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The viburnum-leaved carp appeared relatively recently - at the end of the 18th century. Since then, this unpretentious plant is often used in landscape design and ornamental gardening. Planting and caring for viburnum leaf is simple, so even beginners who like to garden adjacent areas can easily cope with growing this shrub.
Features of planting and caring for bladderwrack shrubs
The homeland of the vesicular carp is North America. Under natural conditions, this plant is quite common in the northeastern United States and Canada. Distribution area: mixed forests, river banks.Initially, the viburnum vesicle was brought as an exhibit to the Imperial Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg, and closer to the middle of the 19th century it spread widely in other regions of European Russia.
This article provides a description of the viburnum leaf carp, provides the basic principles of planting and caring for it, and presents photos of the plant in various ways of its use.
Viburnum foliage is a deciduous shrub with a height of 1 to 3 m. It is very decorative at any time of the year thanks to its reddish-brown shoots that form a spreading spherical crown, as well as dark leaves that have a red, purple or burgundy tint. Some varieties have yellow or lemon-colored leaves. The shrub is unpretentious in cultivation, has excellent frost resistance, and tolerates gas pollution well, which is why it is widely used for landscaping streets and industrial areas.
How to plant bladderwort
In decorative gardening and landscape design, the viburnum can be used both to create individual compositions in the form of color accents or geometric shapes, and for hedges. When planting, the following factors should be considered:
- The plant does not tolerate calcareous soil.
- Do not allow water to stagnate in the roots.
The shrub is undemanding in terms of lighting, but in the shade its foliage becomes lighter and slightly loses its decorative effect, acquiring the usual green color.
Landing dates
The best time to plant viburnum leaf is spring and autumn. Seedlings with a closed root system (from a container) can be planted in summer. The rooting capacity of this plant is very high.
Soil for bladderwort
Viburnum-leaved bladderwort is undemanding to the composition of the soil, the main thing is that it is not alkaline. This shrub grows well both on loam and sandy soils, but it will have the most decorative appearance if planted on loose, fertile soil. The plant is sensitive to excess water, so you should avoid places where moisture can stagnate, and when planting, be sure to provide drainage.
Distance between vesicles when planting
When creating hedges, seedlings of this ornamental shrub are planted in a checkerboard pattern in 2 rows, keeping a distance of 45-50 cm between neighboring seedlings, and 35-40 cm between rows. This allows you to obtain sufficient density so that the trimmed hedge does not appear transparent.
Planting schemes with bladderwort
A hedge of viburnum is usually limited to pruning on 1, 2 or 3 sides, giving the shape of a rectangle. In addition, the plant can be planted as a tapeworm, as well as in composition with other gardening plantings. Often, viburnum-leaved bladderwort is used as part of mixboards, highlighting it as a color accent, or used as a background, planting lighter plantings in front of it.
The bladderwort as part of the mixboard is pictured below.
Rules for planting viburnum leaf:
- Planting viburnum leaf carp is very simple. For planting, planting holes are prepared so that they are larger than the volume of the root system of the seedling.
- A layer of drainage must be poured onto the bottom. Construction expanded clay is well suited for this purpose; you can use crushed stone, brick fragments or even coarse sand.
- A mound of earth is poured onto the bottom, spreading the roots of the seedling over it, after which the hole is gradually sprinkled with soil, periodically compacting it.
- After the planting hole is completely filled, the root collar of the plant should be flush with the ground surface.
- If the seedling is in a container, then it is removed and replanted along with the soil, without shaking it off the roots. So that the plant can be freely removed, the soil in the container must be watered 10-15 minutes before planting.
- The carefully removed seedling is placed vertically in the planting hole and covered with earth.
- After planting, the plant should be watered well and the root zone should be covered with a layer of peat or humus mulch.
What to plant next to the bladderwort
The neighbors of the bladderwort can be a variety of plants. In landscape design, this shrub is often planted next to narrow pyramidal conifers, lighter deciduous shrubs, and large flowers. The plant is not selfish and gets along well with all its neighbors. The only exceptions may be large trees with a large number of surface roots, for example, willow or chestnut. Next to them, the bush will lack nutrients and be depressed.
Viburnum-leaved bladderworts come in red-leaved and yellow-leaved varieties. The first include varieties such as Diabolo, Red Baron, and the second - Luteus, Dartsgold. They are often planted side by side, alternating varieties of different colors. Such a variegated hedge looks very picturesque and original.
How to grow bladderwort
After planting in the spring, viburnum-leaved bladderwort requires minimal care. However, in order not to neglect the plants, it is still better to carry out some activities. Such work includes:
- watering;
- feeding;
- pruning
In addition to these works, many gardeners take additional measures to care for the root zone. It is weeded, loosened, mulched. For decorative purposes, a border of stones of various sizes is often built around the bush.
Watering and fertilizing
Watering is required for viburnum-leaved bladderwort only during hot, dry periods. At this time, it is advisable to pour 2-4 buckets of water under the root of each adult bush 1-2 times a week. During the rest of the year, the plant has enough precipitation. Excess moisture will harm the bladderwort much more than its lack, so you should not be overzealous with watering.
