Dogwood. Autumn sowing of woody plants

Grow quality and healthy cotoneaster seedlings- the task is not at all trivial. The entire process from collecting seeds to obtaining seedlings takes just over two years. In this article I will share with you my technology for growing brilliant cotoneaster seedlings. Conventionally, the entire process can be divided into seven main stages.

Collection of cotoneaster fruits

Click on photo to enlarge.

Threshing and washing seeds

I thresh and wash the seeds in mid-September.

Tools and accessories:

1. Juicer "Rossoshanka" converted for crushing and removing pulp.
2. Containers with a volume of 0.1–0.5 cubic meters. meters.

Stratification (preparation) of seeds

Seeds disinfected with a 5 percent solution copper sulfate, mixed with wet river sand 1:3 and stored in bags, indoors at a temperature not lower than +15° C˚ with constant moistening and stirring.

Pre-sowing seed preparation

In the year of sowing, from October 15, I carry out pre-sowing preparation of seeds (from last year's collection) after completion of the stratification stage for sowing.

I sift the mixture of seeds and sand and remove the sand. I treat and feed the seeds with microelements using a semi-dry method.

For 50 liters of seeds I use:

• 50 gr. ammonium molybdate,
• 40 gr. zinc sulfate,
• 100 ml carbolic acid (5% solution),
• 10 ml formalin (10% solution),
• 5 liters of water.

After dressing, I dust the wet seeds with wood ash (about 5 kg).

Preparing the soil for sowing

At the end of October, I cultivate the soil to a depth of 10 cm and break up the clods to 10 mm.

Marking of ridges:

• width – 1.3 m
• length – arbitrary
• paths – 0.3 m

I cut rows with a marker (17 cm between centers) and straighten the grooves with a beam 8 cm wide.

I sow 570 pieces in a 1.3 m long furrow (across the bed). cotoneaster seeds (2 measuring cups of 40 ml, about 860 seeds I use for 3 grooves).

I plant the seeds to a depth of 1–1.5 cm with a 1:1 mixture of soil and humus.

Seedling care

In early March, I raise the covering material in arcs 10–15 cm above the bed to protect it from frost.

As the seedlings appear, I carry out standard agricultural practices: breaking through, weeding, watering, loosening the soil between the rows, applying fertilizers, pest control (mole cricket, May beetle, weevils, aphids, slugs, etc.), shaping seedlings using regular haircuts and etc.

Harvest

A year after sowing, I dig cotoneaster seedlings from September 25 to 30. Sorting, counting and tying into bundles of 500 pieces. accompanied by shortening and dipping the roots in mash. The length of the aboveground part of the seedling is 22–25 cm.

Tools used:

1. Ripper marker
2. Ripper-cultivator
3. Ripper-mulcher
4. Rolling out clods
5. Galley beam
6. Electric cultivator
7. Electric juicer adapted for fruit crusher
8. Trimer - electric scythe
9. Homemade shovel-digger (modification of the Kolesov Sword)

All these agricultural techniques and manipulations make it possible to obtain brilliant cotoneaster seedlings of the highest quality. Check out the availability of seedlings in the price list and call to pre-order. Acceptance of applications for seedlings begins in March.

The pleasant astringent taste of dogwood conquered many, and since then, summer residents began to actively grow it on their plots. Dogwood is very rich in ascorbic acid and various useful microelements, thanks to which it has found its use in folk medicine. This marvelous berry has not been spared by cooking - the extraordinary taste and aroma of dogwood simply could not go unnoticed! How can we preserve dogwood so that it pleases us with its valuable properties for as long as possible?

Dried dogwood

Drying is the most optimal way to harvest these wonderful berries. In order to dry dogwood, you first need to select only healthy and finally ripened berries, colored bright red. It is important to try to ensure that among the berries prepared for drying there is no overripe or soft dogwood. In addition, dogwood should not be affected by pests or diseases.

The sorted berries are washed thoroughly under cold running water. And to disinfect the berries, you can add soda or table vinegar to the water. After the berries are washed, the stalks are torn off.

You can dry dogwood in three different ways. Firstly, this can be done in the oven. And if you have a special dryer, you can use it. First, the dogwood is dried at a temperature of fifty to sixty degrees, and then the temperature is increased to seventy to seventy-five degrees.

Secondly, dogwoods dry well in the sun. The washed berries, along with the seeds, are laid out on cloth or thick paper in places with minimal humidity. By the way, before doing this, you can blanch the dogwood in boiling water for two to five minutes. Then the berries are dried in the open air, trying in every possible way to avoid moisture and exposure to direct rays of the sun. Periodically drying dogwood needs to be stirred so that the berries dry evenly. It is recommended to take them indoors at night. After about three or five days, the dogwood will wilt and can be stored.

And thirdly, dogwood can be dried in the form of pita bread. The seeds are removed from the washed berries by grinding, and then the pulp, crushed into a pulp, is laid out on a wooden board (or tray) in a thin continuous layer. Next, the resulting mass is placed in a well-ventilated place in the open air. When the dogwood dries, quite long stripes will appear on the planks - these are pita breads. And to prevent unusual pita bread from rotting, the chopped dogwood pulp can be lightly salted before drying. Such pita breads are usually used as a seasoning.

