How to grow dogwood in your garden: proper planting and care features

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Dogwood is one of the long-livers that gardeners have undeservedly ignored, capable of growing in one place for more than 200 years. Having begun to bear fruit at a relatively late age (compared to other crops), about 10 years, it produces its tasty and healthy berries for more than 2/3 of its life period, and only the last few decades does the bush rest. How to grow such a crop on your site and what needs to be taken into account when planting and caring for it, we’ll talk about this today.

“Who is” dogwood?

Dogwood is a fairly tall shrub, the height of which depends on the climate in which it grows.
On average, the “height” of bushes is about 3 m, although taller 8-meter comrades are often found, more like trees. Regardless of the species, whether a tree-like variety or a bushy one, in “childhood” all plants actively grow young shoots, colored yellow-green, but, “growing up”, the branches are covered with gray wrinkled bark, which turns red over time. The crown of the bush is round or pyramid-shaped, and the leaves have an elongated shape and a sharp tip.

The leaf plate on top is painted bright green with a slight gloss, while below it is lighter and matte.

Blooming dogwood is no less decorative: yellow lush umbrellas of inflorescences bloom in early spring, in March, before the leaves emerge from the buds on the branches.

Features of dogwood bush

The most famous species of this genus is the common dogwood (male), which is a shrub. It reaches a height of 2.5 meters and has glossy orange-red hanging stems. If the shoot comes into contact with the surface of the soil, it takes root fairly quickly. Alternate or oppositely located leaf plates are colored rich green. Milky-white flowers are part of inflorescences with a five-centimeter diameter. Flowering begins in May and lasts for half a month. The fruits can have 1 or 2 seeds, they ripen in August–October, they can vary in shape and color. In cultivated forms, the length of the fruit is three centimeters; as a rule, their shape is elongated-cylindrical, but sometimes it is almost round, and also pear-shaped or barrel-shaped. As a rule, the color of the fruit is deep red, but yellow, black, pink, and purple are also found. The fruits also differ in their taste, so they can be tart, sweet, sweet-tart, dry or juicy. The dogwood itself can be shaped as a bush or as a tree. This is a frost-resistant plant, but if the temperature drops below minus 30 degrees, the tips of its stems freeze. A bush of such a plant can live longer than a hundred years.

The most delicious dogwood - “Semyon”

Is the berry sweet?

At the end of summer - at the beginning of autumn, elongated berries begin to ripen on the bushes: they are small, up to a maximum of 4 cm in length and up to 8 g in weight each, but with very tasty and juicy pulp. The taste is dominated by sourness and a tart note is clearly felt. It has been noticed that berries left on the bushes during autumn frosts become sweeter.

The color of the berries depends on the variety, but they are generally bright red, although breeders have bred yellow, white and various shades of red dogwood. All of them are very tasty and extremely healthy due to their rich composition of microelements. Excellent compotes and jams, wines and syrups are prepared from dogwood berries, as well as dried, dried and frozen. In addition, dogwood has a number of medicinal properties, which makes it an indispensable assistant in the treatment of many diseases.

To prepare berries for future use, it is better to pick them when the dogwood is just beginning to ripen. Green berries placed in boxes or wicker baskets ripen directly in them.

General information about the plant

Dogwood grows in mid-latitudes. Forms a powerful bush. The fruits are from 2 to 5 cm in length, rich red in color. I loved this berry for the following beneficial properties:

The high content of vitamin C (more than in lemon) improves immunity.
The diuretic and choleretic effect helps fight cholecystitis, cystitis and bacterial diseases of the genitourinary system.
Used in the treatment of gout. A pronounced diuretic effect prevents the development of edema.
Dogwood tinctures are used in the treatment of skin diseases.
Compote helps satisfy hunger, which leads to normalization of metabolic processes and promotes weight loss.

The fruits are well stored dried and frozen without losing their medicinal properties.

When the shoot comes into contact with the soil surface, a root system is formed very quickly. This principle is used to propagate shrubs.

Dogwood can be formed into a bush by annual pruning, or it can be grown as a tree. The trunk is formed on the strongest base, preventing side shoots from taking root.

Dogwood in bloom

The plant tolerates winter quite well. In those regions where the temperature drops below 30°C, there is a need for additional insulation of the root zone with the help of fallen leaves.

The main feature of the dogwood bush is the fact that it bears fruit every year. To ensure abundant harvests, you cannot do without abundant watering, weeding and fertilizing.

