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Planting and caring for chokeberry does not require special skills and craftsmanship. Vigorous, hardy chokeberry thrives well with minimal care typical of fruit trees and shrubs in the garden. Proper planting largely determines the further development of black mountain ash. There are few peculiarities and vagaries of culture. But only considering them, you can grow a really beautiful, healthy and productive black chokeberry.
How to plant chokeberry
Mistakes made when choosing the time or place, insufficient soil preparation, improper planting of the chokeberry seedling into the ground may not affect immediately. Correcting such shortcomings is not easy.
For the successful cultivation of chokeberry, the main requirement for the landing site is sufficient lighting. Aronia lays fruit buds along the entire periphery of the bush, for full flowering and uniform growth, you need a lot of sunlight. Even partial shading is bad for the decorative effect of black mountain ash.
Self-pollinating black chokeberry is able to bloom and bear fruit in single plantings. And yet, the neighborhood with related crops (for example, red rowan) has a beneficial effect on productivity. The ability of chokeberry to tolerate pruning well and grow in dense groups is used to create free-forming hedges.
Where to plant chokeberry
The unpretentious chokeberry is able to take root on a variety of soils. It grows on sandy, rocky slopes, in wetlands. But still, the best results are obtained by growing chokeberry on drained loam, with low acidity. Loose fertile soil and a sunny place will be the best choice for chokeberry.
The bulk of the root system of black mountain ash lies no deeper than 50 cm. She is not afraid of spring floods. Groundwater coming close to the surface does not cause any harm to black chokeberry.
When to plant chokeberry
Aronia chokeberry is suitable for planting in early spring. When choosing dates, pay attention to the climatic conditions in a particular area: the duration of the warm period, the severity of the climate, the presence of return frosts.
Healthy aronia planting material for spring work should be with swollen, live buds, but still without leaves. Planting chokeberry in the spring should be after the final thawing of the soil. It is advisable to have time with the work before the start of active vegetation. Most often, this period occurs in April. Planting in the spring gives the young black chokeberry a full season of active growth before wintering.
Spring sudden cold snaps are dangerous for young shoots. With the threat of return frosts in the spring, black chokeberry seedlings cover.
How to plant chokeberry
The seat, as well as the nutrient substrate for the roots, is prepared in advance. The minimum size of the pit for chokeberry seedlings is 50 cm wide and deep. Even if the roots of the mountain ash are small, the place is prepared as standard. The entire volume of the planting pit will be used by the chokeberry during the growth of the bush.
The soil taken out when digging a hole is mixed with humus (10 kg), wood ash (about 2 tbsp.) And 1 tbsp. superphosphate. Seats are located at a distance of 3 m from each other. When forming a hedge from black mountain ash, a slight thickening is permissible, but not closer than 2 m.
The process of planting chokeberry step by step:
- The planting pit is filled with prepared nutrient substrate by 1/3.
- Spilled with well-settled water and wait for it to be completely absorbed into the soil.
- The chokeberry seedling is installed in the center of the pit so that after planting the root neck is above the soil.
- The pit is completely filled with a fertile substrate, the soil is compressed around the seedling.
- The landing site of the chokeberry is watered abundantly. After shrinkage of the soil, it is mulched with a layer of about 2 cm.
What can be planted next to chokeberry
An important factor in choosing a neighborhood for chokeberry is the height of the plants. The exactingness of chokeberry to illumination requires that the surrounding trees and bushes do not even partially obscure it.
So when planting next to chokeberry and red mountain ash, the first is located to the south. She is more difficult to bear the shadow of a high relative. Any species of wild and cultivated rowan varieties get along well side by side and benefit from cross-pollination.
Black chokeberry easily tolerates any neighborhood in the garden. They do not plant it only near cherries, due to the presence of pests (aphids and sawflies) that affect both plants. Other garden trees and shrubs tolerate planting next to chokeberry well.
Garden crops also have no contraindications for growth in the same area as chokeberry. However, sometimes there is a mutual infection of aphids in chokeberry with berry crops: strawberries, raspberries, currants.
