Irga Canadian: description of varieties, photos, reviews, planting and care

The Canadian serviceberry is becoming popular due to the beneficial properties of the berries. A detailed description of Canadian serviceberry varieties will help summer residents navigate their choice when purchasing a seedling of an unpretentious and frost-resistant plant.

Distinctive characteristics of the species

Canadian serviceberry or canadensis (canadensis) is a tall shrub with 3-20 trunks, depending on the variety. The plant develops quickly. Mature bushes grow up to 6 m and live up to 50 years. If the trunk dies, a new one is formed. Most of the roots lie at a depth of 50 cm, some go deep to 1.5 m, the branches drop below 3 m. The diameter of the bush reaches 2.5-5 m. Shoots actively rise from the roots.

Warning! On poor soils the bush has a lot of growth to find food. Light fertile soils contribute to less shoot formation.

The spreading crown of fruit varieties with drooping branches resembles an umbrella. The trunks are picturesquely curved, with smooth bark of a warm brown hue. Young shoots are bright, reddish. Ovate, finely serrated leaves 5-6 cm long on short, 1.5 cm, petioles. The leaves are pubescent, with a silvery tint, and burgundy in autumn.

Flowers with white narrow petals, up to 2-2.5 cm in diameter, collected in brushes of 3-10 pieces, attract bees, are not afraid of frost -7 ^OC. They bloom from the end of April and bloom for 2 weeks.

The term “decorative” is often used to describe the Canadian serviceberry. The plant is truly beautiful not only when it blooms. In early spring, the bush seems to be shrouded in a light fog when the buds open; the autumn crimson and twisting graphics of trunks and branches against the background of snow are picturesque.

A three-year-old shadberry bush begins to bear fruit. The plant enters active fruiting from 10 years to 30-40 years of age. 6-18 kg of berries are harvested from one bush, depending on the variety. Round, apple-shaped berries with a pleasant taste, weighing 1 g, 14-18 mm wide, ripen unevenly, from mid-July to the end of August. In summer, multi-colored berries with a bluish bloom hang on the plant: ripe dark purple, ripening blue and unripe pink. The berries contain 12% sugar, 1% fruit acids, 40% ascorbic acid, carotene, tannins and other active substances.

Sweet, slightly tart berries are rich in vitamins, have an anti-inflammatory effect, and affect metabolic processes.

Advantages of irgi:

Large fruit;
Self-pollinating;
Annual stable yield;
Undemanding to soil;
Survives urban smoky conditions and effectively absorbs noise;
Drought and frost resistance: tolerates -40 ^OC;
Fast growth, 40 cm per year.

Among the disadvantages are:

Extended fruiting;
Difficulties with uprooting: the shoots take a long time to break through.

Comment! Irga is a light-loving plant. Plants should not be placed densely, otherwise the trunks will stretch out and bear fruit poorly.

They like to use Canadian shadberry in landscape design. Due to active growth, the bushes are planted as a hedge every 0.7-2 m. You should not expect a harvest with this planting scheme, but a fence with lush greenery will quickly form. Irga Canadian is excellent as a soloist and acts as a textural element in landscape compositions of a group of different plants.

Which varieties belong to the Canadian serviceberry species?

Saskatoon - trees and shrubs from the Apple subfamily, found in the wild nature of Europe and Asia. Plants were cultivated for gardening art, like the tall, up to 8-11 m Lamarck irgu. Particular success has been achieved by breeders from Canada, who have developed large-fruited varieties with tasty berries based on bushes growing in North America.

Pembina

The productive shrub grows in width and height up to 5 m, and forms few shoots. Oval berries up to 1.4-1.5 cm in diameter, sweet. The variety can withstand severe frosts.

Thyssen

The earliest of the Canadian serviceberry varieties, the blue berries are harvested as early as the end of June. Due to early flowering in northern regions, the plant may be subject to return frosts. Frost resistance of a shrub growing up to 5 m in height and 6 in width is up to 28-29 ^OC. Large, juicy berries 17-18 mm, pleasant taste, with original refreshing sourness.

Smokey

A very common, high-yielding, latest variety, grown over large areas in Canada. The bush is low, 4.5 m, the same width, drooping branches, forms a lot of shoots.The plant is resistant to diseases, blooms by the end of May, avoiding frost. The berries are 14-15 mm, covered with dark blue skin, juicy, with tender, fleshy pulp. From one plant, up to 25 kg of sweet, non-tart berries are harvested, tasty due to the balance of sugars and acids.

Sturgeon

Low-growing shadberry is a recent success of breeders. Grows up to 2.5-3 m, bears fruit consistently. The berries are on long clusters, tasty, sweet, large.

