Large-fruited hawthorn - like a groom in the garden. Proper care and planting of hawthorn in open ground What can be planted next to hawthorn

Lady berry and hawthorn are called this beautiful and useful plant. I raised my lady myself from a seed the first time. I got sick, the doctor advised me to use hawthorn fruits in any form as a remedy. I bought the fruits of the most delicious garden variety at the market and collected the seeds.

I dug up a small bed in a place protected from the wind and planted fresh seeds in the grooves at a distance of 16-20 cm from each other, to a depth of 5-6 cm. I watered the bed generously.

This was in September, and in the spring the first shoots appeared. The hawthorn sprouted slowly and awkwardly: the main shoots appeared only a year later. This delay is due to the dense and thick pericarp. Various methods are used to speed up the germination of hawthorn seeds, but at that time I was a novice gardener and did not know these methods. And they are very simple - this is stratification, treatment with chemical reagents, sowing of immature seeds treated for 24 hours with a 1% solution of potassium nitrate.

Stratification of hawthorn seeds

Fresh hawthorn seeds are poured with water, and the empty ones float, while the good ones remain at the bottom. They need to be washed and dried, then mixed with sand and peat (1:3), scattered in an even layer into shallow boxes, moistened and placed in the basement. They should remain there all winter and spring, it is advisable to leave them for the summer, and sow them in the fall or (better!) in the spring of next year.

Treatment of seeds with chemicals

We use caustic soda, acids, etc.

Method of sowing hawthorn seeds

Collect unripe fruits, soak them in water for 1-2 days, then rub through a sieve and rinse. Place the resulting seeds in a solution of potassium nitrate (1%) for a day, and then sow them in the ground before winter. Seeds remain viable for 1-2 years.

By the way, my seeds, sown before winter without treatment, remained viable for 3 years. Hawthorn has a lot of empty seeds, so sowing needs to be done more densely.

Hawthorn shoots are as beautiful as angels and look like apple tree shoots. Leaves of the same shape as mature plants appear later. The stem is burgundy-pink. In the first year, seedlings grow very slowly, only 10 centimeters. Then growth accelerates, and after 7-8 years it slows down again.

In my mini-nursery, I removed weeds, sometimes watered them - that’s all the care. After 3-5 years, I transplanted the seedlings to a permanent location, and gave most of them to neighbors and significant others.

Growing hawthorn: 300 years without special care

Hawthorn is very unpretentious, grows on poor soils and in places with poor ecology. It easily tolerates both excess and lack of moisture and light, and does not freeze in harsh winters.

During periods of prolonged drought, the leaves curl and dry out, and come to life again after rain. I have hawthorn growing in three different places on my property. Near the pump there is already a tree about 5 meters high, near the road there are beautiful fluffy bushes, and near the fence, under the poplar, the hawthorn develops worse, blooms poorly, does not bear fruit at all, it is much lower than its fellows planted at the same time. Practice shows that in more favorable conditions, hawthorn develops better.

Hawthorn has a very powerful root system, and it lives for 300-400 years.

Once again I want to emphasize that it is very beautiful all year round. In winter, bushes and small trees shed their leaves, and their branches look very beautiful - purple-brown, shiny, lined with thick, up to 10 cm, thorns. These spines are not fully formed shoots. Tiny leaves grow on them, but they soon die off. The spines are as hard as nails. During the period when there are no flowers yet, hawthorn is good for its interesting leaf shape. Then flowers appear - white, not double, not particularly chic, collected in umbrellas, somewhat similar to rowan flowers, only larger. The smell is not for everyone.

The plant blooms very richly and consistently.

In autumn, the dark green leaves, slightly pubescent on both sides, turn orange-red. At the end of September - beginning of October, the fruits ripen, large spherical berries the size of cherries, red in color, with mealy pulp and 3-4 seeds, hanging in clusters on long stalks. These berries are very tasty!

Both a single plant and a group look good. Hawthorn can be trimmed to give the bushes different shapes, which means they can be used to create an unusual hedge. But I have apple and pear trees growing on my property, and they share diseases with hawthorn, so I can’t use it as a hedge.

This plant can also be planted by cuttings and layering. But, in my opinion, seeds are preferable: there is no need for material investments, the variety can be preserved, and it begins to bear fruit much earlier. Hawthorn begins to bear fruit after 10-15 years, but then produces good and regular harvests without fertilizing and frequent watering. It’s also extremely useful, but that’s a topic for a whole article.

©Nadezhda SOTNIKOVA Stary Oskol

Somehow it so happened that hawthorn is grown in our gardens only for decorative purposes; planting and care for the purpose of obtaining medicinal raw materials were rare. It was only later that official medicine examined the hawthorn berry and confirmed that its fruits actually have a cardiac effect, and therefore are useful for functional disorders of the heart, neuroses, and the initial forms of hypertension. In addition, preparations of this plant tone the heart muscle, eliminate arrhythmia, tachycardia, reduce the excitability of the central nervous system, increase cerebral and coronary circulation, reduce pain, a feeling of heaviness and compression in the heart area and improve the general condition of patients.

It is also true that the common hawthorn is beautiful. In the spring it is magnificently decorated with white or pink flowers, and in the fall it is covered with a crimson outfit - all the branches of the plant are completely strewn with clusters of spherical berries (up to 1 cm in diameter), hanging on long stalks. Exactly like a lady dressed in a smart sundress. The people called the hawthorn the lady tree. The hawthorn was also called the devil's needle for its very hard spines, 1-2 cm in size, at the bottom of the shoots. These are modified shortened shoots that developed from axillary buds. This thorniness can be used by planting a hedge from hawthorn. It will serve you for a long time no worse than a picket fence - hawthorn lives up to 200 years. And you will attract birds to your site - the lush thickets of the lady tree are one of the favorite nesting places. And hawthorn, especially its flowers, is attractive to bees.