Dogwood berries

Where can you find dogwood?

The perennial prefers heat-loving climatic conditions and among the places where dogwood grows, it is worth noting, first of all, the mountain forests of Transcaucasia, the Caucasus and Transcarpathia. Also, a lot of wild dogwood is observed in the Crimea. In the specified area, the crop has the most optimal conditions in which it successfully bears fruit.

The persistent nature of the perennial does not prevent it from growing even among rocks, however, this leaves an imprint on the appearance of the plant. For example, in Armenia, dogwood in the form of a short-trunked, low tree looks out directly from rock crevices.

On the territory of Russia, the perennial is also used everywhere as an ornamental plant, since it has good general frost resistance. However, the characteristic nuances of the growing season require a certain approach to cultivation, especially if you plan not only to get a beautiful hedge, but also to wait for ripe red berries.

Dogwood blossoms very early, and the harvest takes a long time to ripen (more than 200 days).

In this regard, in central Russia it is better to plant early ripening dogwood varieties, otherwise the ovary may suffer from return frosts or the berries will not have time to ripen before the onset of autumn frosts.

All the subtleties of pruning dogwood

The crop easily tolerates any type of pruning. Gardeners perform procedures such as:

Regular pruning of lower wild shoots.
Formative pruning of a crop in the form of a bush or tree.
Sanitary removal of old, frozen, broken, diseased branches, dry tops.
Thinning overgrown, crossing branches.
Rejuvenating procedures for plants over 15 years old. Produced with a noticeable weakening of shoot growth. Performed at the end of winter.

Features of cultural cultivation

Planting and caring for dogwood will not cause much trouble if you choose the variety and location for the shrub responsibly. You should definitely plant only those varieties of dogwood that are able to grow and bear fruit in the local climate. For example, in mid-latitudes, late-ripening dogwood species will not have time to ripen before the arrival of winter, which means preference should be given to early varieties.

When choosing a place to plant a perennial, it is better to stay in the southwestern area, which meets the following requirements (where the dogwood will grow well and bear fruit abundantly):

groundwater lies no closer than one and a half meters;
the soil is fertile and not acidic.

It is necessary to plant dogwood at a distance of at least 5 meters from fences and trees, so that the crown can receive full lighting and the bush has room to grow.

Dogwood. Usage

Use: fruits contain a lot of vitamin C, sugars (in the form of glucose and fructose), organic acids, mainly malic, pectin, tannins and coloring substances, essential oil, vitamin P, the seeds contain fatty oil.

Due to the presence of phytoncides, dogwood fruits and leaves have pronounced bactericidal properties. The fruits are consumed fresh and processed into jellies and compotes, syrups, marmalades, various drinks, fine wine and liqueur.

In folk medicine, they are used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, as an appetite stimulant, diuretic, and tonic for vitamin deficiencies and general weakness of the body. For diarrhea, children are given dogwood jelly. Fresh dogwood fruits are stored longer if sprinkled with granulated sugar. The fruits are also dried and used to prepare infusions and decoctions. Roasted and ground kernels are used as a coffee substitute. In the Caucasus, dogwood is used to make special sweet cakes in the shape of a long ribbon - fruit dough pastila based on pureed pulp, dried in the sun on wooden trays, and tursha - boiled dogwood juice, which can be stored for a very long time. Both products are highly valued in the East and are used as seasoning for various dishes.

Material prepared by: horticulture specialist Buinovsky O.I.

Dogwood in the gardens of Belarus

Separately, it is worth mentioning the cultivation of heat-loving dogwood in Belarus - the local cold climate requires a special approach, in particular, it is better to start planting seedlings in the spring, so that they have time to get stronger by winter. Those plants that are formed in the form of a bush survive the winter best, but even they need to be covered if in winter the average temperature drops below 30 degrees below zero. To do this, the shoots are bent to the ground and the bush is covered with spruce branches.

As a garden and berry crop, the main purpose of which is fruiting, the following early varieties of dogwood, ripening at the end of summer, have proven themselves well in Belarus:

Coral Brand. Unusual dark pink berries with an orange tint ripen in the second half of August.
Elegant. The first harvest is already at the end of July. The cherry-colored berries are shaped like a bottle with a narrow neck and do not crumble until frost. It is characterized by its short stature (no more than 2 m in height).
Mid-season variety Vladimirsky. One of the largest-fruited dogwood species, the weight of one almost black berry is about 10 g, the shape is round, slightly flattened. Ripening occurs in the third ten days of August.

