shrub viburnum

This is perhaps one of the most controversial garden crops. On the one hand, viburnum is very loved by the people, and it is not for nothing that a huge number of proverbs, sayings, songs and poems have been written about it. On the other hand, it does not grow in every dacha – many do not favor it. Why? Let’s figure it out. And at the same time we will decide: we need a viburnum in the garden, or, nevertheless, it does not belong there.

Pros: healing and beautiful

In general, viburnum has many positive qualities.

Healing properties. Kalina is an excellent diaphoretic and diuretic, which means it is indispensable for colds and other infections, because most of the toxins are removed from the body with fluid. In addition, there are many vitamins in the berries: C, K, A, P, E. They also contain a storehouse of minerals: phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, iodine, zinc, strontium, chromium, selenium, vanadium, calcium. In addition, the fruits are rich in potassium salts (1).

For the bitterness in the fruits of viburnum, the substance viburnin is responsible, which has the property of an analgesic. And it also improves appetite, the digestive system, liver, biliary tract and gastrointestinal tract, constricts blood vessels and protects the body from infections.

Valeric acid, which is found in berries, calms the nervous system. Therefore, they are useful for people who are stressed and depressed.

An infusion of berries relieves headaches better than any antispasmodic.

Decoction, juice and fresh fruits are an excellent tool for losing weight. They should be consumed on an empty stomach alone or in combination with other fruits and berries. Most importantly, they should be in the diet every day.

Another remarkable property of berries is that they purify the blood, lower cholesterol levels and, as a result, improve vascular patency, blood pressure and heart function.

With the help of viburnum, you can disinfect water! It is enough to put branches with viburnum fruits into it for a couple of hours – and the water becomes almost sterile! You can cook on it, drink it and wash your hair with it – after that your hair will become healthy and shiny.

Fast growth. Kalina is an ideal shrub for new sites. When you get a few acres in an open field, you want to quickly make it habitable. Apple trees, pears, cherries and plums grow rather slowly, but viburnum grows by a whole meter over the summer: 2 years – and you have a full-fledged bush.

Early maturity. Often, viburnum yields a crop already 2 years after planting. Most other fruit crops – for 4 – 5 years.

Decorative. A well-groomed, well-formed shrub blooms very profusely in spring. And it will easily give odds even to the recently popular hydrangeas. Of course, large-leaved or paniculate hydrangea will not surpass viburnum, but it may well outshine the tree-like one.

But it looks even more spectacular in October-November. At this time, the garden plots look gray and dull: everything has faded, withered. And the weather is often cloudy. And how spectacular the flaming bright red viburnum brushes look against this background!

But that’s not all. Viburnum has varieties with unusual leaves and fruits:

• golden viburnum (aureum) – its berries are of a traditional red color, but the leaves have a golden hue, however, they are so only in the bright sun – they become green in the shade, a bush 1 – 2 m high, in severe winters it can freeze slightly, but quickly recovers;
• yellow-fruited viburnum (xanthocarpum) – a rare variety of viburnum with yellow fruits and large jagged leaves, reaches a height of 1,5 m, in crown girth up to 2,5 m.

Garden protection. Viburnum itself does not have any effect on pests, but its berries attract birds in winter. And they, having arrived to feast on the fruits, will surely examine every corner of the garden and destroy harmful insects and their larvae.

So, when harvesting, always leave a part of it on the plant.

Cons: tasteless and affected by aphids

The cons of viburnum are significantly less than the pros, but they are quite significant.

Takes up space. This is the age-old problem of owners of small plots: valuable crops do not fit here! Where to plant viburnum?

In fact, you can always find a place for her, because she is extremely unpretentious and is able to grow on any inconvenience where you can’t plant a decent plant. In addition, viburnum is easily formed, and the bush can be grown very compact. At worst, viburnum can be planted behind a fence – many dachas have a “buffer zone” between the site and the road, or a wasteland in the back.

Not tasty. Yes, not everyone likes bitter fruits. However, now there are varieties in which there is either no bitterness at all, or very little.

• Vigorovskaya – this is the sweetest variety of viburnum, berries contain 14% sugar, the taste is balanced: a little sourness, a little bitterness;
• Maria – professional tasters describe its taste as sweetish-sour, with a slight astringency, almost no bitterness;
• Ulgen – in terms of the amount of sugar, it ranks second – it is 13% in fruits. Experts evaluate the taste as sweetish, slightly bitter;
• Red bunch – the taste of this variety is sweet and sour, with a slight pleasant bitterness;
• Zholobovskaya – in the berries of this type of sugar 11,8%, the taste is slightly bitter, almost sweet.

By the way, viburnum is used for food not only the pulp of the fruit. For example, the seeds are used as a coffee substitute (2).

Aphids are severely affected. It’s true: aphids love to settle on viburnum. But it’s easy to deal with.

Aphids, as you know, feed on young tender leaves and usually live on the tops of the shoots. She also lays her eggs there. Therefore, in the spring, all shoots must be shortened by 15 cm.

Ants spread aphids – they catch it on other plants and drag it to viburnum. And to prevent them from succeeding, wrap the stems of the bush at a height of 10 – 15 cm from the ground with adhesive tape from flies. Not a single ant can overcome this barrier!

If you did not have time to take care of prevention and aphids settled on viburnum, Intavir preparations (by the way, it also destroys ants), Fitoverm, Lepidocid, Bitoxibacillin (3) will help to cope with it. The last 3 are biological, they are harmless to people and the environment.

As you can see, viburnum has more pluses than minuses, and all the shortcomings are easy to fix. So this shrub is simply obliged to take its rightful place in each site.

Formation of viburnum in the form of a tree

Often viburnum grows in the form of a bush – it has root offspring from the base of the trunk (4). Caring for such a plant is inconvenient and the bush sometimes looks not very aesthetically pleasing. It is better to form it in the form of a tree.

To do this, you need to choose the most powerful shoot, and cut the rest. Then, from the remaining stem, remove all the kidneys to the height of the trunk (about 1 m). Next spring, and then during the summer, it will also be necessary to pluck out all the side shoots on the trunk and cut out all the shoots.

The formation of viburnum in one trunk usually lasts 2 – 3 years. After that, she needs to cut off the top so that the tree branches better. In the future, it will be necessary to annually cut out all unnecessary shoots, both at the base of the tree and in the crown itself, so that the extra branches do not thicken the plant. This, of course, is extra work, but viburnum, formed into one trunk, takes up much less space. And yes, it looks very neat.

In general, viburnum lives 50 years or more (5), but after 20 years, fruiting becomes very scarce. And then the main shoot can be replaced. To do this, you need to leave one new stem from the shoots. And cut out the old one.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing viburnum in a garden plot with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

 Sources of

1. Blinova K.F. etc. Botanical-pharmacognostic dictionary. Reference manual. Ed. Blinova K.F., Yakovleva G.P. // M.: Higher school, 1990
2. Elina G.A. Pharmacy in the swamp // St. Petersburg, Nauka, 1993 – 496 p.
3. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals approved for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii- i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/
4. Plant life. Volume 5. Part 2. Flowering plants. Under. ed. Takhtadzhyan A.L. // M.: Enlightenment, 1981 – 512 p.
5. tree species of the world. Volume 3. Pod. ed. Kalutsky K.K. // M.: Timber industry, 1982 – 264 p.