Content
Planting and caring for mountain ash can enrich the garden with a very beautiful and spectacular plant. But in order for the fieldfare to delight with its rapid growth and abundant flowering, you need to know the rules for caring for it.
Description of mountain ash
Mountain ash is a medium-height shrub that grows wild mainly in China, Siberia, Japan and Korea. The plant is quite easy to confuse with mountain ash, but field ash is much more decorative, which is why gardeners value it.
What does fieldfare look like?
In the wild and in cultivated plantings, fieldfare is a shrub up to 3 m tall with numerous straight shoots and a very spreading crown. Fieldfare family - Pink, the trunks of old shoots of the plant are brownish-gray and woody, young shoots are green and have a thin edge. The leaves of the rowan-leaved bush attract attention, and it is to them that it owes its name. Large, up to 25 cm each, lanceolate in shape, they look like the leaves of an ordinary rowan.
During the growing season, the rowan-leaved shrub changes the color of the foliage several times. When blooming, its leaves are soft pink, then quickly turn light green, and in the fall they acquire a yellow or dark red color. At the end of June, the plant blooms profusely with small white flowers, collected in pyramidal panicles up to 30 cm each. The petals of the flowers are half as long as the stamens, and flowering continues for a month.
Fieldfare height
The growth of shrubs directly depends on the quality of the soil and proper care. On average, fieldfare reaches 1.5-3 m in height.
Rowan leaf crown diameter
In the photo of the fieldfare bush, you can see that its striking feature is its wide and voluminous crown. A bush of rowan-leaved plant can spread up to 1.5-3 m in width.
How quickly does fieldfare grow?
It is convenient to plant the plant in a summer cottage, since the rowan-leaved shrub is characterized by rapid growth - up to 40 cm per year. True, this forces the plant to be pruned more often, but when creating artistic compositions, you don’t have to wait long for the fieldfare to become fully decorative.
The lifespan of the bush is about 50 years.Therefore, a rowan-leaved shrub can delight with its flowering for a very long time.
Fieldfare varieties
Basically, only 5 varieties of shrubs are cultivated in summer cottages. Each type of mountain ash has its own advantages and characteristics.
Fieldfare
A “classic” variety that is most popular among gardeners. The height usually does not exceed 2 m, the crown consists of pointed leaves about 20 cm long, the shrub blooms with long flower panicles of light cream color. The advantages of the rowan-leaved shrub include its unpretentiousness and increased frost resistance and, of course, its decorative appearance, as well as its fragrant aroma during flowering.
Pallas's Fieldfare
A shrub of this variety in its natural form can most often be found in Transbaikalia and Siberia. It is cultivated throughout the country; the plant reaches an average height of about 1.2 m. Distinctive features of the Pallas mountain ash are its powerfully developed roots, which help the plant to tolerate temporary drought well, and high resistance to cold. Pallas's fieldfare blooms with lush, beautiful panicles of white or pinkish-cream color and looks great both in compositions and in single plantings.
Fieldfare Sam
The most decorative of the mountain ash varieties. The shrub of this variety can reach 0.8-1 m in height, has beautiful small leaves of light green color with a slight bronze tint, this feature is noticeable in the photo of the fieldfare plant. The Sam variety blooms with long cream panicles consisting of small flowers.
Fieldfare Sam grows slower than other varieties of the plant and its maximum height is not that great.Therefore, the plant is often used to create hedges in the garden or as a middle tier for artistic compositions.
Fieldfare tree
This variety is naturally found in Southeast Asia and can reach 6 m in height - more than other plant varieties. The variety blooms a little later, in July or August, but still pleases the eye with lush white and cream inflorescences consisting of small flowers.
Tree fieldfare has high frost resistance and grows successfully in regions with harsh climates.
Fieldfare
Another variety of fieldfare from East Asia is the felt fieldfare. The plant is also tall, up to 6 m, and prefers to grow on rocky mountain slopes. Felt fieldfare has reduced frost resistance, but tolerates a lack of moisture quite well. However, it is rarely used in landscape design; the fact is that the variety does not have beautiful flowering.
Planting and caring for fieldfare in the open ground
Growing and caring for fieldfare in a summer cottage is quite simple; the plant has low requirements and tolerates difficult climatic conditions well. To successfully plant a shrub, it is enough to know the basic rules of growing.
