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The idea of growing dogwood from a seed usually comes to mind either to experimenters or to people who, for objective reasons, cannot acquire other planting material. It is most convenient to grow a tree from a seedling, but today even on domestic flights in Russia it is prohibited to transport live plants without the appropriate documents. The inspection when boarding an airplane has been tightened for a long time and it will not be possible to “smuggle” a seedling, especially since at least two different plants are needed. If there is no nursery within driving distance that grows dogwood, there is only one option left: seeds.
Is it possible to grow dogwood from a seed?
It is most convenient to grow dogwood from seedlings and cuttings purchased from a nursery with a good reputation. This is a guarantee of obtaining the desired variety, and not a mismatch. And sometimes a wild bush. But sometimes a gardener believes that a dogwood seedling, which will produce a harvest in a couple of years, is very expensive. Or there is simply no way to bring a full-fledged plant. Then there is only one way out: to grow dogwood from seeds.
Why dogwood is rarely grown in gardens
The idea of growing a bush from seeds has its advantages: the sprouts will be more adapted to a climate different from where the mother tree grew. Especially if the bones were brought to the northern region after a vacation in the south. But when growing dogwood from seed, there is one serious point that is usually forgotten.
If to grow dogwood at home it was enough to plant the seeds “according to the instructions,” this plant would be in almost every garden today.
When purchasing seedlings, the soil in which the trees grew remains on the roots. This is enough to introduce the necessary microflora into the soil at the new planting site. The seeds are sterile in this regard. To successfully grow them, you need at least a handful of forest soil from the place where the wild dogwood grows. Or from under a garden dogwood bush, if your friends have this plant somewhere.
But it’s not for nothing that there are no photos of dogwood sprouts on the entire Internet. Preparing and even germinating the seeds takes a long time, but is not difficult. But “photo and video reports on the further fate of the young plant” are completely absent. And this is now when taking a photo and sending it to Instagram is a matter of one minute.
The maximum that the experimenters could do was take a photo of dogwood seedlings in the initial stage, when germination still depends only on the nutrients accumulated in the kernel.
Therefore, it is possible to grow dogwood at home only if you add “native” soil to the pot in which the dogwood will be germinated. Or in the ground prepared for planting, if the seeds are planted directly into the ground.
If the necessary microflora is present in the soil, then three disadvantages appear:
- the seeds take a long time to germinate;
- The harvest will have to wait 8-10 years after the sprouts appear;
- from the seeds of varietal garden dogwood a “wild” will grow.
But if the cost of dogwood seedlings seems very high, and the seeds are still free, then you can always experiment. If it grows, it’s good; if it doesn’t grow, the gardener loses nothing.
How to grow dogwood
If, after all, it was decided to grow dogwood from a seed, work will have to be done to prepare the seed material. And first, decide which type of dogwood is best to use for planting. In the wild form of berries, the seed takes up a lot of space and the amount of pulp is insignificant. Garden varieties have large berries with a lot of pulp and a relatively small seed. But in absolute terms, the seeds of garden dogwood are larger than wild ones.
Preparing seeds takes a long time, if the gardener has not followed the path of “sticking unripe berries and soil, they will suddenly grow.” Therefore, you don’t have to worry about preparing the soil for planting for about six months.
Difference between garden and wild seeds
The idea of growing dogwood from seeds usually arises after purchasing fresh berries. Drying today occurs unnaturally, and at high temperatures in an accelerated mode. In this case, the embryos die.
The differences between garden and wild berries are clearly visible. But there are such differences between the bones:
- the seeds of garden varieties are objectively larger than those of a wild plant;
- the tip of the garden seed has a needle-sharp thorn, which is absent in wild seeds.
For comparison, photos of wild dogwood seeds.
And a photo of garden dogwood seeds.
Preparation of planting material
The embryo in the seed is formed much earlier than the fruits ripen.And this applies to any fruit and berry crops. Therefore, one of the simplest ways to grow dogwood from a seed is to bury unripe berries in the ground, mark this place in the garden and water it periodically. If the berries were buried in the summer, perhaps the shells will have time to rot, stratification will occur naturally in the winter and shoots will appear in the spring. Or they will germinate next spring. If sprouts do not appear in the first spring, you need to wait a year. At this time you will have to carefully remove weedsso as not to pull out the planted seed along with the weeds.