How does it grow

In nature, this beauty grows as both a tree and a bush, reaching a height of 4-5 meters. It is found along the edges, in clearings, on slopes, along the banks of rivers and streams. In a garden plot, it is better to form a single hawthorn plant in the form of a bush, then it is more convenient to collect berries. The formation of the crown is similar to how it is done with bird cherry.

The trees usually have a wide crown. The bark of the common hawthorn is brown or gray. The leaves are unusual - shiny, leathery, bright or dark green on top, but lighter below. The white flowers that bloom in May-June look good against their background.

Among the variety of species (more than 80), blood-red hawthorn is widely known and found everywhere. It is the only one used for medicinal purposes. It was he who was affectionately called the lady by the people. But the lady is not afraid of frost, hawthorn is frost-resistant and unpretentious: its powerful root system easily adapts to any soil. Planting and caring for hawthorn is very simple. He only likes the soil to be moist, but is not indifferent to sunlight. These are all the conditions for growing hawthorn to be successful.

How hawthorn bears fruit

Hawthorn fruits ripen in August-September. You can collect up to 15-20 kg from a bush. Only the hawthorn begins to bear fruit 10 years after planting; before this time, the harvest is rare and few berries are collected. Some years are completely barren. The fruits of hawthorn are 1-3 cm in diameter and have a variety of shapes - spherical, oval, pear-shaped. The taste varies, everything is determined by the type of hawthorn. The taste of the pulp of blood-red hawthorn is mealy, sweetish, slightly astringent. There are 1-5 hard seeds inside the fruit. Freshly picked fruits are suitable for consumption, but a large amount of fruit eaten can lead to chills, shortness of breath and other painful phenomena.

We propagate hawthorn ourselves

Hawthorn propagates by seeds, root suckers, and root cuttings.

When propagating by seeds, the pits containing the seeds are sown. The hard shell of the seeds makes it difficult for the seeds to germinate. Therefore, to improve seed germination, stratification is needed. They do it like this. The seeds are mixed with wet peat or sand in a ratio of 1:3 in a small box, after which the box is transferred to a room with a temperature of 4-7 degrees (basement, refrigerator, space between frames on the windowsill) and left for 3-4 months.

It is best to start stratification immediately after collection, in August. After this, you can immediately place the seeds in the substrate on the windowsill, occasionally watering the substrate to keep it moist.

Washing the seeds in running water, as well as collecting the seeds before the fruits are ripe, speeds up seed germination.

Often the reason for the lack of seedlings is that there are no seeds in the seeds, which is why the seeding rate for hawthorn is high - per 1 square meter. meter 10-20 g. Seeds are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm, and the distance between rows is 20-25 cm. Do not expect quick results; it happened that the seeds sprouted only in the second year. The seedlings also grow slowly. They are grown for 3 and sometimes 4 years, until they form a fairly stable root system. After which they are transplanted to a permanent place.

When propagated by seeds, seedlings begin to bear fruit at 10 years, and when propagated by root suckers and root cuttings - at 3-4. However, with this method of propagation, seedlings do not always develop their own root system. Propagation by root cuttings is carried out in autumn or early spring; for this, roots with a diameter of 0.5-1 cm are taken and cut into cuttings 6-10 cm long, planted with the thin end into the ground, the upper end of the cutting is left 1-2 cm above the soil, the best The planting site is a garden bed, the soil is sandy. After planting, the soil needs to be watered and mulched to retain moisture.

Planting hawthorn correctly

If your hawthorn has taken root, you should transplant it to a permanent place in the spring or fall. For planting, they dig holes with a diameter of 50 cm and a depth of 40 cm. Before planting, the holes are filled with fertile soil mixed with organic and mineral fertilizer (10 kg of compost or manure and 100 g of nitroammophosphate). Long and broken roots are trimmed down to healthy wood and dipped in a mixture of clay and mullein. Before planting, the side shoots and tops of 3-year-old seedlings are cut off by 1/3 of the length.

How to plant a hedge

To lay a hedge, dig a trench 40-50 cm wide for a single-row hedge and 1 m wide for a double-row hedge, 50-70 cm deep. If the excavated soil is infertile, peat and humus are added to it and the trench is buried with the mixture. The cord is pulled and a groove is dug along it. For a single-row hedge, plants are planted with a distance in a row of 30-50 cm from each other, for a double-row hedge - 50-70 cm, placing plants in rows in a checkerboard pattern.

It is recommended to plant plants at the age of 3-6 years. Preferably one type and age: for a single-row hedge - 2-3-year-old seedlings 25-30 cm high, for a two-row hedge - larger ones. Hawthorn tolerates pruning and shaping well. Depending on the purpose, hedges come in different heights - from 0.5 to 5 m. Hedges 3-5 m high are very decorative - living walls, formed or freely growing.

In the first 2-3 years after planting, the hedge requires care. Moreover, the treated care strip should be 50-70 cm wider than the fence itself on both sides. Weeding and loosening the soil around the hedge should be a mandatory part of your attention. Two years after planting, your hedge needs to be fed: 2-4 kg of organic fertilizers per 1 square meter and mineral fertilizers - 40-60 g of NPK.

Medicinal recipes from hawthorn

Tincture of hawthorn flowers.

Pour 10 g of freshly picked flowers into 100 g of 70% alcohol or vodka. Leave for 14 days, strain. Take 15-30 drops over 30-40 minutes. before meals 3 times a day.

Infusion of hawthorn flowers.

