Contents
Reproduction, care, useful properties and use of mountain ash
Botanical characteristics of mountain ash
Rowan is a deciduous tree or shrub with a shallow root system. This plant is very tall, and sometimes reaches 20 meters in height. The bark of the trunk is gray, smooth. The leaves of the plant are alternate, oblong, young – pubescent, and later – naked. White or pink fragrant flowers are collected in an inflorescence – panicle. The rowan fruit is a juicy globular berry that comes in red or orange. Inside the fruit there are red seeds, sharp at the ends. The flowering of mountain ash falls on the month of May-June. The fruits ripen from early to mid-autumn. The tree bears fruit only in the 5th year of life. Rowan can grow 2 centuries.
Mountain ash is often found in Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia, Kazakhstan and Kamchatka. It can be seen in the fields, on the banks of rivers, in the garden, in the park, in the square and in the forest.
Reproduction of mountain ash
Rowan is propagated by seeds, grafting, layering, root shoots. Rowan is often propagated by grafting, using rowan seedlings instead of stock. Rootstock seeds need to be prepared for germination within 3-6 months. Seeds need to be stratified within a few months. For the substrate, you need to mix sand from the river with small sawdust. This substrate is mixed with seeds. In the spring, prepared seeds are sown in the ground, planting 1.5 cm deep into the soil.
Autumn or early spring is the time for young plants to bend down to the ground. You need to bend down either tree branches or root shoots. Fertile moist soil should be poured over the pinned branches, leaving some part of the branch above the soil surface (about 20 cm).
Further care involves hilling and mulching the plant, constant watering. In order for the layers to form roots faster, you need to cut the stem by 25% of the diameter of the bend to the zone of future root formation, or simply remove the narrow ring. If the layers are properly cared for, then at the end of the growing season of the first year, weak roots will appear, 2-3 years after the day of bending down, developed and powerful plants are formed.
Grafted plants begin to bear fruit after 3-5 years from the date of planting, which cannot be said about seedlings that can bear fruit only for 7-8 years.
Care of rowan
Caring for rowan is not so difficult. It is necessary to regularly remove the shoots at the root collar, water and fertilize the soil. Loosening the soil is another important condition in the cultivation of mountain ash. In spring, mountain ash grows very actively, so at this time you need to feed and trim, and as soon as possible. In young plants, broken or weak shoots can be cut, long stems are made shorter. Weak plants are pruned to 2-3 year old wood, so new shoots will grow faster.
In the third year of life, plants need to be fertilized, and mineral fertilizers are suitable for this purpose. In the spring, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizers are applied. In summer, the soil is fed with the same fertilizers, only in smaller quantities. And after they harvest, only phosphate and potash fertilizers are applied in an amount of 10 grams per square meter. Fertilizers do not need to be heavily embedded in the soil, then slightly dig the soil and water it with plenty of water.
Useful properties of mountain ash
Rowan has laxative, hemostatic and vitamin properties. It is used as an excellent useful tool in the treatment of diseases of the kidneys and bladder. Rowan has a positive effect on the metabolism of fats in the body. Mountain ash, along with the listed properties, is also a remedy that is used for burns, wounds and inflammations of various types.
Rowan treat rheumatism, dysentery, dropsy and nephrolithiasis. Rowan fruits help in the treatment of liver diseases, hemorrhoids and scurvy. Rowan has a diuretic effect, so it is used for urolithiasis, cystitis and inflammation of the bladder.
Application of mountain ash
In folk medicine, mountain ash is used in the treatment of anemia, gout, diathesis, edema and dyspepsia. It is used as a means that normalizes the metabolism of the body. Rowan has astringent properties. An infusion of this plant is used as an anti-radiation agent.
Rowan contains triterpene acids, due to which the fish is used for diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension, arrhythmia, heart pain and others. In the presence of spasms of cerebral vessels, traditional medicine recommends taking an infusion made from rowan fruits.
Fresh fruits will help women who have a menstrual cycle. Berries or rowan juice will help increase appetite. You can forget about hemorrhoids if you take a tincture from the fruits of this miracle tree.
Vitamin decoction. To prepare it, you need to take 500 ml of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of rowan fruits and so many rose hips. Put everything on fire for 10 minutes. After removing from heat, the broth is left to infuse for 4 hours. After straining the decoction, it is taken 100 ml three times a day before meals with hypovitaminosis.
Rowan tea for diarrhea. Take 1 tablespoon of dry fruits of mountain ash and fill them with a glass of boiling water. Put on fire for 10 minutes, covered with a lid. Ready broth take 1 cup twice a day.
Rowan for appetite. To prepare this medicine, you need to take 100 grams of rowan berries and boil in a small amount of water. Pass through a sieve and mix with the same amount of sugar. Add some white wine and simmer until pureed. Take mashed potatoes 1 teaspoon twice a day with poor appetite.
A decoction of mountain ash for hemorrhoids and women’s diseases. Take 10 grams of rowan flowers and pour a glass of boiling water. Put on fire for 10 minutes. After straining the broth, it is taken 50 ml three times a day. They can also treat cough and liver disease.
Rowan juice. Take fresh rowan berries, wash them and squeeze the juice out of them. We take this juice 1 tablespoon three times a day in the treatment of scurvy, the presence of weakness of the body or after serious illnesses.
Rowan tincture. To prepare it, you need to take a glass bottle and fill it 2/3 of the volume with rowan berries. Next, take vodka and fill the entire space of the bottle. We leave it in a dark place until the tincture turns dark brown and smells like a forest. The tincture is filtered and taken 1 tablespoon, diluting it with water, three times a day.
Mountain ash contraindications
Rowan can be used by all people, with the exception of those who have a predisposition to the formation of blood clots. Increased coagulation – is also a ban on the use of preparations from mountain ash.