When purchasing a mature dogwood, preparation lasts for 1.5 years and requires mandatory seed stratification.
Method for obtaining planting material from ripe berries:
- the fruits are filled with water and left for several days until signs of fermentation appear;
- the water is drained, the pulp is mashed and thoroughly washed with water until peeled seeds are obtained;
- clean bones are dried, sprinkled with sawdust or sand and placed in the refrigerator;
- at the end of February, the seeds are removed from the refrigerator and left to warm up for a week;
- Before planting, the shells are either carefully sawed off or chipped off on a grindstone.
If it is not possible to file the shell, you should prepare for the fact that the sprout will appear only in a year. The soil will have to be kept moist for the entire 12 months so that bacteria can destroy the shell.
Soil preparation
Dogwood is a plant that grows in relatively poor, highly calcified soils. Its natural environment is mountains of limestone deposits.
The soil for planting should be light and permeable. Under natural conditions, it is rotted forest litter that allows water to pass through well.
To grow a house, the soil is prepared from three equal parts of humus, black soil and sand. Instead of humus, it is better to take leaf soil. All ingredients are mixed and a little chalk is added. No fertilizer needed.
The pot is not selected as high as it is wide. Dogwood trees have a shallow, well-developed root system. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the pot so that when growing dogwood, water does not stagnate in the container.
It will not be possible to grow a dogwood bush in a pot so that it also bears fruit. Sprouts can be kept at home only until the moment when they can be planted in the garden in a permanent place. The feeding area of one dogwood tree on fertile soil is 4.5x4.5 m. On poor soil - 49 m².
Planting and caring for sprouts
The prepared seeds are placed in the soil to a depth of 3 cm and watered thoroughly. The pot is covered with film so that excess moisture is not lost, and placed in a warm place. Growing sprouts can take a couple of months or a year. After the seedlings appear, the film is removed. The pot is placed out of reach of direct sunlight.
No special care is required for the seedlings. You just need to keep the soil slightly moist and periodically carefully loosen the surface layer.
Transplanting dogwood seedlings into open ground: terms and rules
The pit with soil for replanting must be prepared approximately six months before the procedure so that the soil has time to settle. Dimensions of the pit: diameter 0.8-1 m, depth 0.8 m. The pit is filled with a mixture prepared for dogwood seedlings. In areas north of Voronezh, lime must be added to the soil. In more southern areas, they focus on the acidity of the soil and its calcium content.
Planting is done in late autumn, when the seedling goes into hibernation, or in the spring before the plants awaken. If an annual seedling grown from seed is planted in the fall, it is covered with insulating material. A young plant may freeze if the temperature is too low.
Since the dogwood sprout hibernates in winter, its planting in open ground can be postponed until spring. In this case, you need to start preparing the pit in the fall. The pot with the sprout should be kept in a cool place in winter, imitating natural conditions.
Dogwood wakes up early, so the seedling needs to be planted in late March - early April. It is better to replant the plant to a permanent place with a closed root system, that is, directly with a lump of soil from the pot. After planting, the seedling is covered with film in case of frost. Watering depends on the climate zone and weather forecast. If cold weather is not expected, you can shed the soil a little. If frosts are predicted, it is better to wait to water so that the roots do not freeze.
In the future, caring for dogwood seedlings consists of loosening the top layer of soil, removing weeds and timely pruning of excess shoots if it is necessary to form a crown.
There is a high probability that even from a varietal seed a wild form of dogwood will grow. In addition, you will have to wait 10 years for the harvest. But it is better to graft a garden variety onto a wild rootstock. Varietal varieties take root much better on their wild “ancestor” than on trees of other species. And in this case the harvest can be obtained after 2-3 years.
Conclusion
Growing dogwood from a seed is theoretically not difficult, but it is a very long process with high risks.Experienced gardeners who have experimented with seeds claim that garden varieties degenerate into a wild form with this method of cultivation. To avoid this situation, you will have to graft the tree without waiting for the first harvest. It is much more effective to immediately buy varietal seedlings.
