Cultivation And Reproduction Of Euonymus

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

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Euonymus is an ornamental plant with interesting foliage that changes color during the season

The value of euonymus species

In decorative gardening, all types of euonymus are valued for their interesting properties: they have a beautiful crown, which, thanks to small oppositely planted leaves and rather dense branching of shoots, creates an original mosaic of foliage.

Blossoming of euonymus usually occurs at the end of May, the first half of June, when the leaves are fully expanded and tassels of several flowers are clearly visible against a dark background.

By autumn, the appearance of euonymus completely changes, white, yellow, orange, pink, red, carmine and purple colors appear on a green background, changing their color to red by October - foliage ready to fall off. And even when it completely falls off, euonymus continue to decorate the garden with their bright fruits, invisible in summer.

Gardener's guide

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Landing requirements

Spindle trees are highly resistant to urban conditions, but their attitude to illumination is different. For example, it is better to plant Maak's euonymus in an open place, while European and warty euonymus will feel comfortable even in partial shade.

And in a shaded place on the border of the site, you will get an original hedge of Sakhalin and sacred euonymus. To create a decorative group, for example, on a slope, it is better to choose a large-winged or Sakhalin euonymus, which can grow well due to the rooting of the lower branches.

Attitude to soil

Spindle trees are quite demanding on the richness of the soil or its aeration. They absolutely cannot stand the close standing of groundwater or stagnant moisture. For successful growth, neutral or slightly alkaline soils are necessary, and acidic ones should be limed. For abundant fruiting, it is recommended to apply mineral and organic fertilizers, and sand in clay soils.

Diseases and pests of euonymus

The attitude of euonymus to diseases and pests is rather peculiar, it literally attracts them, perhaps this is the only reason that prevents the widespread distribution of this shrub in gardening. The hawthorn, apple moth, various types of aphids and other pests are especially fond of nesting on bushes, except, perhaps, the flower beetle and moth. An interesting fact is that when on the euonymus planted near fruit trees, everything is covered with cobwebs with caterpillar nests, the apple trees growing nearby are absolutely clean. Thus, euonymus can be used to protect the garden from pests.

Plant propagation

Species of euonymus reproduce quite easily by dividing the bush, root suckers and green cuttings.

Reproduction by dividing the bush is perhaps the simplest way of vegetative propagation and consists in digging up the entire plant and carefully dividing it with a sharpened pruner into two or more parts, and then planting them in a permanent place.

The method of reproduction by root suckers is somewhat different from the first and is more complicated, it consists in carefully separating them and transplanting them to a permanent place. But the most difficult is the method of propagation by green cuttings and is as follows: in June-July, young, but rather elastic shoots are selected, of which cuttings 4-6 centimeters long with one or two internodes are cut.

Then they are planted in a greenhouse under a film in a substrate from fertile soil, on top of which sand is poured with a layer of 5-7 centimeters. When planted in June, roots form in September. The resulting rooted cuttings should be immediately transplanted into the ground, and only next fall you will receive full-fledged planting material.

In addition to the vegetative method, euonymus can be propagated by simple sowing of seeds. Immediately after harvesting, the seeds should be stratified; for this they are mixed with coarse calcined sand or poorly decomposed peat in a ratio of 1: 2. To prevent spoilage of seeds, they should be cleared of seedlings.

Sowing is carried out in shallow grooves in a substrate of leaf and sod land, humus and sand in a ratio of 4: 1 to 2: 1. Usually, seedlings appear in 2-3 weeks. The seedlings that have appeared in spring and autumn should be mulched with peat chips, a layer of no more than three centimeters. During the summer, seedlings must be watered and fed with a mullein, and covered with spruce branches for the winter. In the third year after the emergence of seedlings, they should be transplanted to a permanent place.

Using euonymus

Due to their unpretentiousness, shade tolerance and decorativeness, euonymus have long deserved the attention of gardeners and gardeners. Their extraordinary beauty is fully manifested in the fall season, when they become unusually elegant. And this elegance lies in the fact that the delicate openwork crown is painted in pink, red and even purple tones, which, like festive lanterns, swing on long peduncles, and later turn into bright fruits. Euonymus are recommended mainly for single and loose plantings in parks and forest parks, for hedges and as undergrowth.

As for the fruits, they are inedible for humans, but they are willingly pecked by birds, which contributes to the spread of plants.