Contents
A beautiful ornamental shrub is successfully used in landscape design. The black elderberry Black Lace, according to its characteristics, is suitable for decorating gardens in many climatic zones. This is a unique and beautiful variety of an ornamental plant, with a rich aroma and the benefits of berries and flowers, which are successfully used in traditional medicine. In addition, it bears fruit with delicious berries that are great for eating.
History of variety breeding
The name of the variety is translated as black lace. This decorative variety is known recently and came to Our Country from Europe. In the Moscow region, this variety has a second name – “Eva”. Elder Black Lace both in the photo and on the site looks picturesque, and there are no difficulties in caring for it.
Description of elderberry Black lace
It is a deciduous shrub that grows vertically. In height reaches 2-10 meters. The branches are dense, but very thin. While the branches are young, they are green in color and look more like stems than full-fledged branches of a tree. The leaves are long, composed of an odd number of individual leaflets.
Elderberry begins to bloom in late spring and continues until the end of August. On the tree, inflorescences of white and light beige are formed. Inflorescences in diameter reach 20 cm. After flowering, at the end of summer, berries begin to ripen. These are black, small berries with red pulp and pit. During flowering, the elderberry has a strong aroma, which, when close, becomes unbearable for some.
Recommended areas for growing: Moscow region, North-West and most of Our Country, with the exception of South and Central Siberia.
Characteristic of the variety
Black elder is used not only as an ornamental shrub, but also as a berry bush with healthy and tasty fruits. The variety under consideration has its own characteristics that determine its distribution area and options for use.
Drought resistance, frost resistance
This is an unpretentious plant, quite resistant to frost. But watering must be provided to the shrub in a timely manner. In hot summers, you need to water at least once a week. It is also not recommended to flood, but the soil under the shrub should be moist. So elderberry will bear fruit better and look beautiful.
There are indications that the shrub, with proper care and snowy winters, can withstand frosts down to -25 ° C.
Yield and fruiting
The elderberry of the considered variety begins to bear fruit at the end of summer. Fruiting lasts until the end of September. Since the plant is more often used for decorative purposes, there is no exact yield data, but the taste of the berries, according to reviews, is good. The variety is not prone to shedding and with a long exposure to the sun, the berries feel great. It is important that a shrub in the shade will not bear fruit at all.
Scope of fruits
Compotes and jams are made from elderberry berries. But most often berries are used as cosmetics. Tea with elderberry jam is diaphoretic and helps with colds in winter. Dried elderberry berries perfectly repel rodents. And also homemade wine and some types of medicinal tinctures are prepared from elderberry.
Disease and pest resistance
Plants are not resistant to the following diseases:
- fusariosis;
- powdery mildew;
- anthracnose;
- phyllosthicosis.
Among the pests for elderberry, the spider mite is the most dangerous. And also aphids often attack the elderberry. Proven fungicides and insecticides should be used to control and prevent diseases and pests. This will help prevent leaf curl and plant death.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Among the advantages of this variety, it should be noted: a wide range of applications, use for both decorative and culinary purposes, as well as unpretentiousness in care and in choosing a place for planting.
The relative disadvantage of black lace elderberry can be considered low resistance to certain diseases and pests, which is fully offset by well-conducted prevention.
Planting and caring for black elderberry Black lace
To obtain a crop and a beautiful shrub on the site, it is important to follow the rules of agricultural technology. With proper care, the shrub is able to live for more than 30 years and delight others with its beauty.
Recommended dates
Landing should be carried out either in the spring, when the threat of return frosts is completely gone, or in the autumn. In autumn, it is recommended to plant a plant 1,5 months before the onset of the first cold weather. So the shrub will have time to take root and calmly survive the winter.
Choosing the right place
The place for planting elderberry of this variety should be sunny and with minimal access to the wind. Elderberry does not like winds, and therefore, even in the wild, it tries to grow near hedges and slopes. The eastern and northern sides of the site are considered optimal. Elderberry has no particular claims to the ground, it takes root on almost any soil. But the best growth is obtained on weakly alkaline soils.
Selection and preparation of seedlings
The optimal seedling should not exceed 25 cm in height. There must be at least 2 healthy buds on the trunk. The seedling must be planted in a pot, with moist soil and a drainage system. When the seedling takes root, it can be transplanted to a pre-selected place.
Landing algorithm
For planting, it is necessary to prepare the soil and directly the hole for the seedling. The hole should be 50–60 cm in diameter. In this recess should be added:
- 50 g of phosphorus;
- 50 g of potash fertilizers;
- 8 kg of humus.
Mix all these fertilizers with garden soil and partially fill in the hole for the seedling. A rooted seedling should be placed on this mass and sprinkled with the rest. It is important that the root neck should remain on the surface. Immediately after planting, it is necessary to water the shrub, after tamping the ground.
Elderberry Aftercare
For proper growth and reproduction, Blake Lace elder must be provided with timely and competent care.
Watering should be done once a week, if during this time there was no normal rainfall. If the weather is too rainy, it is recommended to mulch the soil around the trunk.
And also loosening should be included in the care so that the root system constantly breathes. After the shrub has begun flowering, it is necessary to feed the plant with complex fertilizer.
In autumn, it is important to prepare elderberry for wintering:
- harvest;
- in dry summers, the shrub should be watered before wintering;
- apply fungicides in October;
- in the middle of autumn, treat the trunk with lime.
The plant should be formed in the form of a shrub. The cutting order is as follows:
- In the spring, the upper branches should be reduced by 1 bud, and the side branches by 5 buds.
- An annular shape is used for old branches.
- Once every three years, it is imperative to rejuvenate the shrub, almost completely cutting off the shoots, leaving only stump shoots 15 cm long.
How elderberries reproduce
Reproduction of elderberry occurs in three ways:
- Layers. It gives the greatest result, and therefore is most often used. It is necessary to bend the young elderberry branch to the ground and sprinkle with fertile soil. The end of the escape must remain at the top. You can plant the next year, when the shoot takes root.
- Cuttings. The most common option. Cuttings must be harvested in advance, and rooted before planting.
- Seeds. In order to propagate a shrub by seed, it is necessary to purchase seeds in a store, since those collected from berries do not retain the characteristics of the variety and the parent plant.
The use of elderberry in landscape design
Most often, black elderberry of the Black Lace variety is used and has reviews specifically for decorating the landscape. The shrub is great for landscaping plots and adjacent territories, and is also used in alpine slides. Due to the growth rate, it is successfully used to create hedges. But in this case, the shrub requires constant pruning. If you follow it correctly and combine it with other plants, you can create flowerbeds with different levels and micro-borders.
Diseases and pests, methods of control and prevention
There are several ways to prevent the appearance of diseases and pests on the bush. In autumn, it is necessary to spray the plant with fungicides. In spring and summer, it is imperative to treat elderberry bushes with insecticides.
And it is also necessary to use drugs that, according to the instructions, are supposed to be applied to the root neck.
The frequency of various treatments is 50 days.
Conclusion
The black elderberry Black lace came from Europe and is used for landscape design throughout Our Country with great success. Of the many advantages, it is worth highlighting unpretentiousness and frost resistance. The disadvantages include susceptibility to certain diseases and pests. But with proper care, this shrub will be an excellent decoration of the site, and the berries will also come in handy for jam.
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