Pour 5 g (1 tablespoon) of dried raw material into 200 ml of boiling water. Insist. Take 1/2 cup over 30-40 minutes. before meals 2-3 times a day.

Tincture of hawthorn fruits.

Pour 10 g of crushed dry raw materials into 100 g of 70% alcohol or strong vodka. Leave for 14 days, strain. Take 30-40 drops with water over 30-40 minutes. before meals 3-4 times a day.

Infusion of hawthorn fruits.

Pour 15 g (1 tablespoon) of crushed dry raw materials into 200 ml of boiling water. Insist. Take 1/2 or 1/3 cup over 30-40 minutes. before meals 2-3 times a day. Hawthorn fruit extract: 25 g of crushed raw materials, pour 100 ml of boiling water. Boil until the volume of liquid is reduced by half. Take 30-40 drops per 30 minutes. before meals 3 times a day.

Hawthorn jam.

Selected and washed ripe fruits (1 cup) are poured into a saucepan, 1/2 cup of water is added and cooked until softened. The broth is decanted into a separate container. Then they are rubbed through a colander, the seeds and peel are discarded, and the pureed mass is mixed with broth and sugar (0.9-1.0 kg of pureed mass and broth). Boil until sour cream thickens, stirring constantly. It is advisable to add citric or tartaric acid during cooking (1-1.5 g per 1 kg of weight).

Hawthorn, pureed with sugar.

The fruits are blanched for 2-3 minutes. in boiling water or steam in a pressure cooker and wipe. Add 0.3-0.5 kg of sugar to 1 kg of puree. Then pasteurized in boiling water.

Juice from hawthorn fruits.

(1 way)

Take 1 kg of fresh hawthorn fruits, 1 liter of water, 50 g of granulated sugar. Pour well-washed fruits into 0.5 liters of water and cook over low heat for 1-2 hours, while hot, rub through a sieve. Add granulated sugar to the resulting puree, add water to a volume of 1 liter, bring to a boil, and cool. Use the juice as a medicinal and dietary drink, 1 to 2 glasses a day for insomnia, nervous agitation, and high blood pressure.

Juice from hawthorn fruits.

(2 way)

The sorted, washed fruits are loaded into a juicer. To improve the taste, add up to 20% by weight of the fruits of sea buckthorn, quince or Antonovka apples. Hot juice is poured into scalded bottles and hermetically sealed.

Compote.

The washed and seeded fruits are dipped in hot syrup (400 g of sugar per 1 liter of water) and left overnight. In the morning they are separated from the syrup and placed in scalded jars, and then filled with hot syrup, pasteurized in water and hermetically sealed.

Jam.

Ripe and washed fruits are heated with a small amount of water and then passed through a manual juicer to grind the pulp and separate the seeds. Add sugar to the resulting puree (1 kg per 1 kg of puree, or to taste) and boil over low heat until the desired consistency. At the end of cooking, add citric acid to taste. The finished product is stored in closed glass jars.

Jam from hawthorn and Japanese quince fruits.

Hawthorn fruits and cut and seeded Japanese quince fruits (1 kg each) are heated to soften with a small amount of water, and then passed through a manual juicer to separate the pulp from the seeds and solids. For 1 kg of the resulting puree, add 1-1.2 kg of sugar and boil until tender. In the same way, jam is prepared from hawthorn fruits with the addition of sea buckthorn fruits, Nevezhin rowan or sour apples.

To prepare jam from hawthorn fruits and apples, reduce the amount of sugar by half.

Many gardeners are well aware of the plant with small, bright, round fruits. This is hawthorn. Planting and caring for it is not difficult, because the shrub tolerates severe frosts and summer heat well and is not picky about the soil.

What types of hawthorn are there?

Using selection, scientists have developed many new species of hawthorn, so in summer cottages you can find a variety of representatives of the medicinal plant. The most popular are:

• common hawthorn. The small tree is covered with thorns and reaches a length of up to 5 meters, blooms well and bears fruit with red berries with orange flesh.
• Siberian hawthorn. It grows up to 6 meters, actively blooms with white and pink flowers from late spring to mid-June. It has fleshy dark red round fruits.
• Chinese hawthorn. It differs from other species in that it has virtually no thorns.
• Hawthorn Scarlet. A tall tree in spring is completely covered with beautiful pink flowers collected in inflorescences. It rarely bears fruit and belongs to the category of ornamental plants that are planted to decorate a personal plot.

Hawthorn flowers and berries are collected, dried and used to prepare medicinal tinctures and tea.

If you want the hawthorn to take root and grow well in your dacha, you need to choose the right place to plant it. It should be sunny and warm. In the shade, the shrub will develop poorly, grow slowly and bear little fruit.

Hawthorn is planted with 2-year-old seedlings in spring or autumn. In the selected location, a hole is dug about 60 cm deep and the same width. Shrubs are planted at a distance of approximately 1.5 m from each other. It is very important to renew the tips of the root system and remove all dried, diseased shoots.

Although the plant is unpretentious, it will feel better in fertile soil. It is advisable to ensure good drainage.

1. Place a 12 cm layer of fine gravel at the bottom of the hole. Sprinkle 10 cm of sand on top.
2. Take half a bucket of humus, add 100 g of superphosphate and a half-liter jar of wood ash.
3. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and add enough soil from the garden to fill the dug hole by a third with the prepared mixture.
4. Pour the soil with fertilizers into the hole, put a layer of regular soil on top and pour a bucket of water on it.
5. Wait until the liquid is absorbed, place the seedling in the center, carefully straightening the roots, and cover it with soil.
6. Lightly tamp and add another bucket of water. Sprinkle the damp soil with a thick layer of peat. You can use dry grass or straw instead.