To make the dried berries sweet and sticky, pre-prepared dogwood is dipped in hot water for six to eight hours. sugar syrup, after which the mass is allowed to cool. Then the berries are discarded in a colander, and after a few minutes they are again filled with heated syrup. After five to six hours, the dogwood and syrup are brought to a boil, drained again in a colander and distributed over clean paper for subsequent drying.

Dried dogwood is stored in dry, dark places, packed in cardboard boxes or linen bags.

Freeze dogwood

Frozen berries are good because they preserve maximum beneficial features. Moreover, the taste of frozen dogwood is significantly improved. Ripe berries intended for freezing are sorted and washed, after which they are allowed to dry thoroughly. Then the dogwood is poured onto a tray, which goes into the freezer. Frozen berries are transferred to plastic bags and tied tightly.

Dogwood jam

A kilogram of dogwood is first washed, and then blanched in boiling water for about a minute. Next, the dogwood is transferred to boiled syrup and boiled for about seven minutes (to prepare the syrup you will need one and a half kilograms of sugar and 300 ml of water). After such a short cooking, the jam is set aside so that it cools down. room temperature, and then boil again. Then, repeating the procedure from start to finish once again, put the cooked delicacy into jars and immediately roll it up.

FEATURES OF SEED REPRODUCTION OF COTENA.

Cotoneasters, belonging to the Rosaceae family, number more than 200 species. In nature, they are found in the mountainous regions of China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. In general, the plants are unusually plastic: there are appressed, cushion-shaped, drooping, prostrate, erect shrubs or small trees - evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous. Many species bloom attractively, almost all have abundant, shiny fruits of various colors: orange-red, coral, purple, black. In some species, the fruits gradually change color as they ripen, for example, in the glossy cotoneaster (Cotoneaster nitens), they are first pink, and then through shades of red, becoming black by the time they ripen. An undeniable decorative advantage of plants is that the berries remain on the branches for a long time - in many species all winter, and in some they do not fall until spring.

Cotoneasters can grow in clearings, edges, under the canopy of sparse plantings; some species are suitable for growing in mobile containers, for example, Nanshan (c.nan-shan). Most species are undemanding to growing conditions, drought-resistant, prefer rocky and loamy soils in open sunny places, resistant to pests.

Cotoneasters with outstretched, horizontally located branches practically do not suffer from frost under snow cover. In the spring, when other plants are still bare, evergreen cushions of cotoneasters with preserved berries decorate the garden landscape, which is poor in greenery.

All cotoneasters, without exception, reproduce well vegetatively - by cuttings, green cuttings, and in many species, cut cuttings without preliminary rooting are immediately suitable for planting in place - their ability to form roots is so pronounced.

A completely natural question arises: if plants reproduce vegetatively so easily, without any problems, then why turn to their seed reproduction? The fact is that with a wide variety of cotoneasters in nature, literally several types are used in landscaping: horizontal, Dummer, pressed, shiny or their varieties are not always, by the way, suitable for growing in the middle zone due to reduced winter hardiness in comparison with the original plants .

At the same time, many unknown or rarely cultivated species could become a real decoration of the garden. Interesting is the rocky cotoneaster (c.h.saxatilis), a variety of horizontal, but with denser shoots pressed to the ground and compact; it can also be planted in a small rock garden. Unlike the original species, it will not choke out neighboring plants.

Decorative pillows with a height of only 0.5–0.7 m are formed by the semi-evergreen Nanshan cotoneaster (c.nan-shan); The species blooms for a long time with reddish-pink flowers, and the flowering background is equal in abundance to or even exceeds the leaf one.

Interesting and extremely decorative are Wilson's cotoneaster (c.wilsonii), tiny (c.perpusillus), Zabel's (c.Zabeli), Frobel's (c.frobelii), glossy (c.nitens), Dielsianus (c.dielsianus) and many others. Practically the only opportunity to expand the range of this decorative and valuable genus for landscape design is propagation by seeds.

The fruits of cotoneasters ripen in the fall - in September or October, and remain on the branches for a long time, sometimes until next spring. If the fruits are to be used for sowing, they must be collected immediately upon reaching maturity. This is judged by the color of the fruit, characteristic of this species. After collection, the seeds are separated from the pulp, the constituent substances of which have a depressing effect on the seed embryo. When storing seeds in a state that has not been cleared of pulp, the viability of the embryos begins to gradually decrease and by spring, as a rule, does not exceed 30–35%. After cleaning, the seeds are dried. They are covered with a dense, hard shell and, when peeled, remain viable for many years, even when stored indoors.

It is advisable to scarify the seeds before sowing. In production conditions, concentrated sulfuric acid is used for these purposes, in which the seeds are immersed for 45–60 minutes. Another way to treat seeds is to expose them to electromagnetic field 21 kHz for 15 minutes. Such preliminary preparation reduces stratification time, increases seed germination energy.

