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Types and varieties of snowberry
The same snowberry that is used in the landscaping of cities in central Our Country – snowberry white (Symphoricarpos albus). The crown of the shrub is dense, rounded. Height is usually 1 – 1,3 m. And the diameter of the crown may be larger due to thin flexible branches and numerous growths that appear next to the mother plant.
The leaves of the snowberry are rounded, with a smooth edge, slightly elongated (ovoid). The color is dark green, often with a bluish bloom. Flowering is quite abundant, the buds are laid in the axils of the leaves at the ends of the branches. Small flowers are white-pink, collected in small dense inflorescences (1). And if you look closely, they are very cute.
Interestingly, on one plant at the same time there are already ripening, whitened berries, and green, and still opening buds. After all, the flowering of the snowberry can last from June to September. By the way, florists sometimes use sprigs of a snowberry with berries to compose compositions, including for … original wedding bouquets!
Similar to the white snowberry, but less well known, are several other species. They served as the basis for new varieties and hybrids. For ornamental gardening, hybrids are of the greatest interest, primarily with colored berries. In nurseries you can find, for example, an unusual hybrid snowberry Doorenbos (Symphoricarpos x doorenbosii). Among the varieties are Magic Berry и Pink Magic, the fruits of which you still want to compare with cranberries, and also Amethyst with purple-pink berries.
Snowberry Care
The snowberry is an unpretentious shrub, but still its main requirements should be taken into account.
Ground
The species snowberry is relatively undemanding to soil conditions. But moderate fertility is still preferable to very poor soils. And soils close to neutral are better than strongly acidic ones. On clean sands and clay, the plant feels worse than on medium-heavy and light loams.
And snowberry plants do not tolerate waterlogging of the soil both in summer and in winter. Therefore, for planting it is better to choose a moderately moist area with drained soil.
Lighting
The snowberry can grow both in sunny areas and in shady areas. But if the shoots and leaves in shading develop well (although the crown will become less dense), flowering and fruiting, all the more plentiful, can not wait there.
Watering
The requirements for soil moisture in the snowberry are average. It is not as moisture-loving as hydrangeas, but not as drought-resistant as tree caragana (yellow acacia). In a dry summer, plantings will have to be watered more or less regularly, and in a normal summer – occasionally.
fertilizers
The agricultural technology of the snowberry does not require regular fertilization. If there are many plants around that are more demanding on soil fertility, this will be quite enough for a snowberry even on poor soils.
But still, complex fertilizers for a snowberry are sometimes not forbidden to be applied. It will not be superfluous and fertilizer after a radical haircut.
Feeding
As a rule, the snowberry does not need top dressing. But under a young, recently planted plant, organic matter (mature compost) can be applied immediately. And at the end of April or in May, a young plant that has already taken root can be fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizer so that the seedling develops faster.
Trimming
If the main goal of growing a snowberry is flowering and fruiting, the branches, when adjusting the shape of the crown, are shortened minimally, in early spring. In fairness, it should be said that even without pruning, plants usually look neat.
The second period for pruning, which is practiced when growing formed hedges, is after the end of mass flowering, from the second half of summer. Shoots are shortened to well-developed buds or young shoots located at the right height. If a hedge or a separately growing bush requires rejuvenation, the branches are shortened by 3/4 – 4/5 (2). Naturally, in this case, fruiting will be poor.
If necessary, simultaneously with the forming pruning, shoots are removed that intersect or strongly thicken the crown. And sanitary pruning (removal of broken, broken, drying, diseased, too old branches) is carried out at any time. But it is more convenient to carry out the procedure in early spring before the leaves unfold.
If the pruning of the snowberry is formative, the snowberry in the skillful hands of the gardener eventually turns into a worthy element of garden decoration. For example, a variety of shapes, such as clouds, islands, hills, waves, etc., are cut from a shrub planted by a group. They use ordinary garden shears, telescopic brush cutters, as well as more complex motorized tools. The technique of forming relief forms from shrubs is sometimes called arboplasty.
Shelter for the winter
The freezing of the white snowberry familiar to everyone in the middle lane is an unprecedented event, so no one ever covers it for the winter. But varietal plants that attract attention with unusually colored fruits will have to be prepared for winter.
The minimum program is mulching the trunk circle with chopped pine bark, wood chips, compost. The maximum program is the complete shelter of a recently planted varietal plant. For example, bending flexible branches to the ground, warming with dry leaves (you need protection from rain from above). Although without this, mature bushes are likely to overwinter. However, the ends of the shoots may freeze slightly, and then they will have to be cut off in the spring. But since the flower buds of the snowberry are formed on the shoots of the current year, the berries will most likely be in the same season when the bush is restored. Although much depends on the winter, and on the stability of the variety.
Snowberry breeding
Varietal snowberries propagate only vegetatively. Cuttings, layering, dividing the bush, root shoots. The last two events are best done in the spring before the leaves bloom, so that the planted part of the plant takes root successfully before the autumn frosts.
Layers. Reproduction of the snowberry by layering is not a difficult matter, but a new plant can be separated from a branch bent down and sprinkled with earth only the next year or even later.
Cuttings. Cuttings of a varietal snowberry are carried out in spring or summer. In the first case, they take the lignified parts of last year’s shoots, in the second – the green ones that appeared this season. Cuttings with 4 or 5 buds are rooted in a greenhouse, maintaining constant air humidity and a light substrate there.
Seeds. Species snowberries can also be propagated by seeds. You need to sow before winter, in boxes that are dug in the garden so that the seeds go through a natural long-term stratification. Sprinkle the seeds with a thin layer of soil-sand mixture. In early spring, the box can be brought into the greenhouse to speed up the emergence of seedlings. Seedlings are planted in the fall, first in school, and the next year or later in a permanent place.
Diseases of the snowberry
On snowberry bushes, there are almost never signs of infections that can rage on plantings located side by side with them. But for their prevention along with the infected powdery mildew и gray mold plants can be treated with fungicides, for example, preparations Skor, Topaz, Fitosporin-M (3).
Market – drugs
Snowberry pests
The snowberry is rarely attacked by pests. At least, there are no similar precedents on garden forums. But if suddenly any leaves are flattered caterpillars or aphid,you can protect the plantings with any suitable preparation. For example, Aktara (3).
Popular questions and answers
We talked about growing a snowberry with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.
How to choose snowberry seedlings?
How to use a snowberry in landscape design?
In cities, the snowberry is used in landscaping primarily because of its unpretentiousness, high smoke resistance.
What to do with a snowberry in autumn?
Before frosts, the trunk circles of the snowberry can be mulched. The branches of newly planted varietal plants can be bent to the ground so that they overwinter under the snow.
What to do with a snowberry in winter?
What to do with a snowberry in spring?
At the first opportunity, you need to remove the mulch from the bushes for a while so that the earth warms up faster. Then you can apply fertilizer and carry out sanitary pruning of broken branches.
Can you eat snowberry berries?
Sources of
- Konovalova T.Yu., Shevyreva N.A. Ornamental shrubs, or 1000 plants for your garden. Illustrative reference book // CJSC “Fiton +” 2004 – 192 p.
- Uleiskaya L.I., Komar-Temnaya L.D. Living fences // CJSC “Fiton +”, 2002 – 224 p.
- 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/