How To Grow Dogwood In The Non-Black Earth Region

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

Dogwood goes North

Dogwood is still very little common in the gardens of the Non-Black Earth Region. There are several reasons for this: first, many gardeners, having planted or sowing dogwood and waiting for the first harvest, pluck the newly ripe fruit of the dogwood, taste them and say: "What sour!". Yes, freshly picked dogwood fruits have a sour taste due to their high acid content. You just need to give time to its fruits so that the acids are converted into sugars. To do this, they need to be dried and dried for about a month. And then their taste will be amazing, aromatic, sweet with a slight sourness.

All parts of dogwood, and fruits in particular, have medicinal properties. They say that where the dogwood grows, doctors are not needed.

The second reason is that many people think that this is a southern culture, and dogwood will not grow in our area. Although in the suburbs in the gardens of experienced gardeners, it has been growing for a long time. Several years ago I bought dogwood seedlings from one of them. Since this is a cross-pollinated plant, in order to obtain a normal harvest, at least two varieties are needed for cross-pollination. I bought five seedlings, among them were plants of three varieties: Lukyanovsky, Vavilovets, Vladimirsky. The first fruits from my plants appeared after four years. In each of its fruit there are two seeds, which I sow in the free area of my plots and I call all gardeners to the same. When replanting dogwood, generation after generation, it gets more and more accustomed to our climate. The timing of its flowering begins to shift to later, for example,in the suburbs, he began to bloom half a month later.

After entering fruiting, this plant becomes more frost-resistant. Dogwood trees have been growing for over 100 years, and the harvest is up to 300 kg per tree. In our area, the dogwood must be grown in a bush-like form, since in abnormally severe winters, when even our apple trees freeze out, all parts of the bush that remain under the snow do not freeze, and the bush quickly recovers, and the remaining branches even give a good harvest.

Dogwood is shade-tolerant - this is another good quality. The root system is shallow, so he loves watering in hot summer, and the trunk circle must be mulched.

Growing with a bush also allows you to quickly propagate dogwood by layering. We make grooves and put branches in them that can be bent to the ground and pinned there with a wire bracket. On top of the layers, we fall asleep with fertile soil. When shoots of 10-15 cm grow from each bud, they must be sprinkled with earth again. By the fall, a root system is formed near each process. In the spring we dig them out, divide them into separate bushes and plant them. You can also propagate dogwood by grafting and rooting cuttings, but the survival rate in this case is very small.

A good breeding method for dogwood is dividing the bush. It is also propagated by root suckers (shoots), which grows around the bush almost every year.

Dogwood blooms very early - even before the leaves bloom. His flowers are small, yellow, they are collected in umbrella-type inflorescences.

Dogwood makes very beautiful hedges - they are good both flowering and with fruits. By the way, the word “dogwood” in translation from Turkish means “red” - this is the color of its fruits. True, I happened to hear that there are already varieties of dogwood with yellow fruits.

Cornel has unique properties, including medicinal ones. For example, the fruits of this plant are known to have astringent and bactericidal properties, and therefore are used for gastrointestinal disorders. They also slightly lower blood pressure, have a mild diuretic effect. Cornel leaves increase bile secretion and diuresis, and reduce sugar levels. You can write a separate article about the healing properties.

Agrotechnics

Cornel grows well on lands rich in lime. Therefore, it is advisable to apply lime, ash under the plant annually, especially if you have acidic soils on the site. It responds well to organic and mineral feeding. Yields are usually large, so the dogwood must be well fed. So far, there are no diseases and pests of this plant in our area. Apparently, the rule is in effect - as long as there is no planting on an industrial scale, diseases and pests do not spread. All gardeners need to propagate dogwood seeds. There is no place in your garden - sow dogwood in the nearest forest or park. It is necessary to select the most cultivated varieties. It is necessary to multiply the dogwood and share it with other gardeners. So we will do the work that is beyond the power of any research institute of gardening. In Moscow, they began to propagate the dogwood taken from the gardens near Moscow in test tubes using the in virto method.

Valery Svistunov, gardener,

Novoselki village, Nizhny Novgorod region

Photo by the author