For obvious reasons, these techniques are of little use for amateur gardening. At home, scarification of seeds can be done by exposing the seeds to sharply variable temperatures, immersing them first in ice water for several minutes, and then, for the same time, in boiling water. The procedure is repeated 3–5 times. The strength of the effect of variable temperatures on the seed coat is significantly inferior to concentrated acids, but, nevertheless, it also reduces the time of stratification and promotes faster germination of seeds. Immediately before sowing, it is useful to soak the seeds for a day in a solution of epin or zircon (1 ampoule per 2 liters of water).

A mixture is used for sowing equal parts turf and leaf soil with the addition of neutralized peat and sand, or ready-made soil with a neutral or, preferably, slightly alkaline reaction. The main thing is that the soil acidity index is not lower than 7, since young cotoneasters react extremely negatively even to slight acidity. Long-term cultivation, even on slightly acidic substrates, will initially have a depressing effect on the seedlings, inhibit their growth and development, and then lead to death. This is explained by the fact that plants are naturally confined to calcareous soils and are unable to absorb nutrients in acidic environments.

Treated (scarified) seeds must undergo another period of exposure after sowing low temperatures(stratification). Its duration for different types of cotoneaster ranges from 3 to 6 months. If the seeds have not been pre-treated, the time extends to 12–15 months and even 2 years (for individual species). The use of “home” scarification methods also helps to obtain seedlings as quickly as possible.

The period of germination of cotoneaster seeds is very extended in time; when the first shoots appear, the crops are placed in the brightest place; if they appeared at the end of winter or beginning of spring, they should be additionally illuminated. Cotoneaster seedlings are rarely damaged by fungal diseases, but for prevention it is advisable to treat the crops once with a solution of foundationazole. To do this, the drug solution is poured into trays until the soil substrate is completely wetted.

In nature, cotoneasters grow on moderately nutritious soils, so seedlings do not need high doses of fertilizers. The concentration of nutrients in the working solution should be 2–2.5 times lower than for feeding seedlings of other crops. You can use any complex mineral fertilizer, the main thing that needs to be taken into account when choosing it is that the mixture should in no case contain components that acidify the soil substrate.

Great care must be taken when watering seedlings. The soil should not be allowed to dry out too much, but its dryness is no less dangerous for seedlings than excessive watering. If the soil is constantly in an excessively moist state, the free access of air oxygen to the root zone will be disrupted. This will make it difficult for plants to utilize the nutrients contained in the soil. If the cause is not eliminated, the seedlings will first be depressed and then may die.

Thus, the basic rules for maintaining cotoneaster seedlings are maximum lighting, moderate watering and regular, but lightly concentrated fertilizing.

Seedlings of the first year are not cold-resistant enough, and they can be taken out into the open air when the danger of return frosts has passed. The first season they grow very slowly; even in relatively large species, the length of the shoots does not exceed 10–15 cm. In the first summer of life of young plants, the growth of the roots is significantly, approximately 1.5–2 times, greater than the growth of the ground part.

If the seedlings grow in a sufficiently free container and do not crowd each other, in the first year they can not be planted and left to overwinter in the container. When the crops are thickened, plants need to be picked, since even the slightest shading affects their growth and development. Plants become sharply elongated, the length of internodes increases; this leads to weakening of plants and worsens wintering. The signal to start picking is the closing of the leaves of neighboring plants.

When picking, the same soil mixture as when sowing seeds. It is better to plant young plants immediately in individual glasses. Seedlings of all cotoneasters tolerate transplantation well. It was not necessary to observe their deaths in connection with this procedure. But any, even the most gentle picking, disrupts the root system of the plant, because it is forced to restore damaged roots, which does not negatively affect the development of the plant, but, naturally, interrupts it for some time. When it comes to crops, let’s say, with borderline winter hardiness, the gardener’s task is to prepare for winter something that is as mature, strong and resistant to winter as possible. winter temperatures plant, and wasting time restoring the root system is unacceptable!

As noted above, root system young cotoneasters sharply prevail over the ground part, therefore, despite the small size of the plants, the volume of the picking glass should be at least 250 ml for small species; for large ones – 0.5 l. When planting, the seedling is buried up to the cotyledon leaves, but not deeper. If seedlings appear at the end of winter or beginning of spring, they are ready for picking at the beginning of summer.

After 1.5–2 months, despite the slight increase in the above-ground part, the plants should be transferred to larger containers. During transshipment, it is clearly visible that the root system of the seedling manages to master the entire volume of the glass within a few weeks. A delay in transplantation slows down their development. During transshipment, the planting depth of the seedling remains the same; It is not advisable to bury it. Despite the fact that all cotoneasters, without exception, are capable of producing adventitious roots on shoots, especially on the semi-lignified or non-lignified (green) part, deepening young plant until real leaves have a depressing effect on him. In some cases, excessively deep planting can cause the death of a seedling.

Seedlings of most cold-resistant species that appear within the above-mentioned periods can overwinter in open ground in the first year and will require shelter only in severe frosts (minus 23–25’C).

