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More recently, oakleaf rowan (or holly) has gained extraordinary popularity among amateur gardeners and professionals. This is not surprising, since the plant looks very beautiful throughout the growing season, does not require special care and has a number of other positive qualities. Knowledge of the peculiarities of growing oakleaf rowan will be useful when choosing a seedling, planting it and further agricultural technology.
Description of rowan oakleaf
Oakleaf rowan belongs to the genus Sorbus. When mature, the plant reaches 12m in height. In the first years of its life, its crown has a pyramidal shape, which later changes to spherical, with a diameter of 6 m. At the base, the leaves of the tree are simple, with a deep dissection. Higher up they become like oak leaves. Their upper surface is dark green, the bottom is grayish, covered with fluff. Until the age of two, the shoots have a gray-brown bark; on a more mature plant they lighten and become gray-brown.Flowers with a diameter of 1.2 cm are collected in dense white, wide, corymbose inflorescences, reaching a diameter of 10 cm. Holly rowan blooms in May. Its fruits are red-orange and taste bitter. They ripen at the end of August - the first ten days of September.
The tree is resistant to drought, easily tolerates frost, is unpretentious to soils, and grows well in lighted areas.
Pros and cons of oakleaf rowan
The frequent use of oak-leaved mountain ash in landscape design is explained by a number of its advantages:
- unpretentiousness in care;
- resistance to drought, environmental pollution, low temperatures;
- undemanding to soils;
- frost resistance;
- the presence of strong immunity to fungal diseases;
- attractive appearance at any time of the year and at any age;
- medicinal properties of berries;
- widespread use of fruits in cooking.
Among the disadvantages:
- the plant does not tolerate a lack of light well; in the shade of other trees it can stretch out;
- does not like high groundwater levels.
Oakleaf rowan in landscape design
Oakleaf rowan is not only an ornamental, but also a functional plant. It has an aesthetic appearance and bears useful fruits used in cooking and folk medicine. The frost resistance of the crop allows it to be grown in the gardens of the northern regions along with coniferous plants - spruce, fir, cypress. In the summer, the crop looks organically in the greenery of conifers. In autumn and winter, bright foliage and clusters of berries highlight the greenness of the pine needles. Its combination with willows, poplars and ash trees is quite acceptable. Oakleaf rowan can serve as a good background for ornamental shrubs - spirea, barberry, honeysuckle.In the garden, the tree looks good both in individual plantings and in groups, as a hedge.
Thanks to its powerful root system, it can be planted on slopes and sloping surfaces.
There are weeping forms of oak-leaved mountain ash that look great next to pergolas, benches, and arches twined with clematis.
Application of rowan oakleaf
According to the description and photo, oakleaf rowan ripens in early autumn. Its berries are dense and have an astringent taste. They include:
- beta-carotenes;
- amino acids;
- tannins;
- vitamins.
Due to the chemical composition of oakleaf rowan, it is widely used in folk medicine in various forms - as tea, infusion, and dried. It has diuretic, laxative, hemostatic and immunostimulating effects. Oakleaf rowan is used to treat diabetes, dropsy, scurvy, atherosclerosis, dysentery, hypertension, and rheumatism. The astringency of the berries goes away after they are frozen or dried.
Oakleaf rowan berries are widely used in cooking and the food industry. They are used to produce marmalade, marshmallows, and jam. Multiberry juices are fortified with rowan. The berry is used to prepare sauces for meat; it is added to cucumbers during pickling. Thanks to the tannins in the berries, cucumbers remain crisp after heat treatment and pickling.
Planting and caring for oakleaf rowan
Oakleaf rowan does not require special growing and care conditions. Plant propagation can be carried out by seeds, grafting, young shoots, or layering. The tree is resistant to diseases and pests.
For the full growth, development and fruiting of a plant, it is necessary to follow a number of rules:
- the right choice of site for planting seedlings;
- use of soil mixture that retains moisture;
- priority of landing in spring;
- use of water retention techniques;
- planting several rowan trees for cross-pollination;
- carrying out periodic feedings;
- correct pruning;
- preparing the seedling for a safe winter.
Preparing the landing site
Oakleaf rowan is capable of growing in conditions that are unsuitable and extremely uncomfortable for other plants. The tree can develop and bear fruit in the city, and can be used for landscaping the sides of highways and roads. It tolerates drought, soil contamination with icy reagents, and air pollution. The average lifespan of oakleaf rowan is about 100 years. Urban conditions shorten the life of a plant by 15 - 20 years.
A place where a culture feels comfortable and develops quickly must be sunny. If there is insufficient lighting, oakleaf rowan can stretch out. In this case, the shape of the crown deteriorates, which can be difficult to correct. Closely located groundwater or waterlogged peat soils have a detrimental effect on the root system. Fertile loams are the best option when choosing soil for oakleaf rowan.
After determining the landing site, it is necessary to prepare a hole. Its dimensions must not only correspond to the size of the plant’s root system, but also have an additional margin in width for the unhindered spread of roots along the upper fertile layer.
Landing rules
Oakleaf rowan is planted in autumn or early spring, when the buds have not yet begun to grow.
During planting, follow the following steps:
- Dig planting holes 60 cm deep, 80 cm wide and long.
- They are filled with compost soil, adding superphosphate, ash, and rotted manure humus.
- Shorten the roots.