Is it possible to plant a chokeberry near an apple tree
The apple tree is one of the most tolerant trees in the garden. Like chokeberry, it is undemanding to the neighborhood. Co-planting can be beneficial for both crops, as long as they do not shade each other.
Leaving some of the black berries on the chokeberry, birds are attracted to the garden. Such a natural destruction of pests is good for the apple tree. Preventive treatments of crops from diseases can be carried out jointly, at the same time, with the same preparations. Therefore, the neighborhood of black mountain ash and apple trees can be called successful.
How to transplant chokeberry to a new place
With timely planting and good care, black mountain ash quickly turns into a large bush, and after 2–3 years it begins to bear fruit. But sometimes there is a need to move an adult plant to another place. It is better to do such work in early spring, before the leaves bloom on the chokeberry.
The vitality of chokeberry allows it to successfully take root even in adulthood. If a well-developed, dense bush is transplanted, then at the same time chokeberry can be propagated. To do this, the excavated plant is divided by the root into several parts, and the resulting “delenki” are seated as independent seedlings.
Painless transplantation of aronia with a whole bush:
- The plant is deeply dug around the perimeter of the near-stem circle (at least 1 m in diameter).
- Using a shovel, cut out the largest possible fragment of soil with roots.
- A clod of earth should be carefully removed from the ground, slowly lifting the mountain ash by the branches.
- Having laid the roots on burlap or other dense material, black chokeberry is transported to a new place.
The landing pit is prepared according to the size of the resulting coma. Having abundantly moistened the soil, the roots of the chokeberry are placed in it no deeper than in the same place.
A properly performed transplant will not be a shock to an adult black mountain ash. According to gardeners, chokeberry bushes can bear fruit in the same season.
How to grow chokeberry
Black chokeberry is frost and drought tolerant and can grow on its own without much attention. But really chic bushes and an abundance of berries are received by gardeners who observe the necessary agricultural technology. Regular pruning of chokeberries, weeding, loosening, several waterings per season, a little top dressing – all that is required for the normal development of the crop.
How to prune chokeberry
The first shaping is required for chokeberry even when planting. The branches are shortened to reduce the load on the root system and to give the black chokeberry bushes the desired shape in the future. The position of the last bud on the stem determines the direction of growth of future shoots.
An adult, well-formed chokeberry consists of 10–12 skeletal branches. To rejuvenate the plant, replacing the old shoots with young shoots, they begin at the 8th year of chokeberry’s life. Even a weakened, thickened chokeberry can be brought back to life. Bushes completely cut to the ground are restored in a season. Black berries will appear on such chokeberry in a year.
The main work on pruning chokeberry is carried out in early spring. All old, cracked, dried branches are subject to removal. Aronia lends itself perfectly to shaping: in a few years it can be given the appearance of a spherical bush or a miniature tree.
It should be remembered that the black mountain ash lays the next year’s crop at the tips of the branches. Therefore, cutting off the tops of the shoots, you should come to terms with a temporary loss of crop.
How can you feed chokeberry
Spring work on the care of chokeberry can begin with the introduction of nitrogen supplements in the near-stem circle. The chokeberry responds well to both organics and mineral compounds.
Re-fertilize rowan during or after flowering. Potassium preparations and ash pollination are preferred for chokeberry. The third dressing may consist of a mixture of phosphorus and potassium complex fertilizers. It is important not to fertilize chokeberry with nitrogen from the second half of summer. Even manure introduced late can slow down the preparation of branches and lead to freezing of non-lignified shoots.
Rules for competent watering
A hardy chokeberry, when planted and cared for in the open field, can do without watering for a long time. Most often, a stable crop needs enough rainfall to survive. But luxurious flowering, bright foliage and an abundance of black fruits can only be achieved with abundant moisture of chokeberry in such terms:
- in early spring, if there is little melted snow and insufficient rainfall, the first deep watering is carried out;
- in summer, if the fruiting period coincides with the dry season, the chokeberry is watered a second time.