On permanent place at this age it is better not to plant cotoneasters; the plants are so small that they have no decorative look, and in the case of severe frosts, their shelter is complicated. In the first year, it is wiser to bury the plants in containers next to each other. If the temperature drops below critical values, the seedlings can be easily covered. To cover young cotoneasters, it is not advisable to use spruce branches, which are often used by amateurs for these purposes. Even slight acidification of the soil has a negative effect on plants. Agricultural material is ideal for these purposes.

When sowing cotoneaster seeds, an amateur may encounter such a nuisance. Despite preliminary scarification, seedlings appear late - in late spring or even early summer. By the end of the season, such crops will be so small and weak that wintering in open ground conditions is out of the question. The seedlings will die. What to do in this case? If there is a bright, moderately warm room (temperature about plus 8–10’C), wintering there will be ideal. To prevent seedlings from stretching out during the winter months due to insufficient lighting, the plants need to be provided with additional lighting, increasing the length of daylight hours to 10–12 hours. Seedlings overwintering in such conditions are in a state of relative dormancy, so watering should be reduced to the necessary minimum, and fertilizing should be stopped until spring.

If there is no bright and cool room, the seedlings can overwinter in city apartments. In this case, they should be placed as close as possible to the window glass, where the temperature is significantly lower. The remaining maintenance conditions - lighting, watering and fertilizing - remain the same.

Seedlings that appeared in late dates, by the onset of the autumn-winter period they are still so small that they do not interfere with each other, therefore, as a rule, they do not need picking and can overwinter in the container in which they were sown. If seedlings turn out to be frequent, and young plants clearly shade each other, then picking becomes necessary. Winter conditions for keeping seedlings in any room are inevitably accompanied by insufficient lighting, and additional shading due to the frequent location of seedlings is naturally undesirable.

Above we talked about seedlings quite winter-hardy species cotoneaster Seedlings of those species that even as adults suffer from severe frosts in winter will not be able to winter in the open ground for the first year under any circumstances.

With the onset of sustainable negative temperatures young plants are either transferred to a bright and cool room with a temperature no higher than plus 8–10’C and kept as described above, or stored in conditions of low, positive (close to 0’C) temperatures, for example, in a basement. Overwinter plants in such temperature conditions can even in unlit rooms.

In the spring, overwintered seedlings are taken out of the basements and first placed in a room with a temperature no higher than plus 8–12’C; then the temperature is gradually raised. Illumination should be maximum.

In May, seedlings are taken out into the open air.

In the second year of life, young cotoneasters increase their vegetative mass more intensively, and by the end of the season their shoots, depending on the species, reach 30–50 cm; branching begins. By the end of the third year of life, the shoots have already grown to 60–90 cm, and some young plants can produce single flowers and even set fruits, but the seeds in them have not yet fully ripened. From 4–5 years, almost all seedlings bloom and bear fruit, but cotoneasters achieve their full decorative effect only by 6–7 years.

Starting from 2–3 years of life, plants can be planted in a permanent place, but so that they provide decorative effect, they are planted at a density 3–4 times higher than what will be needed later. So, if you plan to plant 3 creeping species of cotoneaster, take 8–10 young plants. As the shoots of neighboring bushes grow and close together, the excess ones are removed from the soil and used in another area of ​​the garden.

Candidate of Biological Sciences, senior researcher at GBS named after. N.V. Tsitsin RAS, member of the Moscow Union of Journalists

Particularly valuable are those types of cotoneasters that are frost-resistant and drought-resistant. Many species develop successfully in urban conditions and are dust-resistant and have little demands on soil fertility and moisture. However, for most species, calcareous soil is more desirable. They grow well in both light and shade. Only cotoneaster, multi-flowered and pink, bloom and bear fruit more luxuriantly in sufficient light. To protect against frost in snowless winters, it is advisable to cover these more heat-loving cotoneasters for the winter with spruce branches or fallen leaves.

These shrubs are simply irreplaceable when constructing hedges, designing rock gardens and creating decorative groups. They form well, retain their shape for a long time and can easily be transplanted at any time of the season.

Planting cotoneasters

All cotoneasters can easily be planted. Shrubs with an open root system are planted in a permanent place in the spring - during the period after the soil thaws and before the buds begin to open, or in the fall - from the massive fall of leaves to the first frost. Best for them spring planting, and for cotoneaster and chokeberry, autumn planting is also suitable.

In preparation for planting a cotoneaster hedge, pull the rope tightly along the line of the future row of green fencing. Only if this condition is met does the landing turn out beautiful and even. For a hedge, dig a trench 50-70 cm deep and up to 50 cm wide, for medium and small species - 35x35 cm. After planting, the soil around each plant must be compacted tightly so that voids do not form in the root zone, leading to drying out and death of the bush.

It's hard to imagine today's high retaining wall, arranged on a slope, so that horizontal cotoneaster is not present there. However, in our conditions, it is advisable to limit its use to plantings of 1-5 plants that are not difficult to cover. The characteristic habit and the way the shoots of Dummer's cotoneaster grow make this shrub indispensable for alpine slides and arrangement of terraces. Ground cover cotoneasters are good in rock gardens, as they are able to entwine flat stones with branches and perfectly cover the soil around tree trunks and decorate the edges of mixborders, provided there is good lighting.