Northline

Multi-stemmed plant with vertical trunks - 20-25 pieces, up to 6 m in circumference, rises up to 4 m. Creates a lot of shoots. This variety requires a pollinator. The ovoid berries are large, with black-blue skin, 16 mm, and ripen together.

Reproduction of Canadian serviceberry

There are several ways to propagate your favorite variety: green cuttings, seeds, dividing the root system, layering and shoots.

12-15 cm cuttings are cut from the last ten days of June to the second ten days of July from the tops of 5-6 year old branches. Root in greenhouses and plant in spring;
Berries for seeds are selected from the most productive bushes and allowed to fully ripen. Sow immediately in the fall, covered with film. If the sowing is in spring, the seeds are stratified for 80-90 days in the basement, placed in a bag of wet sand;
Having dug up the plant, the rhizome is divided with a sharp tool and the long branches are cut off. Remove old branches and place the divisions in new holes;
In early spring, a groove is dug near the lower healthy 1-2-year-old branches, where the branch is laid, pinned with garden staples. Cover with soil and water. Plants develop from buds;
In autumn or spring, young shoots are separated from the mother bush.

Advice! Shoots growing from cuttings are hilled 2-3 times per season to form strong roots.

Planting and caring for Canadian irga

Planting the non-capricious Canadian serviceberry is a standard procedure. The planting period is any, depending on the climate of the region. In the south and in the middle zone they are planted in the fall, until November. In areas with early frosts, it will be best to plant Canadian shadberry in the spring.

Site selection and preparation

Irga fruit varieties grow on all types of soil, in shady places, it does not mind cold winds, but wetlands must be avoided. The bushes can be planted from the north of the site both as a fruit crop and as a hedge. If shadberry is grown for collecting berries, the holes are placed at a distance of 4-5 m. For pollinators, sea buckthorn, rose hips, and other varieties of shadberry are selected. Although the majority of varieties have maximum self-fertility, the yield will increase.

Attention! In crowded plantings, the trunks of light-loving shadberry of any variety grow upward and bear fruit poorly.

How to choose seedlings

When buying a seedling of serviceberry not in a container, make sure that the roots are fibrous, fresh, no shorter than 20 cm. The stem is without scratches, growths, with smooth bark and swollen buds, at least 80-100 cm high. The best ones are 1-2 years old seedlings.

Planting procedure for Canadian serviceberry

The hole is dug in advance. Drainage is placed at the bottom. The depth of the hole for the bush is 0.5 m, the width is 0.6-0.65 m. The substrate is prepared on the basis of soil, adding humus, peat and sand. They also add 400 g of superphosphate, 150 g of potassium sulfate and 100 g of lime.

The root collar is not deepened;
The seedling is tilted at an angle of 45 degrees;
Having covered it with soil, water it, as in the photo of a Canadian shadberry seedling, and mulch the tree trunk circle;
The shoots are shortened by a third, to 15-20 cm, or 5 buds.

How to transplant an adult shrub of serviceberry to a new place

When moving the shadberry, the roots are carefully dug up and lightly trimmed with a sharp tool. Old branches and trunks are removed. A bush older than 6 years takes root deeper than 1 m and far in width. It is better to keep a lump of earth near the roots, no smaller than 100 x 100 cm in size and up to 70 cm in height. The hole should be larger and deeper in volume. The transplanted shadberry is watered and mulched.

Caring for Canadian irga

Planting and caring for the Canadian irga is simple. With good care, undemanding fruit varieties reach their full potential.

Watering

The developed roots of the serviceberry absorb the necessary moisture if it rains regularly. Irgu of all varieties are watered only during prolonged drought: 2 waterings per month, 20-30 liters each, through a shallow diffuser are sufficient. Young bushes are given the same norms.

Weeding and loosening the soil

The soil in the tree trunk circle is loosened after watering, removing weeds. Shallow weeding promotes greater breathability of the soil and better vital activity of the roots.

Feeding the Canadian serviceberry during the season

By fertilizing the plant, it improves its development, productivity and quality of berries. Feeding begins 2-3 years after planting.

In early spring, up to 50 g of any nitrogen fertilizer is added to the tree trunk circle during loosening;
2 weeks after flowering, foliar feeding of the serviceberry bush is carried out by dissolving 1-2 g of boric acid, zinc sulfate and copper sulfate in 10 liters of water;
During the summer season, the bush is fed monthly with organic matter: infusions of mullein, bird droppings or mown grass. Solutions are applied into 2-3 annular grooves along the projection of the crown;
Potassium fertilizers (25-50 g) and 100 g of superphosphate are fed to the shadberry in the fall. Potassium preparations can be replaced with 0.5 liters of wood ash;
According to reviews from gardeners about the Canadian serviceberry, it is more convenient to feed the plant with complex fertilizers.

