Contents
Holly mahonia is rare in landscape design. Decorative culture gives the color of the crown, abundant flowering and bright blue berries. Mahonia is used to decorate a garden, city parks, areas adjacent to the facade of a building.
The use of Magonia in landscape design
Mahonia holly belongs to the species Barberry. The shrub grows slowly, by the age of 6 the height varies from 1 to 1,3 m, the figure depends on the climatic zone. The plant has earned popularity due to drought resistance, unpretentiousness to the composition of the soil, shade tolerance. Does not lose its decorative habit in partial shade. If the holly mahonia is located under the dense crown of tall trees, the color of the leaves is paler than in the area open to ultraviolet light.
The photo shows the holly magonia during flowering; for landscape design, the culture is attractive throughout the year. The color of the leaves for winter becomes dark red, looks aesthetically pleasing against the background of snow, serves as a bright accent in the “sleeping” garden. The plant blooms from early April to May. The culture is completely covered with large inflorescences with bright yellow, small and fragrant flowers. Magonia compares favorably among flowering shrubs by the abundance and duration of flowering.
At the end of summer (from August to September), rounded berries ripen, their arrangement on the inflorescence resembles a bunch of grapes. Fruits are about 12 mm in size, painted blue.
The shrub is used by professional designers and amateur gardeners to decorate the landscape. The culture is universal in use, combined with almost all types of plants. Mahonia in landscape design:
- It is used as a tapeworm in the center of a flower bed or lawn.
- Harmoniously combined with stones in rockeries. A single planting among the main composition of stones attracts attention throughout the year, but especially in winter, when there is no greenery in the garden.
- Used as a background option near the wall of the building, the back of the garden benches, rabatok.
- A shrub planted along the garden path creates a visual perception of the alley.
- A sapling located along the perimeter of an alpine hill marks the boundaries of an impromptu mountain landscape.
- Aesthetically looks in the center of the edges of city parks.
- The leaves of the holly mahonia are bright green, serrated along the edge with thorns. The use of a plant as a hedge has a protective function, a shrub with a dense crown is an obstacle to animals. Mass planting in one line, delimits the areas of the garden, in public places separates the sanitary part from the places of rest.
- In city parks, they are planted as an accent of the foreground of the composition.
- They are located near tall trees to create a lower tier.
- The shrub looks colorful on the slopes, gives basal shoots, quickly fills the free space.
- Culture is used to decorate the main entrance.
In addition to aesthetic perception, holly mahonia in the garden has a practical function. The culture belongs to early honey plants, attracts pollinating insects. Weeds do not grow under the dense crown of the bush. Berries are used for jam, fillings for pastries, in folk medicine. The plant is frost-resistant, can be used in landscape design in regions with a temperate climate.
What types of mahonia are suitable for creating hedges
In its natural habitat, mahonia has about 80 varieties, different in the shape of the bush, the structure of the leaves, and the color of the inflorescences. On the basis of wild-growing species for landscape design, hybrids from creeping to large-sized have been created. To create a hedge, in addition to the holly look, suitable:
- Lomary-leaved Takeda – grows up to 2,5 m, inflorescences – 20-30 cm, pinnate leaves, long. The aroma is weak, the berries are edible. Heat-loving, frost resistance is average, shelter for the winter is required. Grows fast.
- Hybrid Winter sun created on the basis of wild-growing lomary-leaved and Japanese. Flowering occurs at the end of autumn, in cold regions it is grown in botanical gardens. In the subtropical zone in an open area. Grows up to 2 m.
- By hybridization of holly magonia and common barberry, a species was created Magobarbaris Newberga. The plant reaches 1,2 m in height. From the barberry, the culture borrowed frost resistance, from mahonia – the decorativeness of the crown and the absence of thorns.
- Fremonti – large-sized (up to 3 m) with a gray-green color of leaves with pale (closer to beige) flowers. Young leaves are burgundy, turning gray by autumn. The fruits are red with a purple tint. The seedling grows quickly, forms a dense crown, is frost-resistant.
- Magonia japonica Chereti – the highest representative of the species, grows up to 4-5 m. The branching is medium, planted in a dense planting for hedges. The leaves are curved, without thorns, bright green, burgundy-purple by autumn. The flowers are yellow, the berries are dark blue. The variety is frost-resistant, growth is slow, does not require crown formation.
- A variety is suitable for creating borders Denver Strain, growing up to 35 cm, with black glossy berries and leathery dark olive leaves.
How to plant mahonia to create a hedge
To create a hedge from the holly mahonia, two-year-old seedlings are chosen. Work is carried out in the spring before sap flow. Landing sequence:
- The landing pit should be twice as wide as the root system, 45-50 cm deep.
- Drainage and a fertile mixture are placed at the bottom.
- The seedling is set in the center, deepened, taking into account that the basal neck remains on the surface.
- Fall asleep, rammed, watered abundantly.
The distance between the bushes is left at least 1 m. The culture slowly grows upwards, but intensively forms root shoots, in 3 years it can completely fill the free space.
Holly mahonia releases berberine into the soil, a substance poisonous to fruit and berry crops. Nearby you can plant plums, honeysuckle, apple trees. It is not recommended to place currants, raspberries, gooseberries in the neighborhood, berberine inhibits the vegetation of these plants.
This is the only threat to culture. Magonia holly does not get sick, garden pests do not parasitize on it. A possible defeat is a burn of young leaves and freezing of shoots, so protection is required for the winter.
Trimming and composition
The pruning time of the holly mahonia depends on the planting density. If planting is rare, the plant is not touched until it fills the entire space. In early spring, cosmetic cleaning is carried out, old branches are removed, young ones are cut by a quarter. If the goal of landscape design is to form a hedge, after reaching the desired density, pruning is done 2 times a year.
At the first stage, the desired shape is given, then it is maintained during the summer. The main pruning is early spring, mid-August. The landscape design technique includes the option when undersized flowering perennials are planted near the mahonia. So that the holly mahonia does not interfere with the growth of flowers, in this composition the lower young shoots are cut off from the main trunks, the leaves are removed. Only the upper part of the bush remains thick.
What plants are combined with holly mahonia
In the spring, mahonia harmoniously combines with early flowering plants:
- daffodils;
- irises;
- roses;
- tulips.
In summer, the holly mahonia gives color to the composition with undersized and taller flowers:
- azalea;
- magnolia;
- camellia;
- erica.
Looks harmonious with cotoneaster, Japanese quince, irga. In the design of the territory, preference is given to the neighborhood of coniferous large-sized trees: arborvitae, cypress, Japanese pine. Magonia is determined in the foreground, as a tapeworm or in one line for tamping conifers. To create a hedge planted alternating:
- with spirea;
- vesicle;
- hawthorn;
- snowberry;
- euonymus.
Shrubs have different periods and duration of flowering, the color of the leaves varies. The requirements for care and pruning time are the same. The photo shows an example of the use of holly mahonia in landscape design in the composition.
Conclusion
Holly mahonia in landscape design provides unlimited opportunities for creative work for professionals and amateurs. The shrub has a decorative habit throughout the year. Harmoniously complements any composition. The variety is undemanding in care and soil composition, frost-resistant. It can grow in an open area and in partial shade.