Plant nutrition

Useful for cotoneasters, and especially decorative varieties, fertilizing with slurry diluted 5-6 times, or bird droppings diluted 10 times. Fertilizers are applied to the soil not only before planting, but also as a top dressing during intensive plant growth. Organic fertilizers ensure the development of bacteria and increase soil fertility. Summer feeding is very effective, especially for mature shrubs, before and after flowering. During the growing season, fertilizing is carried out several times, but by August it is stopped so that the shoots stop growing and have time to become lignified by winter.

Bush pruning

Geometrically correct hedges made from winter-hardy cotoneaster species are particularly elegant. However, to obtain a smooth, neat hedge and perform shaped trimming to fit a geometric figure, you need trellis shears and a tightly stretched rope, but a template in the form of wooden frame. Such a frame or frame can be made independently from bars, for example, in the form of a trapezoid, the upper part of which will be 10-15 cm narrower than the lower one. The choice of the cross-sectional shape of the hedge should correspond to its height and purpose, taking into account a small reserve for the growth of shoots. Immediately before cutting, a rope is pulled between two frames installed across the plantings, which will adjust the cutting surface with trellis shears. If the volume of pruning work is large, then its implementation will be greatly facilitated by a garden tool - a hedge trimmer. For young plantings, the height of annual cutting should increase by 5-7 cm until the required hedge size is achieved. You should not be particularly zealous in removing or trimming the lower tier of branches. It is advisable to leave it 10-15 cm wider than the top one, which grows more actively and causes partial shading of the lower shoots.

To preserve the decorative appearance of less cold-resistant cotoneasters multiflorum, racemosa and pink, and partly ground cover species, frozen, dried, broken and damaged shoots are periodically removed, i.e. carry out sanitary pruning. It can be carried out at any time of the season.

Many types of shrubs require rejuvenating pruning, which is associated with the nature of growth and regeneration of shoots. The timing of its implementation depends on the durability of the branches, and is determined not only by the biology of the species, but also often by the growing conditions of the shrub. Best time for such pruning - spring, before the buds open.

In black and pink cotoneaster, from the age of 4-5 years, the lower tier at the base of the bush is exposed, since the stem shoots weakly develop from this part. With help timely pruning it is possible to artificially induce the awakening of the buds and branching in this zone. First, the central axis of the bush is shortened, then the crown is gradually thinned, thereby stimulating the resumption of shoots from the trunk and its base. Rejuvenation begins at the age of 15-18, as soon as the skeletal branches begin to dry out and the growth of shoots weakens.

Pests of cotoneaster

In general, cotoneasters are resistant to pests and diseases. Only occasionally do green apple aphids settle on young shoots and the lower surface of leaves, while the leaves wrinkle, the shoots become bent and may dry out. The apple white moth mines the leaf, which leads to the appearance of thin narrow passages on the leaves of the cotoneaster. Damage to some types of cotoneaster, leading to drying of leaves and branches, is caused by scale insects, cotoneaster mites and plum sawflies.

Reproduction methods

Cotoneasters are propagated by seeds, which definitely need stratification, cuttings, layering, and grafting, if they are used as a rootstock for pears.

Vegetative propagation is carried out green (summer) and woody cuttings. Only large, well-developed shoots in a mature state are suitable for green cuttings. If the shoot is soft or too woody and does not bend well, then it is unsuitable for green cuttings. The cuttings are cut into pieces 10-15 cm long with two internodes. To accelerate root formation, the cuttings are placed in a solution of a growth stimulator (heteroauxin), which is prepared from 1 tablet of the substance and 1 liter of water, or sprinkled with powdered Kornevin. Planted in greenhouses under glass in well-washed coarse sand, sprinkled with a layer of 3-5 cm onto the main substrate of turf mixture or humus soil with sand. Water the soil well before planting. The cuttings are planted to a depth of 5 cm, at an angle of 45°. The boxes are placed in hotbeds and greenhouses. The rooting rate of cuttings is very different: from 30 to 95%. Rooted cuttings are gradually accustomed to fresh air. By autumn, they have formed a well-developed root system. Plants can be planted in open ground, but in the first winter they need to be covered with a leaf or spruce branches.

Cotoneasters are also propagated by lignified (winter) cuttings. To do this, the shoots are harvested in late autumn or early winter and stored in sand in basements. Only in the spring do they start cutting cuttings 10-20 cm long with three or five buds, which are subsequently rooted in the same way as green ones.

At seed propagation select good-quality mature seeds from ripe fruits cotoneaster They are washed from the pulp and soaked in water. In this case, up to 60% of defective seeds usually float to the surface, which are removed, leaving only viable ones.

Cotoneasters do not have a very high germination rate of seeds, because the seeds are in a state of deep dormancy, that is, they germinate for a very long time; some shoots appear only the following spring.