Important! After fertilizing, the tree trunk circle is watered abundantly.

Pruning: terms and rules

Pruning increases the yield of the serviceberry bush. The plant consists of 10-15 shoots, which are periodically renewed, replacing them with shoots. The signal to remove the old shoot is the small growth per year - only 10 cm. The fruit shadberry is cut off before the sap flows.

Sanitary pruning: removal of damaged branches and shoots that thicken the crown is carried out in early spring;
When cutting off young shoots, leave 1-2 to replace old ones that are more than 10-12 years old;
Vertical shoots on young bushes are pruned to a quarter of last year's growth;
To stimulate the growth of the bush, young side branches are shortened to the sides;

When rejuvenating pruning of fruit varieties, shoots with weak growth per ring are removed, and the rest are shortened to 2.5 m;

Advice! Places of large cuts are covered with garden varnish.

Preparing Canadian shadberry for winter

In the fall, the shadberry is prepared for a period of rest. After leaf fall, the branches are inspected and dry and broken branches are cut off. All foliage is removed and the area is dug up shallowly. Frost-resistant plants are not covered. Snow is thrown onto the young seedlings and removed in the spring.

Nuances of planting and caring for Canadian shadberry in the Moscow region

In the Moscow region, serviceberry bushes of all varieties are planted in the spring. The plant does not need shelter. Only in frosty conditions without snow, the seedling is covered with agrofibre over the hay. An adult shrub of serviceberry is not covered. The tree trunk circle of the fruit variety plant is mulched with humus and covered with snow.

What diseases and pests can threaten the crop?

Diseases	Symptoms	Control measures	Prevention
Tuberculariosis	The shoots and foliage are purple and wither.There are red growths	Affected shoots are removed and burned. Irga is treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate 2 times every 10 days	Cleaning up fallen leaves and damaged branches
Gray rot	The base of the shoots and petioles, the berries become covered with dark wet spots, then with a gray coating	Irgu and the trunk circle of the plant are sprinkled with wood ash or colloidal sulfur	Reduce the volume and frequency of watering
Leaf spot	There are spots of different colors on the leaves depending on the type of fungus involved.	Treatment with fungicides Horus, Skor, Topaz 2-3 times every week	Spraying with copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture before buds open
Moniliosis	Young branches dry out after flowering	Diseased parts of the serviceberry bush are removed and burned	In early spring, the bush is treated with copper-containing preparations

Pests	Signs	Control measures	Prevention
leaf roller	Leaves are curled, with caterpillars	Treatment with insecticides Ditox, Alatar	In the bud phase, shadberry is sprayed with: Nexion
Serviceberry seed eater	The beetle lays eggs in the ovary. The berries are falling	After flowering, spray: Karate, Decis	Remove fallen unripe berries
hawthorn	Caterpillars eat leaves	Spray on buds: Nexion	Unopened buds are treated with Arrivo, Decis
Apple aphid	Young leaves are curled, inside a colony of aphids. The leaves are drying	Spray the affected tops by dissolving 300 g of laundry soap in 10 liters of water	Unopened buds are sprayed with insecticides (Sumition)
Moth	The larvae feed on leaves and gnaw out passages	Use insecticides Confidor-Maxi, Mospilan, Kinmiks	Having collected the berries, they are treated with: Bitoxibacillin, Lepidocid

Conclusion

Guided by the description of Canadian serviceberry varieties, choose a suitable seedling, preferably one with a closed root system. Irga is unpretentious, resistant to diseases and vagaries of weather. A vitamin-rich harvest of healthy berries, even from one plant, will delight you for many years.

Reviews

Olga, 47 years old, Penza region

I ordered two seedlings of Canadian serviceberry - varieties Smoky and Thyssen. They are growing for the second year. For the winter I wrapped it in spruce branches. The plants emerged in the spring without any problems, formed buds and put out leaves. Next year there will be the first berries.

Irina, 50 years old, Pskov

At an exhibition four years ago I bought a seedling of Canadian serviceberry. I don’t know the variety, the name got lost along the way. The tree has been bearing fruit for two years. According to the description, the oval berries are similar to Pembina, the pulp is sweet. And there are no shoots either, only this spring one shoot appeared. We will take care of it, grow it into two trunks, and then, maybe, other shoots will appear. The plant has grown to 2 m, bloomed profusely, and has small ovaries.

Boris, 56 years old, Kirov

I planted the Canadian shrub only this year, but I have been observing the shrub for six years now; it is growing with relatives. I dug up the shoot in the fall, wrapped in burlap, and buried its roots in the garden. I wintered well. Now the bush is developing well, the branches are growing. This is the Smokey variety. Indeed, the berries of this variety are very tasty and do not knit. A tree with 10 trunks yielded up to 10-12 kg of berries.