Preparation of planting material
Rowan-leaved shrubs in a summer cottage are usually grown from seedlings purchased at the gardening market.The planting material does not require special preparation; the seedling is transplanted directly into the ground to a permanent chosen location.
Preliminary measures include removing all dry and damaged branches from purchased seedlings. The remaining shoots can be trimmed to 15 cm so that 2-4 buds remain on each of them.
Preparing the landing site
The shrub is extremely unpretentious and tolerates almost any growing conditions. Both sunny and shaded places are suitable as a site for shrubs.
The nutritional value of the soil is also not particularly important. However, the plant feels best on fertile loam with neutral or weak acidity with an index of about 6-7. Also, the soil should be sufficiently permeable to oxygen; to improve its quality, you can dig up the area and add some peat and sand to the soil.
Planting fieldfare
The optimal time for planting mountain ash is early spring. At the same time, young seedlings do not need insulation, even if return frosts may occur soon. As a rule, in the wild, the shrub grows in places with fairly strong temperature changes, and cold weather does not pose a particular danger to it.
- The planting hole for fieldfare must be dug shallow, but wide enough, since the shrub is prone to rapid and strong growth. Usually a pit depth of about 40 cm is enough, and it is expanded up to 80 cm.
- A substrate of sand, humus and turf soil mixed in a 1:2:1 ratio is poured into the planting hole. You need to pour the soil so that a mound is formed in the hole.
- A seedling of a rowan-leaved shrub is placed on top of this mound, its roots are carefully straightened, and then the hole is filled completely with soil, flush with the surface.
Immediately after planting, the soil in the tree trunk circle should be watered abundantly, and then mulched with peat or pieces of bark so that the moisture does not evaporate too quickly.
Watering and fertilizing
The plant can tolerate short-term drought, but it needs a lot of moisture on an ongoing basis. When growing fieldfare, waterlogging the soil will be better than not having enough water. Therefore, it is recommended to water the rowan-leaved shrub frequently and abundantly, especially in the first year after planting in open ground.
In subsequent years, you need to add water to the roots of the plant 2-3 times a month, and in hot weather - every few days. The rowan-leaved shrub responds well to spraying, but it is necessary to spray the leaves and shoots with water early in the morning or after sunset, when the hot rays of the sun can no longer cause burns to the plant.
Mountain ash is a shrub with a very wide and developed crown. Therefore, the plant must be fed regularly for healthy growth. The shrub accepts both mineral fertilizing and organic matter well. It is recommended to fertilize it with nitrogen substances in the spring, with potassium nitrate in the summer, and with superphosphate in the fall.During the warm season, you can add compost, peat or humus under the bush.
Pruning mountain ash
The mountain ash grows very quickly and at the same time spreads widely. Therefore, caring for mountain ash in spring and summer includes mandatory pruning. Otherwise, the bush will lose its decorative shape and will also begin to interfere with plants located nearby.
- The first pruning is usually carried out 3 years after planting the seedling. You need to prune first of all diseased, dry and broken branches.
- They also remove shoots creeping along the ground and cut off branches growing outside the crown projection.
- When pruning, it is necessary to remove root shoots, which grow especially frequently and violently in the mountain ash. It not only disrupts the decorative forms of the bush, but also takes away nutrients from the plant.
Fieldfare can be trimmed very often; it tolerates pruning well and recovers quickly. If the plant is used as a hedge, then it can be trimmed up to 4 times per season - this does not cause harm, but it allows you to maintain its beautiful outline.
Transplanting rowanberry
The rapidly growing fieldfare requires replanting from time to time. It is usually carried out once every 2-3 years, and the algorithm is as follows.
- In a free area suitable for growing fieldfare, dig a planting hole of standard sizes, arrange drainage at its bottom and prepare nutritious soil consisting of turf soil, compost and humus.
- The overgrown fieldfare is carefully dug up in the old place, and then its rhizome is divided into several parts; each division should have healthy strong shoots and developed intact roots.
- To avoid rotting, the sections of all cuttings are treated with ash or a biostimulant, and then the fieldfare is planted in the prepared holes.
After transplanting the rowan in the spring, the soil around the new rowan-leaved bushes should be slightly compacted and watered generously with at least 20 liters of soft, settled water.
Preparing for winter
Rowan-leaved fieldfare is a plant that in natural conditions is accustomed to cold weather, sudden frosts and sudden temperature changes. The shrub has high frost resistance, so even in Siberia and especially in the middle zone it does not need additional winter shelter.