To accelerate germination and increase the germination of seeds of ornamental cotoneasters, the technique of stratification is used. The seeds are mixed with clean sand and peat, moistened and placed in pots or boxes in a layer of 30-40 cm. There they are kept until spring at a temperature close to 0°C. Seeds of most cotoneaster species require stratification for 1-2 months, brilliant and pink cotoneaster - 6-8 months, and multifloral cotoneaster - 10-12 months. For cotoneaster and Dummer seeds, warm-cold stratification is used: up to 3 months at a temperature of +20+25°C, then the first type is 4 months, and the second is 9 months at a temperature of +4+7°C. When treating cotoneaster seeds with sulfuric acid for 5-20 minutes. stratification time is reduced by almost a month. The germination rate of cotoneaster seeds is from 5 to 20%.

The seed boxes are filled with light fertile soil consisting of equal parts of humus, peat and river sand. A good result is obtained by soaking the seeds in water before sowing. When sowing, small seeds are buried 0.5-0.7 cm, that is, they are placed almost superficially. Upper layer The substrate is covered with a 1 cm layer of sand. During the period of seed germination, the boxes are regularly watered using a watering can with a fine mesh, and make sure that the seeds are always sprinkled with soil substrate. Watering is carried out carefully, so that a strong stream does not wash out the seeds located on the surface. If this happens, the seeds need to be deepened into the soil again. Tender shoots are protected from direct sun rays and cold air. Seedlings with developed leaves carefully dive into open ground by the end of the season or next spring.

Cotoneaster (lat. Cotoneaster)- a genus of evergreen or deciduous slowly growing shrubs, as well as small trees of the Rosaceae family. The name of the shrub was compiled by the Swiss botanist Caspar Baugin from two Greek words: cotonea, which means “quince,” and aster, “having a similar appearance.” This is explained by the fact that the leaves of one of the cotoneaster species have a strong resemblance to quince leaves. The genus Cotoneaster is represented by more than a hundred species, varieties and varieties growing in nature in North Africa and Eurasia. Those who are not well-informed often believe that dogwood and cotoneaster are the same plant, and they are in vain expecting delicious berries from cotoneaster. In fact, apart from the consonance in the name, there is nothing in common between these plants - they are generally from different families. Cotoneaster berries look like a tiny apple and are completely inedible, unlike the juicy dogwood fruits. The value of cotoneaster is in its decorative qualities, which allow the plant to be used as an effective element of the garden throughout its long life.

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Planting and caring for cotoneaster (in brief)

• Landing: in spring, before the buds swell or in autumn, during leaf fall.
• Bloom: in June.
• Lighting: bright sun or partial shade.
• The soil: any: the necessary nutrient mixture is placed directly into the hole when planting.
• Watering: in a season with a normal amount of rain, you don’t have to water it at all, and only if there is no rain all summer, the plant is watered once every two weeks, using 7-8 buckets for each adult bush.
• Trimming: sanitary - at any time, formative or rejuvenating - in the spring, before the buds swell.
  Feeding: in April-May - with nitrogen fertilizer, before flowering - with potassium-phosphorus, and in the fall the tree trunk circle is mulched with peat.
• Reproduction: seeds, cuttings, layering and dividing the bush.
• Pests: apple aphids, scale insects and spider mites.
• Diseases: fusarium, powdery mildew.

Read more about growing cotoneaster below.

Cotoneaster bush - description

Cotoneaster bushes can be deciduous or evergreen depending on the type you grow. For the most part, cotoneaster is a densely branched shrub used for street landscaping. A cotoneaster hedge is a fairly common sight in our cities. The leaves of this plant are small, simple, alternate, ovoid, entire, dark green in summer, and acquire shades of red in autumn. Cotoneaster blooms with small pink or white flowers - single or collected in corymbose or racemose inflorescences. Small cotoneaster fruits are black or red. For better or worse, cotoneaster grows very slowly and lives in one place for up to fifty years, or even longer. There are about forty species of cotoneaster in cultivation, however, in addition to species plants, they are widely used in garden design various shapes and varieties of shrubs. Among the most popular species are the brilliant, whole-edged and black-fruited cotoneasters, which have high winter hardiness. Amateur gardeners love cotoneaster for its ease of care and undemandingness to growing conditions. As for professionals, cotoneaster landscape design They are most often used as a hedge.

Planting cotoneaster

When to plant cotoneaster

Cotoneaster seedlings of almost all types are planted in open ground in the spring, when the ground thaws, but the buds on the trees have not yet had time to open. It is also permissible to plant cotoneaster in the fall, during the time period between the beginning of mass leaf fall and the first frost - this time is most suitable for planting brilliant and chokeberry cotoneasters. Cotoneasters are shade-tolerant, you can grow them in partial shade, and this will not negatively affect the decorative qualities of the plant, but cotoneaster reaches its best form in open sunny areas. The plant is undemanding in terms of soil quality, especially since the optimal soil composition for cotoneaster growth can be added directly to the planting hole.

How to plant cotoneaster

The size of the hole for the cotoneaster should be approximately 50x50x50 cm, and fill the hole on top of the obligatory twenty-centimeter layer broken bricks or gravel you need a soil mixture of the following composition: one part each of peat, sand and humus and two parts of turf soil. It will be nice if you add 200-300 grams of lime to the soil mixture. The distance between the cotoneaster bush and any other plant or structure should be from 50 cm to 2 m, depending on the expected crown size of the adult plant. When burying a seedling, make sure that its root collar is strictly level with the surface. After planting, the soil is compacted tightly, watered, and the tree trunk circle is mulched with a peat layer 8 cm thick. Planting cotoneaster as a hedge for greater convenience is done not in holes, but in a trench.