Types and varieties

Dogwood (Cornus mas)

The most famous species of the genus is the common dogwood, a description of which we have already given. Let us only add that the most popular forms of dogwood are:

Pyramidalis - dogwood with a pyramidal crown shape;
Nana – dwarf dogwood with a spherical crown;
Variegata - dogwood with leaves edged with a white stripe;
Aurea - dogwood with golden leaves;
Aurea variegata is a dogwood with yellow variegated leaves.

White Dogwood (Cornus alba)

It is also a very common species in culture, which is found in natural conditions in China, Japan, Korea and almost throughout the entire territory of Russia. This is a shrub up to 3 m high with flexible, thin branches of predominantly red-orange color, although there are forms with black-red and red-brown branches. Its young shoots are covered with a bluish coating. The leaves of plants of this species are broadly ovate, slightly wrinkled, 10-12 cm long, dark green on the upper side of the plate, whitish below, in autumn they turn dark red-purple. Small white flowers up to 5 cm in diameter, collected in corymbose inflorescences, abundantly cover the bush in the first half of summer and again in early autumn.

White spherical fruits with a blue tint ripen just in time for the second flowering of the white dogwood. This type has many decorative forms:

Pawpaw: planting and care, growing in soil

silver-edged - a plant with a creamy white border along the leaves, which turn from green to carmine red in the fall. The color of the bark is also red. Bush height 2-3 m;
Elegantissima is a very winter-hardy, fast-growing form of dogwood up to 3 m high with spectacular red shoots that are striking in winter, and leaves with uneven cream borders, spots and stripes;
Sibirika Aurea is a bush 1.5-2 m high with soft yellow leaves on erect red shoots and creamy white flowers that sometimes bloom again in the fall, simultaneously with the ripening of bluish fruits;
Sibirika Variegata is a two-meter tall dogwood with a wide creamy-white border, stripes and spots on the leaves, which in the fall change the green background to purple, and the border and specks remain cream. The shoots in winter retain the red-coral color of the bark. This plant bears little fruit, grows slowly, and is very suitable for small gardens.

Red or blood red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)

It grows in the undergrowth of deciduous and mixed forests, along the banks of rivers and lakes from the Baltic states to the lower reaches of the Don and from the south of Scandinavia to the Balkans. This is a deciduous shrub up to 4 m high with a branched crown and drooping shoots of different colors - green, red, purple. Its leaves are round, ovate, bright green with fine pubescence on the upper side and densely pubescent, and therefore whitish, on the lower side. In autumn the leaves turn bright red. Small, dull, whitish flowers form corymbose multi-flowered inflorescences up to 7 cm in diameter. They bloom for 15-20 days.

Numerous black fruits look elegant and contrast against the background of bright red leaves. Decorative forms of red dogwood:

The greenest - with shoots, leaves and green fruits;
Variegata is a shrub up to 4 m high with variegated yellow leaves and soft green young shoots that become burgundy with age. The fruits are blue-black;
Mitch's Dogwood - The leaves of this form are pale yellow with small spots.

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Native to eastern North America. This is a deciduous tree with a spreading dense crown that blooms before the leaves bloom. Autumn foliage is bright red. Varieties:

Cherokee Chief – tree height 4-6 m, red-pink bractae;
Rubra - bracts from light pink to bright red, bush height 4-6 m.

Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)

Also from North America, where it grows in damp forests along the banks of watercourses, climbing to altitudes from 450 to 2700 m above sea level. The species is close to white dogwood, but differs primarily in its ability to produce many offspring around the bush. This is a shrub up to 2.5 m high with red-coral shiny shoots, bright green leaves, milky-white flowers collected in inflorescences up to 5 cm in diameter and bluish-white fruits.

Decorative forms of dogwood are:

White-bordered, which includes the White Gold - a medium-sized shrub with a white border along the edges of green leaves;
Flaviramea is a fast-growing shrub with a round bush shape 2-3 m high and wide. Its bark is yellow in winter and spring, and yellowish-green in summer and autumn. The foliage is green, reddish in autumn, but not all - many leaves do not change color;
Kelsey is a dwarf shrub no more than a meter high and up to one and a half meters wide with reddish or bright green bark and green leaves that do not fall until late autumn, although they change color to orange or dark red.