The bulk of the chokeberry roots lie shallow, however, each plant requires at least 40 liters of water for proper irrigation.
Mulching and loosening the soil
Watering can be combined with fertilizing chokeberry and weeding. Moistened soil is loosened and covered with a layer of mulch. A layer of grassy residues (without seeds) protects the soil from drying out, and also significantly reduces the time spent on subsequent loosening, weeding around the chokeberry.
Is it possible to grow chokeberry from seeds
The chokeberry shrub is propagated in various ways: cuttings, layering, root division, offspring. But even with only the fruits of the variety you like, it is quite possible to grow chokeberry from seeds. This method is more complicated than vegetative propagation and has several features.
Rules for seed cultivation of black mountain ash:
- purchased or own planting material needs cold stratification for at least 90 days;
- before being placed in the refrigerator, the seeds of black mountain ash are soaked for a day, then dried a little;
- before planting, the material should be warmed up at room temperature;
- sand and sawdust are added to the substrate for chokeberry seedlings to lighten the structure;
- deepen chokeberry seeds into the soil by 5–7 cm.
The chokeberry sprouts that have appeared should be regularly watered and planted, as they grow, in separate containers. Plants will be ready to be taken out into the open ground by the autumn of next year.
Diseases of chokeberry
With proper planting and minimal care for chokeberry, a stable plant does not get sick with anything. A healthy bush shows high immunity to viral, bacterial infections, pests are of little interest. Most black aronia diseases noted by gardeners are caused by various strains of fungi:
- peripheral rot – affects wood;
- cytosporosis – leads to wilting of branches, death of the bark;
- ramularia, septoria, phyllostic blotch – destroy first of all the leaves of chokeberry;
- fruit rot chokeberry appears on berries.
Provoking factors for the appearance of a fungal infection on chokeberry can be cracking of the bark, weakening of the plant during a drought or after wintering, as well as thickening of the bushes. Diseases are especially activated during a cold, long spring with heavy rainfall.
The methods of dealing with all fungal lesions of black chokeberry are the same:
- Double prophylactic treatment of rowan bushes with Bordeaux liquid (1%): before leafing and after flowering.
- Destruction of all infected residues during sanitary pruning of chokeberry.
- At the first sign of infection in the garden, the soil around the chokeberry is shed with copper-containing solutions.
If the defeat of the chokeberry could not be avoided, continue processing with iron sulphate. It is necessary to collect and destroy diseased berries, stems, leaves. Dead plants of black mountain ash are removed from the site along with the roots and burned. Of the chemicals for spraying, they use: HOM, fundazol, Abiga-Peak, and other systemic fungicides.
Aronia pests
There are no specific pests in black chokeberry, all insects are capable of causing damage to other garden and wild crops. Therefore, their appearance, even in small numbers, should not be ignored.
Aronia pests:
- rapeseed bug – a black beetle with a metallic sheen of elytra, massively appears in August;
- willow weevil – a jumping black insect with a rostrum bent down, appears at the end of May, whitish larvae eat leaves from the inside;
- different types of sawflies, affecting wild trees, horticultural crops, berries;
- beech moth and leafworm – small butterflies that appear in April, their caterpillar larvae cause great damage to the foliage.
You can protect the chokeberry, as well as other garden plantings from pests, by regularly holding such events:
- When the buds swell and after flowering, the branches are sprayed with one of the preparations: Karbofos, Kemifos, Fufanon, Aktellik.
- Fallen leaves, chokeberry fruits are collected and burned.
- With the mass appearance of pests, the treatments are repeated, observing a break before picking berries.
An important measure of protection against pests is the spring treatment of all plantings in the garden. Prevention is required not only for fruit trees or berry bushes.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for chokeberry do not cause problems even for novice gardeners. Hardy chokeberry, with competent agricultural technology, is decorative from early spring to the very frost. Harvests of black, healthy berries increase markedly with appropriate care and timely disease prevention.