Cotoneaster care

How to care for cotoneaster

Planting and caring for cotoneaster is very simple, and even if you don’t know how to grow cotoneaster, your intuition will tell you what to do in a difficult situation. Fortunately, such situations may not arise at all. The main thing you need to know about this plant is that it does not tolerate excess water in the roots, all others natural phenomena the cotoneaster will survive with dignity. Based on this, in principle there is no need to water the cotoneaster, since even in dry summers it can go without water for a long time. If it’s dry all summer, water the plant once every two weeks; the water consumption for an adult plant is 7-8 buckets. After watering or rain, you need to remove weeds from the area and loosen the soil in the area shallowly, 10-15 cm. Caring for a brilliant cotoneaster does not involve watering as regularly as washing the plant from dust under running water, especially if a hedge of brilliant cotoneaster replaces a fence facing the street.

Cotoneaster fertilizer

In the first warm days of spring, cotoneaster is fed with nitrogen fertilizer. This can be urea, diluted in an amount of 25 g in a bucket of water, or Kemira-universal long-acting granules. Even before the plant blooms, it is fed with 15 g of potassium and 60 g of superphosphate per m². At the end of the season, the soil around the bush is mulched with peat.

Pruning cotoneaster

Cotoneaster responds well to pruning, being exactly the plant from which designers form bushes of various shapes - cones, prisms, hemispheres and more complex figures. It is allowed to trim the annual shoot by a third of the growth. Such curly pruning requires certain skills and special tools. After formative pruning, the shoots grow back, maintaining the shape given to the bushes. Trimming a cotoneaster can also have a sanitary function, because sooner or later old, diseased, broken or thickening branches appear on any bush. In the end, with age, you have to do anti-aging pruning of the cotoneaster. Sanitary pruning can be done at any time, and rejuvenating and shaping pruning can be done in the spring, before the buds open.

Pests and diseases of cotoneaster

Cotoneaster has a stable immunity to diseases and harmful insects, but sometimes on the underside sheet plate apple aphids appear on the plant, causing the leaves to wrinkle and the shoots to bend and dry out. From time to time, the cotoneaster suffers from mites and scale insects. Destroy harmful insects can be treated with herbal decoctions - shag, tobacco, yarrow. Or a stronger remedy - insecticides sold in specialized stores. Of the diseases that most often affect the plant, fusarium is treated with fungicides, after cutting out the diseased areas to healthy tissue.

Cotoneaster propagation

How to propagate cotoneaster

Different types of cotoneaster reproduce in different ways, but those who decide to grow cotoneaster by seed should know that cotoneaster seeds have low germination rate, so they need to be sown with a reserve. This is done before winter, so that in the cold soil the seeds undergo natural stratification, and cotoneaster seedlings will appear only next spring. We will tell you about another method of stratification in the section on seed propagation. Cotoneasters also reproduce vegetatively - by cuttings, layering, and dividing the bush.

Seed propagation of cotoneaster

Cotoneaster fruits are collected and slightly dried to make the pulp easier to separate. Then the seeds are removed from the berries and washed with water. The washed seeds are dipped in glass jar with water: those suitable for sowing will sink to the bottom, and seeds floating on the surface are completely useless. After this, the seed is mixed with sand and peat, moistened, placed in boxes and stored until spring at a temperature of about 0 ºC. During this time, the seeds will undergo stratification and can be planted in the ground. However, there is no guarantee that even stratified seeds will sprout and produce seedlings, so it is better to resort to a more reliable method of propagating cotoneaster - vegetatively.

Propagation of cotoneaster by cuttings

After trimming the bush, there are segments left that can be used to propagate the brilliant cotoneaster, but it is better to still cut the cuttings for rooting in June. First, they need to be placed cut side down in water for a day with a growth stimulator dissolved in it, after which they are planted at an angle of 45º on garden bed into light loose soil consisting of sand and peat, water warm water and cover with a large plastic bottle with the neck cut off. On hot days, remove the bottle to prevent the plants from drying out. You can water the cuttings without removing the bottle. Next spring, the rooted cuttings can be planted in a permanent place.

Reproduction of cotoneaster by layering

This method is used to propagate mainly groundcover species of cotoneasters, for example, creeping and horizontal, since their shoots are located close to the soil or in contact with it. Select young shoots, pin them to the soil with metal staples or hooks and sprinkle the attachment point with humus. Next spring, cut this branch at the base with a shovel. mother bush and transplant the cuttings to the place that you have assigned to it. Reproduction by layering is the easiest and most reliable way to propagate cotoneaster.

Reproduction of cotoneaster by dividing the bush

Mature bushes that have grown greatly can be divided into parts, followed by rooting of the divisions. It's fast and effective method. You can divide the bush both in spring and autumn, immediately replanting the parts obtained during division into new places.