Important! After planting, do not forget to trim the branches, leaving no more than 2-3 buds on each. And do not plant hawthorn in close proximity to an apple, pear or cherry tree. These trees have common pests, and it will be more difficult to control them.

Under favorable conditions and good care, the plant will begin to bloom and bear fruit in 6-7 years.

How to properly care

Growing hawthorn does not require scrupulous care. Carefully monitor the appearance of diseased, dry branches and trim them in a timely manner. In spring, trim the young plant. A year after planting in the soil, cut off all branches to a level of 15 cm from the ground. Next year, cut the main shoots by half. Reduce the side branches even more, leaving a couple of centimeters.

In subsequent years, haircuts should be carried out 2 times a year. In April and July. This procedure helps awaken dormant buds and enhance the growth of side shoots. With the help of proper pruning, you can give the plant the most intricate shapes and make your garden plot unusual and beautiful.

Caring for hawthorn involves watering. It needs to be done once a month, using 13-14 buckets of water. If the summer is too hot and you notice that the plant is drying out, you can water it more often until the heat subsides.

It is necessary to systematically loosen the soil and remove weeds. In early spring and autumn, be sure to dig up the soil onto the bayonet of a shovel. This will enrich the soil with oxygen.

Important! To prevent young shrubs from freezing in winter, it is recommended to cover them with the onset of cold weather. Straw or dry leaves are suitable for this.

Plant nutrition

Growing shrubs will be more successful if you fertilize them regularly. Starting from 2 years after planting and until the first fruits appear, it is necessary to fertilize 2 times a year.

The first occurs when the leaves bloom. Nitrogen-based fertilizers are suitable for it. Dilute 4 tbsp in 20 liters of water. l. urea and fill the bush with this liquid.

The second feeding is done at the end of September. Measure out 4 tbsp. l. nitrophoska, stir them in 20 liters of water and pour the solution over the plant.

Fruit-bearing shrubs also need fertilizer. They need to be applied three times a season.

1. In spring, add 3 tbsp. l. sodium humate for every 10 liters of water and pour at least 30 liters of liquid under one bush.
2. When the flowers bloom, measure out 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water, prepare 40 liters of solution for one bush and apply it to the soil early in the morning or evening.
3. The following nutrient mixture is prepared while the fruits are ripening. You will need to dissolve 4 tablespoons of sodium humate in 20 liters of water and fertilize the hawthorn with the liquid.

Advice! Some summer residents try not to use chemicals for feeding and fertilize the plant with slurry. Dilute fresh mullein in a ratio of 1:5 and water the bush with 10 liters of solution. This should be done once a season before flowering begins.

At the end of September, it is useful to pour 1 half-liter jar of wood ash under each hawthorn bush.

How to propagate hawthorn by seeds

There are several ways to propagate this shrub, so every gardener is able to choose the best option for himself.

The most difficult and time-consuming way is to grow a plant from seeds. You need to collect slightly unripe berries, remove the seeds from them, wash them and put them in a glass of clean water for 3 days. Then clean with sand and wash again. At the end, prepare a 1% solution of potassium nitrate, immerse the seeds in it and leave there for 2 days.

Prepared seeds are planted in open ground in early November. When sprouts appear from them and reach a height of 65 cm, they are cut to a level of 15 cm from the ground, and the side branches are removed, except for the two necessary for the formation of the crown.

The difficulty is that seedlings sometimes have to wait for several years, and there is no guarantee that they will appear at all.

Propagation by cuttings

Planting hawthorn cuttings goes like this:

• you need to dig up the root shoots of the bush and cut them off from the main root without damaging it;
• shake off the soil stuck to them and carefully cut into pieces 10 cm long;
• prepare holes in the greenhouse, place the cuttings there at an angle and dig in with a small amount of soil.

When planting, it is important not to confuse the direction of the shoot and plant the cutting in the ground with the thicker side, otherwise it will not take root. When the first shoots appear in the greenhouse from the cuttings, the plant can be transplanted into open ground.

Reproduction by layering

An easy way to get a new plant is to propagate by layering, as they quickly take root.

Dig small ditches around the bush in the spring. Select powerful annual shoots, tilt them, place them in a ditch, press down with a metal bracket and cover with soil. One top should remain above the soil surface.

The buried cuttings must be systematically watered and fertilized 3 times during the growing season. A weak solution of ammonium nitrate is suitable for feeding. Gradually the top will begin to grow upward. When this happens, it must be covered with earth.

In October, check whether the cuttings have formed a rhizome. If it is well developed, separate the cuttings from the mother plant and plant them in a separate hole. It is advisable not to touch the weak root and leave the shoot without replanting until spring.

Copulation

Experienced summer residents know well what copulation is. This is grafting a plant from a cutting. It should be done in early spring, before the first buds appear. To graft hawthorn, you need to choose a rootstock. This could be a rowan tree or a hawthorn bush, which bears little fruit.

An oblique cut is made on the rootstock and cuttings, tongues are made according to special calculations in both trunks, they are connected to each other, tied with tape and covered with polyethylene. When buds with a diameter of about 1 cm appear on the cuttings, the polyethylene can be removed.

If the grafting is successful, the plant begins to bloom wildly and bear fruit in the 5th year.

Pests

To kill pests, you can spray the plant with a soap solution or use chemicals. They help a lot:

• karbofos;
• chlorophos;
• nitrafen.

They must be diluted and used according to the instructions.

Sometimes hawthorn becomes infected with powdery mildew or spot rot. If this happens, you need to remove the affected shoots and spray the bush with fungicide-based preparations.