Dogwood Kousa (Cornus kousa)

It grows naturally in Japan and China. This is a winter-hardy deciduous shrub up to 9 m in height with graceful graceful bracts. In autumn the leaves turn bright red. Varieties:

Gold Star - green leaves with a yellow pattern, bush height 5-7 m;
Milky Way is a tall bush, creamy white bracts.

There are a number of creeping dogwoods, which botanists classify as a separate genus - Swedish and Canadian dogwoods; the Svida genus, which includes Georgian and Meyer dogwoods, stands apart.

Dogwood in the Moscow region

Spring planting of seedlings is also recommended when growing dogwood in the Moscow region, where winters are also cold. But local gardeners can boast of an abundance of snow precipitation, which simplifies measures to protect bushes from frost: if the winter temperature averages up to 30 degrees below zero, it is enough to “barricade” the bushes with a snowdrift.

Of the frost-resistant varieties that grow and bear fruit well in the conditions of the Moscow region, it is worth noting:

Nikolka. Dark red, sweet berries ripen in early August.
Grenadier. High-yielding variety (up to 45 kg of berries per bush). The red elongated berries ripen in the first ten days of August and taste sweet and sour.
Elena. At the end of August, you can pick dark red, slightly oval, berries with sweet pulp.

How to plant dogwood correctly

Seedlings take root best in a new location when they are two years old. They usually have a powerful root system, so preparing the hole must be taken very seriously.

Dig a hole with a diameter of 60 cm and a depth of 70 cm.
Sift the excavated soil and remove the roots of perennial weeds.
Prepare the soil mixture: 2 buckets of soil, a bucket of humus, 250 g of ash, 200 g of superphosphate.
Pour half of the prepared soil back into the hole, forming a small hill.
Place a peg and place the seedling next to it so that the root collar is 2-3 cm above ground level.
Fill the hole to the top, compact the soil with your foot.
Tie the dogwood to a stake.

Two buckets of water are poured under each seedling, then the tree trunk circles are mulched with sawdust, shavings, fallen leaves or straw.

To protect against frost during autumn planting, dogwood shoots are covered with burlap, and the roots are protected by hilling up to the grafting level.

How to plant a seedling correctly?

The most convenient way to grow dogwood is with seedlings, which can be purchased at a local nursery, where there is always a large selection of zoned varieties. What does a dogwood seedling look like? It should be:

no older and no younger than 2 years:
with a well-developed root system;
up to 1.5 m high;
with a stem diameter of up to 2 cm;
with at least 5 formed skeletal branches.

The optimal planting time is autumn. For the seedling, dig a planting hole measuring 60*60 cm. Mix the top layer of soil with mineral fertilizers and humus and fill the bush, deepening the root collar no more than 3 cm above the soil level (after the soil settles, the neck should be even with it). After watering, mulch the tree trunk circle and it is advisable to shorten the shoots of the bush, leaving 2/3 of their length.

Planting dogwoods must be done in pairs, at a distance of 3 to 5 m from each other. This is necessary for pollination, because in early spring, when the perennial blooms, it is still cold outside and the bees have not yet begun their work.

Dogwood care and feeding

Dogwood is an unpretentious plant that does not require special care and will grow even with minimal attention. But to obtain the expected varietal harvest and high-quality fruits, regular watering, loosening, weed control, diseases and pests, fertilizing, and pruning are performed.

Watering

Regular watering with warm water is the main procedure for caring for seedlings during the first year after planting. Water the plant at least 2 times a week in the circle around the trunk, in dry summer times - as the soil dries out. Adult plants are watered as needed, avoiding severe drying out of the soil and excessive waterlogging.

Loosening, weeding, mulch

Loosening the soil to a depth of 10 cm is carried out the next day after watering. During the season, at least 6-7 loosenings are performed for shrubs of any age. Up to three years of age, planted seedlings are protected from weeds and the soil is weeded at a distance of 1 meter from the plant. Mulch the soil after watering and loosening with straw, sawdust, hay, and pine needles.

Disease Control

The young bush is susceptible to infectious diseases. It is treated regularly with fungicides, like all fruit trees. Gradually, with age, the bush's immunity strengthens.

Preparing for winter

Shelter for the winter is provided only for seedlings, since an adult plant can easily tolerate frosts of over 30 degrees. The soil around the trunk circle is mulched with fallen leaves, branches, and peat to a depth of 20 cm. The shrub is wrapped in agrofibre and burlap. In particularly harsh conditions, the plant freezes out, but is restored by growth. To protect against severe frosts, the bush is hilled as high as possible.

Fertilizer

The crop is fed to increase yield several times during the growing season.

