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Every gardener dreams of decorating his garden, but this is not always possible due to its small size. In summer cottages, fruit trees and shrubs occupy the largest and best part of the territory. One way out of this situation is to plant Tatar honeysuckle. This shrub will not take up much space, will not require special care, and will become the main ornamental plant in your favorite garden. Check out our tips and tricks for growing ornamental honeysuckle and you'll see that it won't cause you too many problems.
Story
The cultivation of various types of honeysuckle began in the 18th century of the last century. In European countries, honeysuckle was used exclusively as an ornamental crop to decorate gardens and parks, and only a century later did Europeans learn about the edible species of this plant. Russian gardeners have known about it since time immemorial; wild honeysuckle bushes grew everywhere in the forests of Siberia, the Urals, and the Middle Volga region.
History is silent about specific data on the development of the Tatar honeysuckle variety; we also did not find information about why this species has such a name - Tatar. According to our assumptions, this is due to the territorial aura of wild honeysuckle, since Tatarstan is the very heart of the Middle Volga region. The second assumption is that it was in the Tatar plant-growing farms that work began on the cultivation of wild honeysuckle and selection for the development of new varieties.
Description of the subspecies and photos of popular varieties
Types of honeysuckle are divided into two main types: decorative (inedible berries) and fruit with excellent berries. Decorative honeysuckle, in turn, is cultivated in several forms: shrubs, climbing vines and capped ones.
The Tatarian honeysuckle we are talking about today is a shrubby ornamental plant. Varietal differences within the species are the height of the bushes, the shape and shades of flower petals and fruits. The basic morphology of all varieties of Tatar honeysuckle is identical:
- roots - the root system is branched, fibrous, depth up to 1 meter;
- shoots are hollow inside, young shoots have a light brown, slightly yellowish color, in subsequent years the bark on the branches of honeysuckle becomes gray and peels off in longitudinal stripes;
- leaves are oval, slightly elongated at the ends (ovate), the edges of the leaves are smooth, the average length is from 3 to 6 cm, the color is rich green, a pronounced vein runs through the middle of the leaf, they are located on the stems in pairs;
- flowers - grow from leaf axils, their shape resembles bells with a narrow neck at the bottom and petals diverging to the sides, depending on the variety, the color of the petals can be pink, red, purple, the main advantage of the flowers is their fragrant aroma, flowering occurs from early May to mid-June from the third year of life;
- fruits are inedible ball-shaped berries, bright red or orange in color, their diameter is up to 6 mm; berry ripening begins in July and continues until the end of August, sometimes until the beginning of October (depending on the variety).
Tatar honeysuckle bushes are deciduous crops; they completely shed their leaves at the end of autumn, unlike some of their “evergreen” counterparts.
Popular varieties
Varieties of Tatar honeysuckle differ mainly in the color of the petals and the color of the fruits; knowing the individual differences of the variety, designers skillfully use them in their compositions. In the photo you can see exactly what shades the flower petals and berries of this ornamental shrub come in.
The decorative value of Tatar honeysuckle is not only borne by fragrant and bright flowers, but in their place equally beautiful and no less bright berries appear, so looking at the honeysuckle bushes you might think that flowering continues until the very late autumn days.
Tatarian honeysuckle fruits (red and orange).
Pollination
For decorative varieties of honeysuckle, the berry harvest is not so important, but in order for the berries to decorate the bush with their beautiful appearance until late autumn, its flowers need cross-pollination. For these purposes, gardeners several varieties are planted (2-3 varieties) of shrubs on their plots.
Tatar honeysuckle flowers attract bees with their aroma and delicious pollen - our hardworking honey plants, which, while collecting nectar, pollinate each flower, thereby ensuring the formation of fruit ovaries.
Secrets of growing
Before planting Tatar honeysuckle, it is necessary to determine exactly for what decorative purposes it will be planted:
- Creating a hedge.
- Decoration of house facades and gazebos.
- Freestanding installation.
- Use in multi-storey landscape compositions.
Having determined the purpose, you can already select the required variety of Tatar honeysuckle so that the color of its flowers and fruits is completely in harmony with other plants in the garden. It must be taken into account that honeysuckle begins to bloom and form fruits only 3-4 years after planting.
How to choose seedlings
Gardeners who decide to plant ornamental honeysuckle bushes for the first time can purchase seedlings in specialized stores and nurseries. When purchasing, you need to carefully examine the planting material offered to you, because the further cultivation of the plant depends on its quality:
- the most suitable for planting are honeysuckle seedlings of the second year of life;
- the root system of the seedling must have at least 2-3 branches with a fibrous network; if the plant is sold with a closed root system, that is, together with the substrate packed in bags, check that it is sufficiently moistened;
- the height of the seedling should not exceed 50 cm, but also not be too small (up to 30 cm);
- the branches must be flexible, elastic, with healthy buds (from 5 to 12 no less);
- If you are completely satisfied with the appearance of the honeysuckle seedling, then you need to buy it right away couple for cross-pollination.
