginner gardener, subject to all the above rules of agricultural technology, will be able to plant and grow such a viburnum that will meet all his expectations in appearance, in quality, and in volume the crop.