Growing hawthorn will bring great benefits. After all, it is not only beautiful, but also a storehouse of vitamins. To reduce colds, it is recommended to eat several dried berries daily.

Hawthorn is also indispensable in landscape design. To use it as a shrub, the shrubs need to be planted close to each other and young shoots intertwined. This plant is an excellent option for the original design of cottages, parks and public gardens.

Hawthorn is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering, and rare varieties by grafting. Before you start planting, you need to determine the purpose of the plant. If you are going to resort to growing hawthorn to create a hedge, planting material should be planted around the perimeter of the site. If you want to grow hawthorn in your country house to produce fruits, you need to create groups of three or four separate plants at a distance of 1.5-2 m from each other. In this case, the plants will be better pollinated even in the absence of apiaries and wild bees nearby.

Planting hawthorn in autumn

Hawthorn is unpretentious, and when you start planting, you don’t have to spend a lot of time preparing the area. The only condition is to choose a well-lit place, preferably near the northern border of the site.

This is especially true for large-fruited forms, which require a lot of sunlight for good fruiting. It is not recommended to propagate rare cultivars by seed, since in this case they lose their varietal characteristics. Growing hawthorn from seeds is effective only for ordinary forms, widespread in central Russia.

Growing hawthorn from seeds

It is very difficult for hawthorn to germinate from seeds, since they have a very hard shell, and immediately after the fruits ripen, the plant falls into a period of deep dormancy. To speed up the germination process, it is best to resort to stratification. To do this, fresh hawthorn seeds, just selected from unripe berries (a week before full ripening), are soaked in a 1% solution of potassium nitrate for one day. Then the seeds are placed in a dark box or canvas bag and kept for 7-8 months at a temperature of +2-3° C.

Shoots when growing hawthorn from seeds are characterized by very slow growth. Planting them in a permanent place should begin only after 3-4 years, and in the future, young shrubs can be replanted only until they reach 5 years of age, since these plants have a very long, branched root system, which can be damaged.

How to propagate hawthorn by cuttings

Another method of propagation is by root suckers. Before planting hawthorn in this way, you need to cut off parts of the roots from the mother plant and leave them in place until they are completely rooted. You can also use root cuttings to grow hawthorn in your dacha. To do this, in early spring or autumn, the root system is dug up and root cuttings with a diameter of 0.5 to 1 cm are cut. When planting hawthorn in the fall for rooting, the planting material should be placed in a greenhouse or greenhouse, and in the autumn the cuttings can be planted in a low bed (1 -2 cm above soil level). After this, the soil must be mulched with humus and watered abundantly. Already at the end of June, the first shoots will appear from such root cuttings.

How to plant hawthorn in a permanent place

When replanting shrubs to a permanent location, do you need to dig planting holes 0.5 m in size? 1 m or 1.5 m? 0.5 m. If the plants were intended for hedges, trenches of similar width and depth are dug. Well-fertilized soil is added to the planting holes and trenches (a planting mixture of equal parts of leaf flour, sand, peat, humus and a small amount of lime). At the bottom of the planting hole you need to put drainage (crushed stone, gravel, broken brick) in a layer of about 15 cm. Shrubs are planted in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. The root system should be covered with fertile soil, watered and mulched.

Hawthorn grafting

When propagating varieties, hawthorn grafting is most effective. Trees are grafted with cuttings at the very beginning of spring, as soon as abundant sap flow begins. You can also graft hawthorn in the second ten days of July - early August, but in this case they resort to the budding method (a method of grafting fruit and ornamental plants with a single bud). To do this, the “eye” (one bud with a thin layer of wood) of the cultivar is placed in a T-shaped cut or with a shield butt on the usual species form. Seedlings of blood-red hawthorn are most often used as a rootstock; mountain ash is also suitable for a rootstock. The grafted hawthorn begins to bear fruit in the third year. Hawthorn is also used as a rootstock. To do this, fruit trees, most often pear or apple trees, are grafted onto hawthorn. Cultivars of fruit trees grafted onto hawthorn enter the fruiting season early and are distinguished by a good harvest.

Caring for hawthorn when growing

Growing and caring for hawthorn requires mandatory weeding, regular fertilizing and watering. The soil under the bushes must be loosened and mulched. To form a hedge, plant branches are cut to 1/3 of the length of the shoot, this promotes the formation of a larger number of spines and lateral shoots.

I transplant seedlings to a permanent place at the age of two years. In this case, planting is done in autumn or spring. The depth of the planting hole for grown plants is about 70 cm, the distance between the bushes is about 2 m. The root collar should remain at ground level. Immediately after transplanting, it is recommended to water the plant and mulch the tree trunk circle with peat or dry soil with a layer of about 4 cm. With good care, hawthorn begins to bear fruit abundantly upon reaching 10 years of age.

In June, it is advisable to feed the plant with diluted bird droppings or liquid manure. Throughout the season, dry or broken branches, as well as shoots that greatly thicken the crown, should be removed. To form a hawthorn into a bush, you need to leave 5-6 main skeletal branches, and maintain the crown at a height optimal for harvesting. In the fall, at the end of the growing season, the hawthorn should be fed again. This time, during digging, you can add double superphosphate and potassium salt as top dressing. If shrubs grow on acidic soils, the soil must be limed.

Caring for hawthorn includes infrequent but regular watering. Typically, plants are watered once a month (at the rate of 10 liters of water for one adult bush). In dry summers, watering is done twice a month. If the summer is rainy, then the plants do not need to be watered.

In cold seasons, young seedlings must be covered with burlap to avoid frostbite on the branches. Adult plants do not require wrapping in winter - this is a fairly winter-hardy plant that can withstand low temperatures.