The plant constantly renews its bark, shedding the old one, so when buying seedlings you should not be afraid of this phenomenon; it does not affect the quality in any way.
Landing dates
There is another feature of honeysuckle, which is noted by many gardeners who have grown more than one Tatar honeysuckle seedling - the highest degree of survival rate of the crop is achieved during autumn planting seedlings. In this case, the germinated shoot is planted at the end of September, when it is quite cold in the garden, but the thermometer readings have not yet dropped below + 10°C.
This is the best option, but you can plant the plant both in spring and summer without fear that the seedlings will take root poorly; honeysuckle is a very unpretentious crop, especially decorative varieties.
Selection of location and soil
Honeysuckle grows well in illuminated areas, but temporary shading during the day will not harm it either. All types of this crop love well-moistened soil, but low-lying wetlands are not for it; these bushes can be planted near an artificial reservoir: a pool, a pond, a stream.
The shrub's unpretentiousness to soil composition allows it to be planted on loam and sandy loam soils, but the best composition is good garden soil of normal acidity.
Planting a bush
To create a hedge, you need a sufficient number of seedlings; you can get them from one adult bush, propagating them by layering or cuttings, and now we have a technology for planting seedlings:
- Dig holes (furrows for hedges) up to 40 cm deep.
- Fill them 1/3 with mature compost, add dry mineral fertilizers on top, mix with a shovel.
- Pour water into the holes (furrows) per hole - one 10-liter bucket, into the furrow - 2 buckets per 1 meter.
- The seedlings are placed in the hole, straightening the roots (they are placed in the furrows 1-1.2 m from each other).
- Each sprout is covered with soil and lightly compacted, leaving a short distance to the surface of the earth (up to 10-15 cm) so that when watering the water does not go to the sides.
- Tree trunk circles are mulched with peat or tree bark.
- On a seedling of the first year of life, 3-4 buds are left from the ground, the entire top is cut off.
Care
The unpretentious bushes of Tatar honeysuckle are easy to care for; it does not require any special conditions.
Watering
Water the bushes only during prolonged drought; natural, regular rains of honeysuckle are sufficient for normal growth.
Top dressing
On well-fertilized and moist soils, honeysuckle does not lack fertilizer for a very long time; a young plant does not need to be fed for 2-3 years; for an adult shrub, one feeding at the beginning of flowering is enough.
Trimming
Sanitary pruning of Tatar honeysuckle bushes is carried out in early spring, and molding pruning is carried out throughout the season.
Protection from diseases and pests
Tatarian honeysuckle is resistant to many diseases; harmful insects avoid it because of its specific smell, and the very bitter taste of the berries does not attract them. For preventive purposes, when you treat other plants in the garden, run a stream from the sprayer once over the very top parts of the bushes, this will be enough.
Wintering
The wild form of this crop initially chose the forests of the Urals, Siberia, and the Middle Volga region as its aura; the cultivated plant retained its endurance and winter hardiness and tolerates harsh winters with dignity.
Reproduction
Tatarian honeysuckle propagates by cuttings and layering; see the attached video for a practical lesson on such propagation.
Tatarian honeysuckle in landscape design
The main purpose of decorative honeysuckle is to decorate a garden plot, so landscape designers often use it in their compositions. Compositions of different types of such plants in large areas look good, because these bushes are tall, spreading and dense.
Shrub honeysuckle is used to form hedges: high (without pruning), medium (pruning just above 1 m) and very low (formed no higher than 70 cm). Individual bushes are planted and formed on trellises in the form of various figures, but not all varieties of Tatar honeysuckle are suitable for this, but only plants with flexible, elastic branches.
Medium height bushes harmonize well with alpine hills, tall bushes are used to decorate and shade gazebos, design arches and pediments.The photo below shows Tatar honeysuckle bushes in a hedge; it would not hurt to form the outline of the hedge more clearly, but the owner of this site has a predilection for the free development and growth of bushes, this is closer to natural nature.
Conclusion
Tatar honeysuckle is not so popular in private gardening, but gradually it is gaining its place in the sun. There is very little information about this plant, some of the information we gleaned from available sources needs to be verified, there are no videos with recommendations for growing it, everything that is available concerns edible honeysuckle, not decorative.
We appeal to our readers, those who have experience in growing Tatar honeysuckle, to leave their opinions and reviews on our page.
