Snowberry: Types, Growing Conditions And Use

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Snowberry - aka snowfield, snow or wolfberry

The name of this culture comes from the Greek words "Sympherin" - to gather together and "Karpos" - the fruit. It is obtained for a dense, crowded arrangement of fruits. And the name Snowberry, so well known to everyone, arose due to the white color of the fruits, as if covering the bushes with snow.

This genus includes up to 15 species of deciduous shrubs that grow in mountain forests along the banks of rivers, on the dry rocky slopes of North America, and only one species, the Chinese snowberry, grows in China.

Among the abundance of snowberry species, the following are most common:

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Snowberry white - grows in North America, covering territories from Canada to Pennsylvania. The growing areas are usually open, light and sufficiently moist, open slopes, light mountain forests, river banks and dry stony soils.

The white snowberry is a deciduous shrub that reaches one and a half meters in height, has a rounded crown and long thin shoots. Leaves are simple, ovoid, whole-edged, up to 6 cm long, usually bluish below and green above. It blooms for a long time and very profusely with small pink flowers, collected in dense leaf-shaped inflorescences, located throughout the shoot and giving the plant a very elegant look.

Fruit ripening occurs at different times: on the shoots, along with the blossoming flowers, you can see mature fruits - spherical, reaching 1 cm in diameter and remaining on the branches for a very long time, even after the leaves have fallen, decorating the plant with this.

This type of snowberry grows rather quickly, unpretentious to growing conditions, although it is light-loving and prefers lime-rich soils. It tolerates haircuts, shaping and city conditions very well. In the southeastern regions of the forest zone, it sometimes suffers from frost, but quickly recovers. It reproduces very well by layering, stem cuttings, dividing the bush and seeds. It is used for both single and group plantings, as well as in hedges and curbs.

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Common snowberry. Homeland - North America, where it is also called Indian currant or coral berry.

At home, it grows on dry sandy and rocky soils, along river banks and in spacious meadows. The common snowberry is a rather tall shrub with thin shoots and small leaves that are dark green above and bluish below. The flowers, like those of the white snowberry, are small and clustered in dense short inflorescences. Ripe fruits are hemispherical, purple-red with a bluish bloom. And in autumn this shrub is also very beautiful, thin shoots with purple leaves are strewn with red fruits along the entire length. The common snowberry, although less winter-hardy than the white one, may well grow in the middle zone of the European part of Russia.

In Western Europe, there are varieties of common snowberry with bordered leaves - Variegatus and Taff`s Silver Edge.

Western snowberry, homeland - North America, grows in the eastern, central and western regions, forming thickets along open and wooded slopes, rocky shores, along streams and rivers. The western snowberry is a shrub that reaches a height of 1.5 meters. Ripe fruits are hemispherical, decorative in winter. Average winter hardiness.

The mountain-loving snowberry is native to western North America. Under natural conditions, it grows in mountain forests, at altitudes reaching 2700 meters above sea level.

The mountain-loving snowberry is a shrub that does not exceed 1.5 meters in height. It grows from late April to late October, has an average growth rate, begins to bloom and bears fruit from the age of three. Flowering is observed on average for 50 days. The first fruits begin to ripen in September. The shrub has an average winter hardiness

The low snowberry (Chenot) is a hybrid descendant of the rounded snowberry, characterized by dense pubescence and small sharp leaves reaching 2.5 centimeters in length and pinkish fruits with white barrels. The only drawback is poor frost resistance.

Requirements for the place of growth

First of all, it is necessary to find out the degree of winter hardiness of the plant. It should be noted that in our area the most suitable species is the white snowberry. As for the pink-fruited snowberry, they still feel bad in our conditions, they are more suitable for warmer regions. Apparently. these species lack a warm period for the shoots to fully mature and form buds. For the rest, all types of snowberries are very unpretentious and can grow even on stony, calcareous soils, in partial shade and do not require watering at all.

Reproduction

Snowberries reproduce quite simply. Basically, experts use the following methods for this - by seeds, green cuttings, suckers (root) and dividing the bushes.

So, let's start with the simplest way to propagate a snowberry - by sowing seeds. Immediately after harvesting fully ripe fruits (in autumn), seeds are sown in the ground, in pots or boxes (the latter is best). They are not closed deeply, it is better to cover them with sawdust or dry autumn leaves. Boxes and pots of sown seeds are taken out into the open air and left for the winter. Already in the spring (in most species of snowberry) shoots appear, which grow very intensively, reaching a height of one meter in the third year and begin to bloom.

The next, more complex breeding method is by dividing the bush. Since the snowberry is a highly overgrown shrub, it can be divided into several independent plants. To do this, an adult plant must completely (while maintaining the maximum integrity of the root system) dig up their soil and carefully, sharply sharpened secateurs, divide into three or four parts. It is better to plant the separated plants immediately in the ground and water abundantly.

Another type of snowberry breeding is by root suckers. Its essence lies in the digging and separation of root suckers from the mother plant and planting them in a new place. It is better to do this operation in the fall, when the plants are at rest, and cut off the planted plants obtained in this way, leaving no more than 2-3 buds above the soil level, which contributes to the tillering of the plant.

And, perhaps, the most difficult method of propagation is the method of green cuttings. Its essence is as follows: in June, still non-lignified shoots are cut and divided into cuttings 10-12 centimeters long, all leaves, with the exception of the apical ones, are removed, and the cuttings themselves are planted in a greenhouse in a special soil mixture consisting of river (namely, river) sand, humus and drainage (which is suitable for expanded clay).

Expanded clay (or other drainage) is laid on the bottom of the garden bed in the greenhouse and covered with a mixture of humus and river sand on top. It is in this mixture that the cuttings are planted, they should be buried no more than 2-3 centimeters. It should be noted that for full-fledged rhizogenesis (formation of roots), cuttings need timely watering. On farms in greenhouses, this is achieved with the help of special installations with timers, which supply water at a strictly defined time through spray nozzles that create a "fog" effect in the greenhouse.

At home, this effect can be achieved by building a low, small greenhouse and covering it with a film with a "tint" that practically does not let the sun's rays through, without creating a "glass" effect, and watering the cuttings in hot weather at least once every two or three hours. Rooted cuttings are carefully dug up in the fall and planted in a cut in a well-prepared, loosened and fertilized open ground for "growing". The next fall, the seedlings are ready for digging and transplanting to a permanent place or for sale.

Using the Snowberry

Due to the fact that snowberries tolerate pruning well, after which the shoots grow well, and also form dense large bushes from root suckers, they are often used to create a dense and elegant hedge or for borders.

In combination with tall shrubs or trees with dark green foliage (such as hawthorn), as well as with conifers, they form beautiful contrasting groups. Among other things, snowberries belong to the group of the most smoke and gas resistant plants, and are also excellent honey plants.

The fruits of snowberries, about which so much has been said in this article, are not edible and can only be used as an element of decor, they have an unpleasant taste, but, despite this, waxwings are very willing to choose seeds from them in winter.