2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Bird cherry (Latin Prunus) - berry culture; low trees, less often shrubs of the genus Plum of the Pink family. In nature, bird cherry grows in shrubs, forests, along the banks of rivers and forest clearings in Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Caucasus. At present, bird cherry has been naturalized everywhere in the temperate climate zone.
Characteristics of culture
Bird cherry is a tree or large shrub 0.5-12 m high with an elongated and dense crown. The bark is black-gray, dull, has whitish lentils over the entire surface. Young shoots are cherry red or olive in color. Leaves are simple, glabrous, pointed, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-elliptical in shape, 3-15 cm long, edges are sharply serrated, arranged alternately. Stipules are early falling, subulate. Petioles are short, at the base of the leaf blade have two glands.
The flowers are pink or white, collected in long and drooping racemose inflorescences 7-15 cm long, located on pedicels, have a strong aroma, fluttering for several meters around. The fruit is a spherical drupe, reaches 8-10 mm in diameter, it can be black or black-red, has a sweet and strongly astringent taste. Flowering takes place in May-June. The fruits ripen in July-August.
Growing conditions
Bird cherry is an unpretentious culture, it is not at all difficult to grow it. Bird cherry is not demanding for the soil composition and lighting, but it develops best in areas with fertile, moderately moist soil with a neutral or slightly acidic pH reaction. To obtain good yields of berries, two plants of different varieties are planted in the garden at once, blooming at the same time, since the culture plants need cross-pollination.
Reproduction and planting
Bird cherry is propagated by seeds, root shoots, lily and green cuttings and grafting. The seed method is time consuming and ineffective; moreover, the properties of the mother plant are not fully preserved. Sowing is carried out in August - September under a shelter in the form of a thick layer of peat or sawdust. Young plants are transplanted to a permanent place after 1, 5-2 years.
Most often, amateur gardeners propagate the culture by layering. The lower branches of the bird cherry, as close as possible to the surface of the earth, are placed in prepared grooves, pinned and covered with soil. As vertical shoots are formed, the layers are spud. In autumn, the rooted shoots are separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place. If the roots of a young plant are too weak, the layers are planted in nutritious and moist soil for growing.
Saplings purchased from specialized nurseries are planted in autumn or early spring. Planting pits are prepared in a couple of weeks, their sizes completely depend on the root system of the seedlings, it should fit freely into the pit. At the bottom of the pit, a substrate is poured, consisting of fertile soil mixed with humus, sand and complex mineral fertilizers. Then the seedling is lowered, spreading the roots, covered with soil, compacted, watered and mulched. Peat or sawdust can be used as mulch. After planting, the seedlings are cut at a height of 50-60 cm.
Care
Bird cherry care consists in systematic watering, loosening and digging the soil in the near-stem zone, removing weeds, foliar and root dressing, sanitary and formative pruning.
Plants are formed in the form of a multi-stem shrub or tree with a high stem. For a low laying of the first tier of skeletal branches, the seedlings are cut off immediately after planting at a height of 50-60 cm. Of the emerging shoots, only the strong and most developed ones are left, evenly oriented in space.
In subsequent years, the tiers of the second and third order are formed in the same way. In case of correct formative pruning, bird cherry will form a beautiful and lush crown. Thickening of the crown must not be allowed, thickening branches are removed every year in early spring. Sections are treated with garden pitch.
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