HOW TO GROW DOGEL IN YOUR GARDEN?

I spent my childhood in blessed Georgia. My father, an officer, took me fishing on weekends. And one day in early spring, on the steep bank of the Khrami River, I saw either a bush or a tree that was blooming luxuriously. Large buds slowly swelled, and suddenly the bush turned into a cloud of golden-yellow umbrellas. There were no leaves yet. Later I watched how, at the beginning of the leaves blooming, the flowers fell together. But what a scent! It was as if I was in the Garden of Eden. This is how my acquaintance with dogwood took place.

HISTORY WITH GEOGRAPHY

Since ancient times, dogwood has been highly valued for its wood strength, which is not inferior to the famous ebony tree (simpler - It's a persimmon). Spears and sword handles, teeth of mill wheels, gears of clock mechanisms, canes, and musical instruments were made from it.

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In Ancient Rome, there was a legend that supposedly dogwood appeared from the spear of Romulus, who, fed by a she-wolf, founded Rome (the leaves have pointed tops - like spear tips). According to legend, Romulus had a spear, with which he once outlined the boundaries of the future great city. He drew a large circle and thrust the spear into the center with force. But I couldn’t pull it out. I lay down and fell asleep.

The shaft of the glorious spear quickly took root, blossomed and turned into a spreading bush. And “dogwood” was named much later - from Turkic languages it is translated as “red” (based on the color of the berries). By the way, the spear of Romulus could have blossomed in Georgia - such fertile land there.

Dogwood grows in the Caucasus, Crimea, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and North America. It has been in our culture since the times of Kievan Rus.

Dogwood in profile and front view

Dogwood, or dogwood (lat. Cornus), – a genus of plants in the dogwood family, including about 50 species. Of value to us is the common dogwood, or male dogwood (Cornus mas), which produces wonderful fruits. Dogwood must be distinguished from another genus - cotoneaster, for example, brilliant. This thorny shrub from the rose family is ideal for hedges.

The dogwood variety Vladimirsky, one might say, chose us. A one-year-old seedling from the nursery, received after summer budding (up to 50 cm long, with a root system of at least 20 cm), brought a small harvest in the 2nd year, and then every year pleased with an abundance of berries. Up to 60 kg was collected from an adult plant. The drupes are large (weight 4-6 rJ, oval, glossy, shades from bright scarlet to burgundy, gradually darkening. Dense pulp with a sour-sweet, slightly astringent taste (by the time of full ripeness it disappears, and the stone is easily separated). Removable maturity - 1 begins in the second half of August. Dogwood variety Vladimirsky with a bole of 1 cm began to bear fruit, as V. Mayakovsky would say, “two meters tall.”

PLANTING A DONGEL, TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT OF ITS REQUIREMENTS

Dogwood prefers full sun (4-6 hours before or after noon), although it can grow in open partial shade. It can withstand frosts down to 30°, but it must be protected from cold winds. It is undemanding to soils, but grows better on drained nutritious loams of neutral or slightly alkaline reaction (pH 7-7). Taking these requirements into account, we selected the right location.

In the south of the CIS the dogwood tree has bloomed, which means spring has come. In Belarus, this also happens early, but fruiting will be affected by complicating weather factors: rain, fog and, most importantly, return frosts (winter thaws, by the way, too). A couple of cold nights, and as a result - damage to buds, flowers, ovaries, which threatens the death of the future harvest. You can protect plantings from these misfortunes by smoking, or sprinkling (preferably in the morning), or by foliar treatment with a 5% urea solution. An innovative technique such as early spring spraying of the crown with a solution of slaked lime (600 g/10 l of water) also works. By adding 200 g of copper sulfate there, we also protect the plant from fungal infections.

Dogwood and its pollination

Dogwood is a monoecious plant, but apparently it doesn’t have enough strength to pollinate itself without wind or insects, it’s not “used to”, so dogwood is considered cross-pollinating. And bees and other pollinators wake up much later than flowering. Meanwhile, dogwood is an excellent honey plant, and the average daily temperature during the flowering period is rarely above 12° - again, discomfort for bees.

There are two correct solutions to this problem.

1. Cross-pollination with the help of wind is doomed to success if the dogwood is planted at least in pairs. How far apart are they? It's easy to calculate. For proper nutrition, the plant needs approximately 25 square meters. m. This means that the neighboring bush is at a distance of at least 5 m.

2. It happens that there is not enough space for a couple, then we will plant early flowering plants nearby - crocuses, lilies of the valley, primroses, tulips. Insects willingly fly to them, as well as to lilac, basil, rose, and thyme, which at the same time help the dogwood to pollinate itself.

