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Rowan-leaved fieldfare, often called rowan-leaved spirea, is a beautiful plant up to 3 m high. It received its name due to its characteristic carved leaves, which give it a resemblance to rowan, but unlike it, fieldfare is not a tree, but a shrub, and its fruits are not have medicinal and gastronomic properties. At the same time, this plant copes with its main function – aesthetic – just fine. Its high decorativeness and unpretentiousness did not go unnoticed among gardeners and made the mountain ash in landscape design a real favorite among deciduous crops.
Features of mountain ash in garden landscape design
The interest of landscape designers in using mountain ash in the design of gardens, parks and green areas is understandable. The lacy foliage of this plant changes color with the changing seasons, allowing it to remain a real decoration of the site throughout the year. So, in spring, young shoots of fieldfare have a delicate, pink-purple color.With the onset of summer, they acquire a lush, bright green hue, while in autumn the leaves of rowan-leaved spirea turn red and yellow.
In addition to its extremely beautiful crown, the mountain ash is also distinguished by its lush flowering. In early June, the plant is covered with large paniculate inflorescences up to 25 cm in length, consisting of many white fragrant flowers. The flowering period lasts until the end of August, after which the flower petals fall, but the inflorescences themselves remain on the bush. They should be trimmed periodically to make the plant look neater and more well-groomed.
Other features of the mountain ash plant include its rapid growth rate. With proper care, the plant grows greatly in width, so when planting it is necessary to maintain a distance of at least 80 cm between plants. To form a more compact silhouette, the bush should be trimmed regularly. This can be done up to 3 times a year without fear of damaging the plant, as it successfully recovers after cutting.
In addition, under favorable conditions, the crop produces abundant root shoots. To prevent the mountain ash from taking over nearby areas, it would be a good idea to install a protective ring around the rhizomes of the plant.
What varieties of mountain ash are used in garden design?
The most popular in Europe among all varieties of mountain ash are the following varieties:
- Stellifila;
- Sem.
These varieties of mountain ash are considered highly decorative and are actively used in landscape design in many countries, including Russia.
- Stellifila variety immediately attracts attention thanks to its fragrant inflorescences and spectacular leaves, which on the back have characteristic pubescence of an unusual brown color. This plant reaches up to 3 m in height and is known for its ability to easily tolerate frosts down to -30 ° C. This feature allows you to grow such a shrub not only in the middle zone, but also in colder regions;
- Variety Sem, Unlike the previous variety of mountain ash, it is more compact and short-growing: an adult plant grows up to 1 m, so it is often preferred by owners of small plots. During the period from June to July, the shrub is decorated with large panicles of creamy-white flowers, which give the plant a particularly elegant appearance. The Sem variety does not grow as actively as the fieldfare Stellifila and produces fewer shoots, which makes it an ideal candidate for creating landscape compositions of any level of complexity.
Types of compositions with fieldfare
Speaking about the role of mountain ash in landscape compositions, it is worth noting that this spectacular plant is quite self-sufficient, and therefore can be used as a solitaire shrub to decorate the lawn in a garden or park.
It does not lose its charm in group plantings when decorating rockeries and alpine slides. In such landscape compositions, the leaves of the rowan-leaved spirea complement the companion plants; it serves as an unobtrusive openwork background for them.
Due to the fact that the mountain ash tree tolerates pruning well and has a dense crown, it can compete with thuja, hawthorn, cotoneaster and other plants when creating a hedge around the perimeter of the site.
More miniature fieldfare, for example, specimens of the Sem variety, planted in a row, form stunningly beautiful borders that can delimit the functional areas of the garden or complete the landscape design of the adjacent area.
Rowan-leaved spirea, planted along ponds, looks unusually attractive. However, placing this plant near water is advisable not only from an aesthetic point of view. Near a pond or stream, the shrub will not suffer from moisture deficiency, and its rapidly growing roots will prevent the shoreline from crumbling.
In general, rowan-leaved spirea can be classified as a universal plant, as it can harmoniously fit into almost any informal-style landscape design, be it a provincial estate, an English garden or an imitation of wild nature.
What does fieldfare go with?
Fieldfare can become the most expressive element of the garden if you place suitable companion plants in close proximity to it.
Thus, ground cover and low-growing plants of bright colors can highlight the exquisite beauty of the shrub:
- dahlias;
- viola;
- tulips;
- sedums;
- Heuchera;
- hosts;
- bergenia.
The snow-white inflorescences of the mountain ash tree stand out against the background of various coniferous plants, such as thuja, pine, juniper or spruce. This crop also combines advantageously with other ornamental shrubs, the flowers of which are characterized by a bright color. Among them are:
- lilac;
- spirea;
- scumpia;
- jasmine;
- vesicular carp.
An interesting result can be achieved by planting different types of fieldfare in the same area of the garden, whose flowering dates do not coincide. This will allow you to admire unusually beautiful flowers throughout the season.
Caring for fieldfare in the landscape design of a dacha
The high decorative value of the mountain ash is complemented by its amazing unpretentiousness to growing conditions. Therefore, caring for it in the landscape design of a summer cottage or garden is not too difficult. It is enough to remember a few basic features in order to preserve the beauty and health of the plant for a long time:
- Fieldfare successfully takes root in almost any garden soil and does not require a special substrate for healthy growth.
- Despite the shrub's ability to survive short periods of drought or waterlogging, this plant prefers moderately moist soil and regular watering at least 2 times a week.
- To retain moisture in the soil, it is advisable to mulch the crop with compost or peat after each watering.
- Due to its enviable winter hardiness, which allows the fieldfare to withstand frosts down to -40 °C, it does not need shelter for the winter even in regions with severe frosts.
- Once or twice a month, the roots of the plant should be carefully loosened, trying not to injure them. It is not recommended to do deep digging of soil under bushes.
- It is worth paying due attention to pruning fieldfare. It should be carried out in early spring or after the bush has flowered, shortening branches to 1 m in the process, cutting off old shoots and removing panicles from last year's inflorescences.
- Thanks to the superficial root system, which has a fairly compact size, field ash is suitable not only for cultivation in the open ground of the garden, but also for growing in pots and containers.
Photo of mountain ash in landscape design
We can talk a lot about the decorativeness of the mountain ash in landscape design, but you can fully appreciate the beauty of this shrub by looking at the photos below.
Conclusion
Rowan-leafed fieldfare in landscape design can look quite interesting both on its own and surrounded by other crops. By correctly selecting neighboring plants, you can create compositions that are unique in appearance, which, with proper care, will delight the eye for many years to come.