Hawthorn diseases

Powdery mildew is a widespread disease of hawthorn, leading to weakening of plants. In case of large-scale damage, the winter hardiness of plants may be weakened. Powdery mildew mainly affects the leaves, on which a white cobweb-like coating appears. By mid-summer, the plaque becomes denser and powdery, and by autumn it turns from white to grayish. Fungi - the causative agents of powdery mildew - overwinter on plant debris, as well as between bud scales. Affected leaves must be removed, and in order to destroy the causative agents of the disease, plant remains should be disposed of (burned) in a timely manner.

Rust is a fungal disease caused by a general weakening of plants. In mid-summer, large, yellowish-red pustules appear on the leaves of the bushes, which subsequently turn into radiating, hairy growths. This is not a disease of hawthorn; the bush is only its intermediate host. And rust develops on junipers, so when choosing a place to plant plants of the Rosaceae family, you should avoid the close proximity of coniferous trees.

Leaf spot is a disease of hawthorn that causes general plant depression and premature leaf fall. Spotting becomes widespread in conditions of high humidity. Along with spotting, during rainy periods, hawthorn leaves are affected by rot. Pathogens are stored in fallen affected leaves, so plant debris must be collected and burned in a timely manner.

Fomoz is a fungal disease that affects hawthorn shoots. At the same time, the color of the bark of the shoots practically does not change; only over time, black, microscopic pycnidia, deeply embedded in the bark tissue, become clearly visible in them. Shoots affected by phomosis dry out and die.

Wood rot is caused by fungi of the Basidiomycetes class. Shrubs are infected by basidiospores formed on the surface of the fruit. Through wounds on the trunk and branches, these spores penetrate into the plants and penetrate the core. At the same time, the consistency of the wood becomes less durable, and during snowfall, plants may die, since their branches, affected by rot, cannot withstand large amounts of snow.

To avoid the occurrence of diseases, hawthorn should be planted in well-ventilated areas, do not forget to mulch the soil, and regularly spray it with a 1% solution of colloidal sulfur.

Hawthorn bushes are an excellent decoration for a personal plot at any time of the year. Its berries have a lot of medicinal properties; in addition, they are very tasty and decorative. The idea of ​​planting it in your garden will only bring positive consequences.

The advantage of hawthorn is that it is a native plant in Russia. Problems with acclimatization do not arise either in the subtropics or on the border with the Arctic Circle.

A wide variety of hawthorn species allows you to decide on the most suitable one, or collect a whole collection of these plants on your estate.

Common hawthorn or prickly hawthorn

The most common species in Russian gardens. The plant can be shaped as a tree or as a bush. The tree grows up to 5-7 meters, which is not very convenient for harvesting. On a personal plot, its growth must be controlled, especially since prickly hawthorn tolerates pruning well. Huge sharp thorns are its peculiarity and the only drawback that complicates harvesting.

It blooms with white simple flowers very profusely. Common hawthorn berries are miniature apples with bright red skin, fleshy yellow flesh and a core of several small seeds. They ripen in late August – early September. They have a sweet and sour taste and are considered a remedy for many diseases.

This variety is resistant to frost, tolerates even snowless, cold winters, and is unpretentious to the soil. Common hawthorn is decorative both during flowering and during ripening.

Siberian hawthorn or blood red

Also very hardy to frost and temperature changes. Tall, in cultivated form it needs pruning and crown formation.

It is found in both shrub and tree forms. The spines are planted less frequently than those of the common hawthorn, but the same length.

It has long flowering. It decorates the garden from May to June with delicate white flowers with purple centers.

The fruits are round, red, large. It does not have a distinct taste. It begins to bear fruit at the age of 7-10 years.

Hawthorn is soft or semi-soft

Originally from North America. Grows up to 9 meters. It is distinguished by a natural tent-shaped crown that does not require shaping. But at the same time, it tolerates pruning well, as the bush is exceptionally suitable for the formation of impenetrable green fences. The spines are small and frequent. It looks impressive both during the flowering period and during the autumn change in leaf color. The orange-red, tasty fruits with yellow flesh are also tasty and decorative. It begins to bear fruit, like all hawthorns, 6-7 years after planting.

Propagates well by cuttings and seeds.

Green meat hawthorn

It is also called green-fleshed. Shrub or tree up to 6 meters high with a pyramidal crown. A variety of hawthorn, common in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Primorye and Japan. For the central regions and south of Russia it is a great rarity; it is difficult to acclimatize. Green meat hawthorn flowers have a beautiful contrasting color - white petals and almost black stamens.

The fruits are dark with unexpectedly green flesh and very tasty. This species is also armed with sharp spines.

It is very difficult to undergo artificial propagation. Outside its native growing environment, it is only suitable as a specimen for a botanical garden.

Black or Caucasian hawthorn

A southern plant, common in Crimea, the Caucasus, the Balkan Peninsula and other countries of Eastern Europe. Compared to its brothers it is not tall - the average height is 3 meters. It blooms quite modestly, with small white flowers. The berries are almost black with yellow-green flesh and are used in folk medicine and cooking. The spines are sparse and small. The plant is well suited for forming hedges.

Hawthorn monopolyta

A fast-growing shrub or low tree. The natural growth for this plant does not exceed 3-5 meters. The crown is tent-shaped, symmetrical. The bushes are very flexible to shape. Hawthorn uniposeno makes good, beautiful hedges. The spines are rare, sometimes completely absent.

The fruits are red, red-brown, sometimes yellow-orange. Oval shape. Used for medicinal purposes.

Plants of this species cross well and are often used as a rootstock for apple, pear, and rowan trees. Therefore, its decorative and fruit varieties are numerous.

