Rowan intermediate (Swedish)

Swedish mountain ash can become a real decoration of the dacha. At any time of the year, it looks great: in spring it pleases with snow-white inflorescences, in summer – green leaves with a silvery sheen, in autumn – crimson hues, in winter – clusters of scarlet berries. The plant goes well with deciduous and coniferous trees, it can itself become a background for decorative flowers and shrubs. It is also resistant to adverse conditions, grows well anywhere, and caring for it is simple, you just need to know the features of growing Swedish mountain ash, which is also called intermediate, or Scandinavian.

Description of mountain ash intermediate (Swedish)

The plant in the wild grows in Scandinavia and Europe, looks like a tree reaching a height of 15 m, or like a bush. The trunk of the plant is smooth, gray, short. The crown is oval or pyramidal in shape with a diameter of up to 5 m. The older the tree becomes, the more rounded its crown. While the shoots are young, they have pubescence, later they become naked. The leaves of the Swedish intermediate mountain ash are pinnately lobed, similar to oak, they are pinnately felted below. The foliage turns red in autumn. Flowering culture begins in early summer. The photo of the Swedish mountain ash shows that its inflorescences look like white, thick corymbs.

The fruits have a sweet and sour pulp, there is no bitterness in them. Brushes are able to stay on the branches until winter. Rowan intermediate bears fruit annually. Berries are valued for their taste, they are harvested for the preparation of preparations – jams, compotes, frosts.

Pros and cons of the variety

Rowan Swedish (intermediate) has a number of positive properties. Its advantages include:

• unpretentiousness to cultivation;
• frost and drought resistance;
• easy tolerance of smoke and gas contamination of the air;
• fast growth;
• decorative;
• the presence of medicinal properties of berries of mountain ash intermediate;
• resistance to fungal diseases;
• high palatability of fruits.

There are few disadvantages of the variety:

• culture does not apply to shade-tolerant trees;
• does not take root well on soils with a high occurrence of groundwater;
• does not tolerate saline soils.

Planting and caring for rowan swedish

The plant is propagated by layering, basal shoots. It does not require special care, regular watering is important. Well-lit areas are chosen for planting a tree, the composition of the soil does not play a special role, but, ideally, Swedish mountain ash gives preference to drained loams, light moistened soil with the addition of lime. The annual growth of the tree is about 40 cm in height and 30 cm in width. To speed up development, intermediate mountain ash should be fed with fertilizers for fruit trees in the third year of life.

Site preparation

Judging by the description, the Swedish mountain ash is a tall tree in its adult state, so the border of the garden will be the best place for planting it. So that the crown does not obscure the space, it is planted on the north side of the site. A tree can grow in one place up to 120 years, so you should think in advance where to place it. It is unpretentious to growing conditions, but grows much better on fertile, moist soils. For planting rowan intermediate, it is worth preparing a hole in advance. Its size must match the root system. Most often, the depth is no more than 80 cm. The width of the landing pit is more than 1 m, since the roots of the Swedish mountain ash, branching out, develop the upper layers of soil rich in nutrients. The walls of the pit are made sheer, the bottom is loosened by 15 cm, drainage is laid.

Rules of landing

The best time to plant Swedish mountain ash (intermediate) is autumn or early spring, before the buds begin to swell. A number of rules must be followed:

• in order to increase the yield of Swedish intermediate mountain ash, despite its self-fertility, it is advisable to purchase several varieties;
• pits are dug at a distance of 8 m from each other;
• add ash, superphosphate and a bucket of three-year manure humus to them;
• set the seedling in the center so that the roots do not bend and do not rest against the walls;
• long roots are somewhat shortened;
• the root neck is located above the soil surface;
• the pit is covered with soil mixture and filled with water;
• install a support peg;
• form a landing mound to retain water;
• mulch the soil around the trunk of the Swedish mountain ash (intermediate).