It is not necessary to feed the bushes; soil fertility is of secondary importance for this plant. Despite this, fertilizers can and even need to be applied if the viburnum leaf carp is grown on poor soils. Typically, fertilizing is done twice per season. In spring, the bushes are fertilized with a solution of nitrogen-containing fertilizer, for example, nitroammophosphate. This very well stimulates the growth of shoots and an increase in green mass. Organic infusions, slurry or chicken droppings are often used. Such fertilizers are applied to the tree trunk in the form of aqueous solutions. In autumn, superphosphate and potash fertilizers are used. This strengthens the plants before wintering.
Trimming and shaping
Pruning bladderwrack bushes is done for several purposes:
- Sanitary pruning. It is carried out in early spring and autumn, as well as in case of emergency (damage to the bush, disease, mechanical damage). During sanitary pruning, branches that are dry, broken, improperly growing, or affected by disease or pests are removed.
- Formative pruning. It is produced to increase the density of the crown or give it a decorative appearance. To give the bush a fountain shape characteristic of the vesicle, large branches are cut at a height of 1.5 motes of earth, and thin shoots are removed completely. If the goal is to obtain a bush of maximum density, the branches are cut at a height of half a meter, stimulating the growth of a large number of side shoots. After forcing the shoots, the crown is cut to the required size or given a certain shape.
- Anti-aging pruning. It is carried out once every 4-5 years. Its goal is to remove old shoots and grow young ones instead. In this case, some of the older branches are cut out at the roots, and young ones are grown instead. Over the course of several years, the bush is completely rejuvenated.
Useful video on the topic of pruning bladderwort:
Transplantation of bladderwort
If for some reason the viburnum leaf carp bush needs to be transplanted to a new place, then this can be done either in early spring, before the beginning of the growing season, or in the fall, after the end of leaf fall. Replanting must be done together with a lump of earth on the roots. The older the bush, the larger the volume its root system occupies, so replanting adult bushes is much more labor-intensive. Before transplanting, all stems of the plant are shortened to a length of 0.2–0.3 m. This will reduce the load on the root system and contribute to its rapid adaptation to the new location.
To replant, the bush is dug up from all sides, trying not to damage the roots. Then the plant is removed from the ground and transferred to a new location. It is best to do this on a piece of thick fabric, so this cannot be done without outside help.
Replanting a bush is done in the same order as planting a young plant. The bushes to be transplanted are installed in pre-dug planting holes, after which the existing voids are covered with earth. To speed up adaptation, planted bushes are watered with a solution of a root formation stimulator (Kornevin or Heteroauxin). To reduce water evaporation, cover the ground around the transplanted bush with a layer of mulch. Dry peat is well suited for this purpose.
Preparing for winter
Viburnum-leaved bladderwort has excellent resistance to negative temperatures. He is not afraid of even the most severe frosts. Therefore, no measures should be taken to prepare it for winter. The maximum that can happen to it over the winter is that the tips of the shoots freeze. This happens quite rarely, in the most severe frosts. If this happens, then in early spring the frozen ends will need to be cut off during sanitary pruning.
Subtleties of growing bladderwort in different regions
Differences in the care and cultivation of vesicular carp in different regions of Russia are minimal. This is due to its unpretentiousness and frost resistance.
Planting and caring for bladderwrack in Siberia
Planting and caring for the vesicular carp in open ground in Siberia do not differ from the generally accepted ones. Young seedlings are planted at the same time, the planting procedure is standard. Plant care is minimal. There is usually no preparation for winter. The frost resistance of this ornamental shrub is enough to winter without shelter even in Siberia.
Agricultural technology for growing bladderwort in the Moscow region
In the Moscow region the climate is much milder than in Siberia. However, there is much more precipitation here, so when planting you need to choose a place where water does not stagnate after rains. It is imperative to drain the planting holes. Otherwise, the procedures for planting and caring for viburnum in the Moscow region do not differ from the usual activities carried out in any other region of Russia.
Pests and diseases of bladderwort
Viburnum-leaved bladderwort is very resistant to diseases and pests. Most often, chlorosis appears on the plant - a disease associated with a lack of nutrients in the soil. This disease can be detected by a change in the color of the leaves to a lighter color, while green veins will be clearly visible inside the leaf. Chlorosis is treated by spraying the bushes with solutions of preparations containing iron: Ferovit, Antichlorosis. You can apply these drugs at the root, but foliar treatment is more effective.
In conditions of high humidity, especially when grown on clay soils, the root system of this shrub may begin to rot. At the same time, the leaves of the bladderwort wither and dry out, and a gray coating of powdery mildew, a fungal disease, often appears on them. Such shoots need to be cut out and destroyed in a timely manner, and it is better to transplant the bush to a higher place.
Insect pests on the viburnum leaf carp are observed extremely rarely. Therefore, as a rule, no special treatment is carried out on them.
Reproduction
You can propagate the viburnum leaf carp in several ways:
- layering;
- dividing the bush;
- cuttings;
- seeds.
Vegetative methods give faster results, while preserving all the varietal characteristics of the plant.The seed method does not guarantee this. It is best to propagate bladderwort by cuttings or layering in the spring. You can divide the bushes in spring and summer. The rooting ability of the bladderwort is excellent, and when using root formation stimulants it can reach 100%.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for viburnum leaf is usually not difficult. Many people call it “a shrub for the lazy” because it retains its decorative properties well and is at the same time extremely unpretentious. Even with minimal care, the viburnum leaf will grow and bloom, while it does not freeze, wintering without shelter, and practically does not get sick. Therefore, it can be safely recommended for planting to lovers of ornamental gardening who want to decorate the garden landscape, but are not ready to devote a lot of time to caring for the plantings.