A common property of all varieties of hawthorn is that these plants are long-lived. They retain their vegetative properties for up to 200-300 years. When planting a plant, you need to prepare yourself for the fact that the hawthorn bush on the site will last for a long time.

Selection of seedlings

1. Only plants between two and five years old and no more than half a meter tall are suitable for transplantation. It is best to grow young plants yourself or purchase them from reliable stores.
2. The tree must have a living, well-developed root system - moist, with a lump of earth.
3. The trunk should be smooth, with a glossy bark, without visible damage.
4. Before purchasing, the roots and trunk are carefully examined for the presence of putrefactive formations and mycelium of fungal diseases.
5. Any type of hawthorn for the temperate climate zone is suitable, the main thing is to follow the recommendations.

An ordinary wild hawthorn can become a good rootstock both for its cultivated varieties and for other fruit trees.

Selecting a location

In the wild, hawthorn often grows in deciduous forests, along river banks, choosing rocky slopes of ravines or shaded edges. But in order to quickly wait for fruiting, it is better to plant it on the estate in a well-lit place.

It does not tolerate stagnant moisture; it is necessary to ensure drainage and good soil drainage.

Hawthorn prefers heavy soils, which in itself reduces the circle of its neighbors and makes it possible to plant this bush in a place unsuitable for other crops. But for good yield, the soil under bushes of all varieties must be fertilized.

In order to finally decide on the location for planting the hawthorn, you need to put your site in perspective: to what height and in what diameter the future bush is planned to grow, what plants it will displace and how it will subsequently fit into the layout of the territory.

Site preparation

Preliminary work before planting hawthorn does not take much time. This useful plant is planted in a deep hole, which should be prepared in advance:

• the planting hole is dug about a meter deep;
• you can spill it with boiling water or treat it with chemical disinfectants;
• the bottom is covered with a twenty-centimeter drainage layer - expanded clay, gravel or crushed stone;
• the lower layers of the planting pit are limed so that in the first years of the plant’s life the roots do not come into contact with the layer of lime - a small amount of drainage on top is enough;
• The planting mixture with which the roots of the plant will be sprinkled should consist of equal parts of sand, peat, humus and other plant mulch.

Planting hawthorn

When the planting site is ready, the seedling is placed in the center of the hole and, carefully straightening the roots, is covered with earth. Important points:

• the root collar should be at ground level.
• after planting, water abundantly;
• The soil in the tree trunk circle is covered with a layer of straw, peat or dry soil.

After planting, the plant is left to take root; you can stretch an opaque covering material over it for two to three days.

Planting schemes

Close proximity to this plant is not shown. A well-developed root system requires that the bush be planted at a considerable distance from its closest neighbors - 5-7 meters from tall and medium-sized trees, 3-5 meters from shrubs and at least two meters from vegetable plantings.

With other bushes of this type, for example, for growing hedges, an acceptable distance will be one and a half to two meters. It is better to orient such plantings from north to south.

You need to understand that the formation of a green fence does not promote active fruiting. With thickening of plantings and constant pruning, fruit ripening will decrease.

Hawthorn care

This is a non-capricious plant and does not need constant attention. Basic measures for caring for hawthorn include:

• watering;
• infrequent feeding, in case of obvious developmental delay;
• sanitary pruning - removal of dead and diseased parts;
• bush formation;
• harvesting to avoid rotting of the berries.

Hawthorn is a long-growing plant; for better fruiting at any age, the soil around it must be updated. At the border with the root system, dig holes up to a meter deep and fill them with rotted manure.

Plant nutrition

It is much worse to overfeed a hawthorn than to underfeed it. If the growth of the bush slows down and its appearance deteriorates, then it is necessary to pay attention to the nutrients that the plant is not receiving enough.

The amount of fertilizing depends on the purpose for which the tree is grown.

For fruit varieties, up to three feedings are carried out:

1. the first - at the very beginning of the growing season;
2. the second - during the flowering period to promote the ovary;
3. the third is carried out when the fruits ripen.

For decorative hawthorns, it is enough to apply two fertilizers.

It is better to give preference to organic compounds - slurry, humates, weed infusion.

If the plant drops its fruits ahead of schedule, it means it lacks moisture. Proper watering is the key to good fruiting. This should be done once a month. In dry summers, two or three. The main condition for watering is its abundance. 10-20 liters of warm water are poured into the planting hole. You can combine watering with fertilizing for greater efficiency.

Weeding and loosening

Weeds growing in the planting circle or under the hawthorn crown must be removed first to avoid the development of dampness and fungal diseases. The weed itself does not harm the hawthorn root system.

Loosening is carried out periodically, alternating it with watering. You can lay the ground around the plant with mulch - this will reduce the number of loosening procedures, help maintain the integrity of the root system and create a favorable environment for earthworms.

Crown formation

It is very difficult to cope with such a harsh plant without a pruner in your hands. Uncontrollably growing thorny branches make it difficult to pass through the area, harvest and care for the plant. The first pruning is done in the second or third year after transplanting the seedling to a permanent place.

The first thing you need to decide is the desired height. It is not recommended to grow a fruit-bearing tree higher than two meters. If you systematically remove the top branches, the hawthorn will form a bush.

The shoots coming from the vertical main trunk are thinned out so that air does not stagnate inside the crown and fungal organisms do not develop.

It is better to maintain a distance of one to one and a half meters from the ground to the lower branches of the fruit plant, so that you can control the shoots and collect berries.

The hedge is leveled annually in the spring before the sap begins to flow. When pruning, two-thirds of the shoot is removed - young branches are restored very quickly.

Having acquired some skill in this process, you can give the tree any shape. To create garden living sculptures, wire frames and ties are often used.