Watering and top dressing

The first time after planting, the Swedish mountain ash seedling needs regular watering, especially in hot weather. Mulching the trunk circle will help save and retain moisture in the soil. Feeding is carried out starting from the third year of life. In the spring, before the flowering of rowan intermediate, for each square meter of the near-stem circle, it is recommended to apply 15 g of nitrogen and potassium, 25 g of phosphorus fertilizers. In autumn, after picking berries, it is necessary to fertilize with phosphorus and potassium. Fertilizers are scattered over the surface and buried to a depth of 15 cm.

Trimming

In order not to harm the intermediate mountain ash, pruning of the bush must be carried out correctly, so that it contributes to abundant fruiting, as well as disease prevention.

The summer procedure is tolerated by plants better than the spring one. It is carried out on a dry sunny day so that the fungal infection does not penetrate into the wounds. Slices are treated with garden pitch.

In the Swedish mountain ash, the lower branches are removed 50 cm from the ground in a circle, the skeletal ones are shortened, and the conductor is cut so that it is 25 cm longer than the skeletal ones. With the help of such manipulations, the tree crown is formed and stimulates the growth of new shoots.

Pruning in autumn is not recommended, as the plant is preparing for winter and additional injury leads to its weakening.

Gardeners recommend pruning in February. For this, trees no younger than three years old, already resistant to frost, are suitable. Remove damaged, weak branches or out-of-shape crowns. Their shortening is carried out to the last external kidney. A heavily thickened crown should be thinned out, and a rowan tree with a weak growth should be rejuvenated. In addition, it is necessary to constantly remove root shoots.

Preparation for winter

Rowan Swedish (intermediate) is frost-resistant, so it does not require special preparation for winter. The exception is young autumn seedlings that did not have time to get stronger. Their root system should be spudded, pouring a mound 20 cm high, and insulate the near-trunk circle with a layer of leaves and spruce branches.

For adult plants, preparation for winter consists in harvesting fallen leaves, and with it insect pests, as well as mulching the trunk circle.

Pollination

Rowan Swedish, or intermediate – a triple hybrid, obtained from three varieties – an ordinary variety, mountain ash glogovina and round-leaved. The tree is widespread in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland. Intermediate mountain ash reproduces without pollination and is spread by birds that eat the sweet fruits and disperse the seeds.

Harvesting

As you can see in the photo, the Scandinavian, or Swedish, mountain ash has red, hemispherical berries collected in a brush with a diameter of up to 1,2 cm, weighing -1 g. They taste different from the fruits of ordinary mountain ash in the absence of bitterness in the pulp. They begin to ripen in September, remain on the branches for a long time. You can harvest at the end of September or after frost.

Berries are used in cooking as a basis for jams, compotes, in the food industry they are used to prepare drinks, jellies, sweets. The medicinal properties of berries are used in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory, astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic.

Diseases and pests

Rowan Swedish (intermediate) is resistant to diseases and pests. Damage by pathologies and insects are observed in some years. The main diseases include:

• rust;
• scab;
• septoria;
• Phomosis;
• powdery mildew;
• black;
• cancer;
• wood rot.

On the trees of mountain ash intermediate (photo) there are insect pests:

• caterpillars;
• sawflies;
• pincers;
• aphid;
• Gallica.

For the treatment of intermediate mountain ash and the destruction of insects, chemicals and folk remedies are used.

Reproduction

The most successful Swedish intermediate mountain ash is propagated by layering and root shoots.

The scheme of the diversion method is as follows:

1. Dig up the area, remove weeds.
2. Dig a groove.
3. Choose a long rowan shoot.
4. Bend it to the ground and pin it with staples.
5. After the appearance of the first shoots, cover them with humus by half.
6. After a year, the cuttings are separated from the mother plant, transplanted to a permanent place.

A simpler breeding method is to use young shoots that periodically appear near the trunk. It is carefully dug up and planted in a permanent place, observing all the rules for planting a seedling.

Conclusion

Rowan Swedish – an excellent ornamental plant for the site. It looks great in the foreground in a composition with deciduous and coniferous plants. The culture itself easily becomes a backdrop for shrubs and flowers. In autumn and winter, the berries attract birds, making the site even livelier.