However, in the fall, after flowering, it is recommended to remove all flowers still remaining on the shoots. After leaf fall, you must carefully collect the leaves from the area where the fieldfare grows and burn them. This will prevent pests and fungal microorganisms from appearing in the roots of the fieldfare.
How to propagate mountain ash
Since the shrub grows and develops very quickly and powerfully, there is no need to buy new seedlings to increase the fieldfare population on the site. It is much easier and more convenient to use one of the vegetative methods of plant propagation.
Propagation of fieldfare by cuttings
The easiest way to propagate fieldfare is from cuttings; even a novice gardener can cope with the task.
- To do this, in mid-spring, several shoots 20-25 cm long are cut from an adult shrub; you can take both apical green branches and already lignified healthy branches.
- The cuttings must be placed in a solution that stimulates root growth for a day, and then planted in small pots with ordinary soil mixed with sand.
- You can also bury the cuttings directly in temporary garden beds in the open air, since the mountain ash tree tolerates any weather well, the chances of successful rooting in the ground are very high.
The cuttings will need to be watered regularly over the next few weeks. When new green leaves appear on the shoots, the fieldfare can be carefully transferred to a permanent place - the beginning of vegetative growth means that rooting has taken place.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
Another simple and effective way to increase the fieldfare population is by dividing the rowan leaf bush. The method is especially convenient in that it allows you to successfully solve two problems at once - propagate the plant and adjust the size of the bush already growing on the site.
- Division is usually carried out in the spring, although it is permissible to propagate the plant in the fall.
- The mother bush is dug out of the ground, and the rhizome is divided into several parts with a large knife or sharpened shovel.
- The sections are treated with ash, crushed coal or ordinary brilliant green - this helps prevent rotting.
- The prepared cuttings are planted in planting holes - they are dug according to the standard algorithm, exactly the same as when planting a mountain ash plant for the first time on the site.
The planted parts of the mother bush are watered and mulched abundantly, and then the divisions are taken care of as usual.
Reproduction by layering
You can propagate mountain ash in your area using layering - young shoots of shrubs located low to the ground.
- In the spring, select 2-3 healthy green shoots located close to the ground and bend them close to the ground.
- At the place where the shoots touch the ground, their bark is slightly cut, and then the cuttings are slightly deepened into the soil, secured with wire or staples so that the branches do not straighten.
- The shoots are sprinkled with earth, leaving the apical part on the surface, and during the summer they take care of the layering in the same way as the main bush.
The cuttings take root quite quickly; if the procedure is carried out in the spring, then by the beginning of September the shoots will take root. You can separate them and move them to a permanent place both in the fall and at the beginning of next spring.
Diseases and pests
In general, mountain ash remains a fairly disease-resistant plant. The most dangerous disease for it is viral mosaic; with this disease, light green or yellowish patterned stains first appear on the leaves of the plant, and then the foliage becomes deformed and falls off. Unfortunately, viral mosaic is practically incurable; if a plant becomes ill with this disease, it will have to be destroyed, and then the soil must be thoroughly treated with disinfectant solutions.
Among the pests that pose a danger to the rowan-leaved shrub are spider mites and green aphids, although it should be noted that they are found quite rarely on the leaves of the rowan-leaved bush.If insects are detected, it is necessary to combat them with insecticidal solutions, such as Fitoverma.
Why does the fieldfare not bloom?
Normally, rowan-leaved fieldfare pleases with flowering every year; even harsh growing conditions do not disrupt its vegetative cycle. However, for a number of reasons, flowering may not occur or may be too modest and inconspicuous.
- First of all, the presence and abundance of flowering depend on the variety and variety of rowan-leaved shrub. For example, the felt shrub, originally from East Asia, does not bloom in principle; if just such a plant grows on the site, then you can’t expect decorativeness from it.
- Lack of flowering may be due to seriously disturbed growing conditions. If the plant grows in too dry soil, does not receive any nutrients and is not regularly pruned, its decorative properties may suffer - the rowan-leaved shrub will have nowhere to get resources for beautiful flowering.
The attractive appearance of fieldfare is greatly spoiled by already faded and dried inflorescences; they do not allow new flowers to develop and reduce their decorative value. Therefore, it is recommended to remove them without fail.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for mountain ash is not particularly difficult, but basic growing rules must be followed. If you regularly water, feed and prune the bush, it will annually delight you with beautiful and very abundant white flowering and a pleasant fragrant aroma.