Harvest and storage

Hawthorn berries begin to ripen in August. Fruits that have reached full maturity are separated from the trunk. Since a powerful defense system in the form of thorns prevents harvesting from the branches, it will be easier to cover the ground under the trunk with a blanket and collect crumbling fruits from it every day.

The collected berries are sorted and wormy and diseased ones are destroyed. Smooth ripe fruits can be canned, frozen or dried.

You shouldn’t delay processing hawthorn - apples scattered in a thin layer can be stored for a couple of days, and then they begin to darken and soften.

How to propagate hawthorn

Hawthorn grows slowly. It begins to bear fruit 5-10 years from the date of planting, depending on the variety. But it is easy to propagate vegetatively. The easiest way is propagation by shoots. young shoots themselves sprout around the trunk; they can simply be transplanted to a new place.

Propagation by cuttings

For cuttings of hawthorn in the spring, young shoots are selected when pruning. Branches 30-40 centimeters long are cut obliquely and placed in water to germinate. It's good to add a growth stimulator. Germination may take two months.

Sprouted cuttings are rooted in a nursery at a temperature not lower than 25 C. They are planted at a distance of 25-30 centimeters from each other. They are transferred to a permanent place after 2 years.

Reproduction by layering

The most win-win option is propagation by layering. To do this, in the spring, the lower shoots are bent to the ground and strengthened with a wire bracket. The soil is pre-loosened. The place where the cuttings are fixed is watered abundantly. When the young shoot begins to grow vertically, it is earthed up. Layers are separated from the trunk in the fall, on the eve of frost, and replanted. Such seedlings can be immediately transferred to a permanent place. The advantage of propagation by layering is that the rooting of the young shoot is noticeable already in the current season.

Copulation

Copulation is grafting with a bud or bud on a die. It is carried out according to general rules:

• the trunk of the rootstock above the bud selected for grafting is cut off;
• a bud is cut from a scion plant along with a section of green bark;
• a cut is made on the rootstock, similar in size to the grafted bud;
• The scion is applied joint to joint to the cut on the rootstock;
• wrapped with cloth and treated with garden varnish.

It must be said that hawthorn takes root well in a new place as a scion. And it itself serves as a rootstock for a number of fruit plants. Especially if you need to adapt the plant to more severe climatic conditions.

Reproduction by seeds (seeds)

This method of hawthorn germination is suitable only for the most patient. The germination rate of hawthorn seeds is very low. Depending on the variety, 30 to 50 percent of the collected seeds germinate. It is better to choose unripe fruits for sowing and extract the seeds from them by mechanical processing, grinding them with sand or other large particles. They require long-term preliminary stratification. The seeds are mixed with peat soil mixture, moistened and left for a couple of months indoors at a temperature of 4-5 C. The seeds are regularly moistened. After this time, the box with sprouted seedlings is transferred to the light and cultivation begins.

Sow the germinated seeds under a greenhouse. When the seedlings become stronger, they are transplanted into a nursery for two to three years.

This propagation method is used mainly for breeding new varieties. Such a bush will begin to bear fruit in 7-10 years.

The nursery for young hawthorn seedlings should be covered with a thick layer of foliage or spruce branches for the winter.

Hawthorn diseases

Cultivated hawthorn is vulnerable to fungal diseases. It is affected by tinder fungi, septoria, various types of rust, powdery mildew, brown, ocher, white, gray spots and leaf rot. These diseases are expressed in the appearance of spots on fruits and leaves, curling and withering of foliage, shedding of berries, dwarfism of the plant, and developmental delays.

These diseases also affect other garden plants - apple, rowan, and pear. Having appeared on one bush, they begin to take over the entire garden.

Often the cause of the development of diseases is weather conditions and carelessness of the owners. The following factors contribute to fungal diseases:

1. poor pruning, leading to thickening of the bush, dampness and stagnation of air inside the crown;
2. wet weather, excess precipitation or accumulation of moisture in the roots of the tree;
3. thickening of plantings, proximity of hawthorn to infected trees;
4. neglect of crop rotation rules and poor quality cleaning of the site.

Controlling fungal diseases in perennial plants is more difficult. It is better to pay more attention to prevention - mandatory spring treatment with a solution of copper sulfate or preparations containing sulfur.

If signs of fungal diseases are detected on the leaves and fruits of hawthorn, the infected parts are removed and burned. The tree is treated with a fungicide in two stages with a break of ten days.

Hawthorn pests

There are a large number of pests who want to feast on hawthorn. Its stems and fruits are attacked by hawthorn butterflies. The larvae of these pests feed on the leaves and buds of hawthorn.

The deciduous moth is dangerous because in the fall it lays larvae directly into the buds of the hawthorn. In the spring, caterpillars eat them from the inside, destroying the future harvest. An effective means of combating them is to coat hawthorn trunks with sticky compounds to prevent insects from crawling from the ground.

The silkworm spins a thin sticky web, which it covers the branches of the affected tree. In addition to the fact that the caterpillars eat the leaves, the mass of cobwebs makes the berries inedible. The golden silkworm can eat hawthorn foliage down to bare branches.

The apple worm and the common aphid are also dangerous. Preventive work - fumigation of hawthorn bushes with smoke, treatment with soapy solutions of wood ash and hot pepper.

The most effective preventive measure for pest control is to create living conditions for their natural enemies - starlings, woodpeckers and other birds. To do this, it is necessary to significantly reduce the use of insecticides and other synthetic substances in plant care, hang birdhouses and provide bird feeding in winter.

Growing hawthorn is not a quick process, but it is fascinating and noble. This medicinal plant, planted on the plot, will become a long-term investment in the health of the whole family for many generations.