- Place the seedling in the center of the planting hole and fill it with soil mixture so that the neck is at ground level.
- Water the plant abundantly.
- Mulch the soil around the trunk with straw and grass.
- The central conductor is shortened.
As you can see in the photo, planting and caring for oakleaf rowan, done correctly, leads to a gorgeous-looking plant, abundant flowering and fruiting.
Watering and fertilizing
Unlike an adult plant, young seedlings really need watering. Immediately after planting, oakleaf rowan moistening should be regular and abundant. To retain moisture in the soil, it is worth using soil mulching and earthen rolls around the tree trunk.
The plant is fed during planting with mineral fertilizers and organic matter. The next time they are brought under the mountain ash no earlier than the third year of life. During the flowering period, the tree needs additional nitrogen and potassium. After harvesting the oakleaf rowan fruits, phosphorus and potassium are added under the plant during preparation for winter. The fertilizer is scattered over the surface around the trunk, then it is sealed to a depth of 15 cm. After fertilizing, the soil must be moistened abundantly.
Trimming
Oakleaf rowan does not need special pruning. It is possible to remove overgrowth for sanitary purposes and to form a crown.
To do this, immediately after planting, it is worth cutting out excess shoots from a young plant that grow at an acute upward angle. If you ignore this procedure, the crown of the tree will thicken after a while, the branches will stretch out, become thin and brittle, and it will be difficult to form a crown. During the first pruning, the side branches are shortened, leaving only 3 buds from the trunk; the main trunk is not pruned.
In the following years, the crown of the plant is formed, for which, after harvesting, old damaged branches, shoots touching the ground, growing in the center of the crown, with obvious signs of disease, are cut out.
To stimulate the growth of young shoots at the age of four years and older, old branches are cut out on oakleaf rowan at a distance of 1 - 3 cm from the trunk.
Preparing for winter
Oakleaf rowan is a frost-resistant crop. It can survive temperatures as low as -35 ⁰C.
Adult plants do not need any shelter. Young trees with a weak root system may die during severe frosts, so care must be taken to protect them. For this purpose, oakleaf rowan is covered with dry soil before the onset of winter cold, the tree trunk circle is mulched with a large layer of dry leaves (15 cm) and covered with spruce branches on top. The top part of the tree is not covered.
Pollination
Oakleaf rowan was obtained as a result of mixing two forms - ordinary and mealy. In some years, the crop produces a rich harvest of berries, behind which no foliage is visible at this time.
In order for the harvest to be constant, experts advise planting several oak-leaved rowan trees in the garden. As a result of cross-pollination, this effect can be achieved.You should not plant wild varieties of plants in the garden so as not to spoil the quality of the berries.
Harvesting
Oakleaf rowan berries are large, pleasant to taste, and their harvest is plentiful. Flowering begins in spring, fruits ripen in late summer-early autumn. At this time, it is necessary to hurry with harvesting, otherwise they may lose their useful qualities and presentation or become prey for birds.
To distract the birds, you can make feeders away from the mountain ash.
Use pruning shears to cut the berries in whole clusters. The stalks are removed immediately before fruit processing - cooking, drying, freezing. In the dried state, the moisture content of the finished rowan berries should be about 18%.
Diseases and pests
It is believed that oakleaf rowan has strong immunity and rarely gets sick. But in late May and early June, due to unfavorable weather conditions, infectious diseases can spread en masse:
- powdery mildew – white cobwebby coating on leaf blades;
- rust – orange-yellow spots with dark brown tubercles, due to which the leaves are deformed;
- brown spot – brown spots with a reddish border on the upper side of the leaves;
- gray spot – gray spots on irregularly shaped leaf blades;
- scab – brown spots with radiant edges, on which a coating of mycelium with spores develops;
- ring mosaic - yellow rings with a green center, forming a mosaic pattern on the leaves.
Pests of oakleaf rowan include:
- weevil – a small brown beetle that feeds on the buds, eating the core;
- bark beetle - a small beetle that gnaws holes in the bark;
- moths – a caterpillar 2 cm long, appears before flowering and destroys buds, leaves, flowers;
- rowan aphid – sucks juices from leaves.
Reproduction
Oakleaf rowan can be propagated:
- seeds;
- budding;
- cuttings;
- basal shoots;
- layering.
The seed method is rarely used due to its labor-intensive and time-consuming nature. The first plant shoots appear a few months after sowing.
The budding of oakleaf rowan begins at the beginning of August. Its plastic skin ensures high survival rate. After a year, the rootstock is cut to a thorn, the buds are removed, and the grown shoot is tied to the thorn.
The cutting method consists of separating the lateral root of the mother plant with small shoots and digging it into loose soil, cut side up.
Rooting is possible with ordinary cuttings taken from shoots. Their rooting rate is 60%.
Layering is done using long young branches, dug in and pinned into a special furrow. After rooting, the plant is separated and planted in a permanent place.
The basal shoots of oakleaf rowan constantly appear next to the trunk. To propagate, it is enough to carefully separate, dig up and plant the root shoot in a new place.
Conclusion
Oakleaf rowan wonderfully shades and emphasizes the elements of the garden. It can itself become the center of a composition or a background for other ornamental plants. The undemanding tree produces a harvest of healthy berries and easily tolerates drought and frost. When planting oakleaf rowan, you should thoroughly decide on the location in order to emphasize all the positive aspects of the plant and prevent its shading.