Cotoneaster in winter

Cotoneaster in autumn (preparing for winter)

Almost all cotoneasters are cold-resistant and overwinter well without shelter; you just need to mulch the soil around the bush with peat, but if you are afraid that your cotoneaster will freeze, bend it to the ground, secure it in this position and cover it with dry leaves.

Wintering cotoneaster

If the winter is too frosty and snowless, you can additionally cover the plant with spruce branches or covering material, but if it starts to snow, remove the cover and let your shrub overwinter under a layer of snow. Black-fruited, whole-edged and shiny cotoneasters, which are most often grown in our climate, have high winter hardiness and can withstand even significant frosts without shelter.

Types and varieties of cotoneaster

We offer you an introduction to the most popular types of cotoneasters grown in cultivation.

Cotoneaster lucidus

native to Eastern Siberia, where it grows singly or in groups. It is an upright, densely leafy deciduous shrub. The height of the brilliant cotoneaster reaches two meters. Its young shoots are densely pubescent, elliptical in shape, shiny dark green leaves up to 5 cm long, pointed towards the top. Pink flowers in loose corymbose inflorescences open in May or June and bloom for 30 days. The shiny spherical black fruits are decorative and remain on the bushes until winter. Fruiting occurs at four years. Most often used to create hedges, group plantings on edges and lawns. In a culture with early XIX century.

Cotoneaster melanocarpus

It is also quite winter-hardy for our latitudes. This cotoneaster is edible, unlike many other types of plants. IN wildlife it can be found in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Northern China and Central Europe. The shrub reaches a height of 2 meters, its shoots are red-brown in color, and the fruits are black. The leaves are ovate, up to 4.5 cm long, the upper side of the plate is dark green, the lower side is white-tomentose, the apex is obtuse or notched. Annual fruiting begins at the age of five. Pink flowers in loose clusters of 5-12 pieces bloom for about 25 days. The species is frost-resistant and does not require moisture; in addition, plants of this species are excellent honey plants; canes, pipes and other crafts are made from their wood. The species has a decorative laxiflora form with loose drooping inflorescences and more large fruits than that of the original species. Aronia cotoneaster has been in cultivation since 1829.

Cotoneaster integerrimus

– deciduous shrub, found in nature from the Baltic states to North Caucasus on mountain slopes, in limestones and sandstones. In cultivation, this deciduous shrub is still a rare occurrence. The cotoneaster bush grows up to two meters in height, its crown is rounded, young branched shoots are covered with woolly pubescence, but with age they become bare. Its leaves are broadly ovate, up to 5 cm long, dark green above, smooth and shiny, gray-felt underneath. Pinkish-white flowers are collected in clusters of 2-4 pieces. The fruits are bright red and up to one centimeter in diameter. The winter hardiness of this species is high; in addition, it is resistant to gas and drought. In culture since 1656.

Cotoneaster horizontalis

belongs to the prostrate species. This is an evergreen cotoneaster, up to one meter high and a crown spreading width of up to one and a half to two meters. The shoots are arranged in layers, like the backbone of a fish. The leaves are shiny, round, green, turning fiery red in autumn. The small pinkish-white flowers bloom in late May and bloom for three weeks. Numerous scarlet fruits ripen in September and can remain on the bush until spring. This type of cotoneaster, unlike others, is demanding on the composition of the soil. In culture since 1880. Has two varieties:

• Variegatus– up to 30 cm high and a growth diameter of up to one and a half meters, each leaf has a white stripe along the edge;
• Perpusillis- a prostrate shrub up to 20 cm high, eventually covering an area with a diameter of up to one meter. It grows slowly. Blooms in early summer with pink flowers. Scarlet berries ripen at the end of summer. Green leaves turn burgundy in autumn.

Dammer's cotoneaster (Cotoneaster dammeri)

Outwardly it resembles a horizontal cotoneaster. Found in the wild in the mountains of Central China. Its shoots are creeping, they are almost pressed to the ground, so they often take root on their own. Branching of the shoots occurs in one plane, they rise no higher than 20-30 cm, growing up to one and a half meters wide. The leaves are leathery, small, elliptical, dark green in summer and purple in late autumn. The flowers are sessile in a reddish hue, the coral-red fruits ripen in September and do not fall for a very long time. This species has been in cultivation since 1900. Popular varieties:

• Eicholes– up to 60 cm high with red-orange fruits;
• Coral Beauty– up to 40 cm high, with large single red fruits. This variety is the most winter-hardy of this species;
• Stockholm- a shrub up to one meter high with bright red fruits.

Cotoneaster adpressus

- a dwarf creeping shrub up to half a meter high, covering an area with a diameter of one meter. Its shoots are pressed to the ground, the leaves are small, round, light green in summer and dark or bright red in autumn. Numerous pink flowers open in late spring. This type of cotoneaster requires shelter for the winter.

In addition to the described species, cotoneasters are of interest: splayed cotoneaster, moupinsky, holly-leaved, small-leaved, multi-flowered, pink, single-flowered, Henry, vesicular, Franchet, racemosa.