Reference by topic: Growing dogwood in the Moscow region - planting and care, varieties and photos

HOW TO WATER CORRECTLY?

There are no fixed watering standards for dogwood; the gardener is guided by the age of the pet and the condition of the soil. The root system is branched, fibrous, lies at a depth of 20-120 cm, that is, there are many roots almost at the surface. An adult plant can tolerate drought, but not for long, while young plants need moisture so that the leaves do not curl and the tree trunk does not dry out.

Some experts recommend a drip irrigation system, but this is ineffective for dogwood. Why? It is enough to water every 10-14 days, and to prevent the water from spreading, build a side (10 cm high) around the perimeter or dig a couple of grooves. For a young plant (up to 5 years old), 20 liters in the root zone is enough per procedure. A 5-10 year old shrub needs up to 30 liters. The older the plant, the more water it needs. In dry and rainless periods, we increase the irrigation rate. Dogwood is very responsive to finely dispersed sprinkling of the bush (early in the morning or late in the evening).

The crown of every watering is loosening the soil. We use light flower forks or a cultivator-ripper with a tillage depth regulator. It is also good because it removes weeds at the same time.

Planting dogwood. Important details about planting and growing.

FERTILIZERS AND FEEDINGS FOR DONGEL - SO THAT IT BEARS FRUIT!

We fertilize dogwood every year. Below I will give the norms based on 1 plant.

In the spring - “mineral water” (2 tablespoons of urea in granules and 400-500 g of stove ash from wheat straw).

In summer - organic. Prepare a solution of mullein and pour 1 bucket under the bush. After half a month, when loosening the tree trunk circles, we enrich the root zone with 4 tbsp. spoons of granulated superphosphate mixed with a bucket of humus.

In autumn - mature peat manure compost (2-3 kg), and also add 10-12 g of potassium sulfate.

Dogwood is responsive to calcium, so 1–2 fertilizing with calcium nitrate (according to the instructions) or birch infusion (600 g per bucket of water) is the right solution.

Reference by topic: 13 time-tested rules for planting and caring for dogwood

CUTTING WITH NUANCES

Dogwood is also good because formative pruning is rarely carried out - the plant, as a rule, crowns itself. But in general, you can’t do without “surgery”) We start it when the plant adapts and goes up, i.e. at 3-4 years of independent life. To treat instruments we use ethanol or 1% solution of farmiod; we do not use chlorine-containing reagents - they are dangerous for our health). This eliminates the spread of fungal and viral infections. Dogwood quickly grows branches, and this should be responded to. In early spring, before the buds swelled, I thinned out the crown so that more light would come in and the fruit would set faster, and thickening is fraught with disease. During sanitary pruning, we also remove dry, diseased, damaged branches and shoots. We leave 4-6 of the strongest skeletal branches as the basis of the bush.

Pruning in early June makes a lot of sense. Using garden shears (you can break them off) we remove the buds from the tips and branches. By cutting one bud, we stimulate the rapid development of several. You cannot delay this matter, because next year’s harvest is formed precisely at the beginning of the summer of the current year - when the generative buds are laid for the next season.

We remove the lower shoots, especially the basal shoots, periodically. They make the bush sloppy and disheveled. But the main thing is that pruning improves the nutrition of already fruiting branches.

SO THE COLLECTION HAS ARRIVED

The first berries begin to fall off in the second half of August. Do you need to hurry with cleaning? It is necessary, because ripe dogwood becomes dirty and can burst. Here's what we do. We free the lower branches, but there is no need to climb deeper. We spread a tarpaulin around and shake off the fruits in several stages. Fruits with stalks are able to ripen in storage and tolerate transportation and long-term storage fresh. The optimal temperature for this is 1-2°.

Harvesting does not put an end to agricultural technology. In order for the dogwood to gain strength and vigor for winter, we feed it with wood ash (300 g per trunk circle), and subject it to one-time moisture-recharging watering (6-8 buckets of water at room temperature).

READY FOR WINTER

We cover only seedlings and plants up to 2-3 years old with agrofibre. There is no need to wrap, let the bush breathe. Well, the ends of several branches will freeze - we’ll trim them in the spring. But it is necessary to mulch the soil in the tree trunk circle - with a thick, up to 15 cm, layer of peat or leaf litter. In addition, you have to hill up to a height of 20-25 cm or higher, and add humus and compost to the ground. Even if the plant is severely damaged by temperature swings, it is restored by root shoots without interference. Yes, the dogwood grows very slowly, but it is long-lived: 500 annual rings were counted on one handsome veteran. On a personal plot, it is allotted from 100 to 200 years - how many grateful descendants will taste the juicy harvest we planted!

Reference by topic: Will the dogwood take root in the country in the middle lane?