First time. Every year before the summer season, a solution of chicken manure is added, where 1 part of manure is added to 9 parts of water. Or they apply fertilizer, which consists of a bucket of humus and 2 tablespoons of ammonium nitrate.
Second time. During the ripening period, the fruits are fed with a solution of ash.
Third time. After picking the berries, add 100 g of superphosphate.

Lime is regularly added, which regulates the potassium content in the soil, which is necessary for the development of shrubs.

Experts advise limiting maintenance to a minimum during the first 3 years of shrub development.

The nuances of seed cultivation of dogwood

For those who like to experiment, you can try growing a useful perennial from drupes. This procedure is quite lengthy, since they take a very long time to germinate, but it is useful if it is problematic to purchase a ready-made seedling.

What should you pay attention to and how to grow dogwood from a seed? First of all, this is seed stratification: after harvesting, remove the pulp from ripe berries, wash them and place them in a container with sawdust. Over the next year, the drupes should remain there, but it is important to constantly maintain a high level of humidity by regularly moistening the sawdust.

Stratified drupes sprout in the year of planting, whereas without this procedure it takes at least two years to wait for sprouts.

Prepared dogwood seeds should be planted in nutritious soil and cared for as usual: watered and fertilized. It is worth considering the rate at which dogwood grows from seeds: two years after germination, the seedling will stretch only 15 cm. But the harvest from such a plant can be obtained no earlier than after 7 years. For this reason, gardeners are looking for every opportunity to buy seedlings. Buying full-fledged dogwood bushes allows you to save yourself from the hassle of growing and speed up fruiting.

Dogwood propagation

Reproduction methods

In amateur gardening, dogwoods are propagated mainly vegetatively, but seed propagation is also quite possible.

Growing from seed

Dogwood seeds are cleared of pulp and placed in damp moss or sawdust for a whole year, constantly maintaining a moist environment - this way the seeds are stratified before sowing. The dogwood seed does not break up into cotyledons, so it should be immersed in the soil no more than 3 cm.

Calathea: cultivation, types and varieties

Unstratified seeds germinate only after two years, and not all of them. Stratified seeds germinate in the year of sowing. Seed care is usual: watering, fertilizing, weeding, shading from scorching rays at the very beginning of growth. During the first year, seedlings grow only up to 3-4 cm, by the end of the second - up to 10-15 cm, and in the fall they can be planted in open ground in a nursery. Dogwood bears fruit from seeds only after 7-10 years.

For seed propagation, the seeds of wild dogwood species are used, then, when young seedlings grow from them, they are used as rootstocks for cultivated dogwood species.

Propagation by cuttings

For dogwood cuttings, only green cuttings from bushes no younger than 5-6 years are suitable - lignified cuttings take root very poorly. Cuttings 10-15 cm long are cut early in the morning from shoots in the active growth phase; each should have a well-developed growing point and two pairs of leaves. After cutting, the cuttings are immediately placed in water. The oblique lower cut should extend half a centimeter to a centimeter below the bud.

Before planting, the cuttings are deprived of the lower pair of leaves and kept for six to twelve hours in a three percent heteroauxin solution. Then they are washed, planted at an angle of 45º in a shady place, in soil sprinkled on top with a layer of well-washed sand 7-10 cm thick, and covered with polyethylene so that there is a gap of 15-20 cm between the film and the cuttings. After planting, the cuttings are watered , and in the future the soil is kept in a slightly moist state, avoiding direct sunlight on the cuttings.

You need to water the area through a fine sieve so that the water does not flow, but splashes. The temperature under the film should be about 25 ºC, and as soon as it rises above, lift the film for ventilation. The cuttings take root in two to three weeks, after which they begin to harden - this will take about two weeks of time, then the film is removed, and the stronger cuttings are fed with liquid ammonium nitrate (30 g per bucket of water). Next autumn the bushes are planted in a permanent place.

Dogwood grafting

Budding is carried out in August-September on planted and rooted two-year-old seedlings of wild dogwood, and cultivated plant varieties are used as a scion. Using a sharp knife, make a crosswise cut on the rootstock - horizontally and vertically, and make a vertical cut up to 3 cm deep. Cut a bud with bark, leaf petiole and part of the wood from the scion, insert it into the vertical cut, carefully pushing the bark on it to the side , and fix the scion with budding tape (you can use stationery tape).

After two to three weeks, if you did everything correctly, the petiole will fall off. In October the film can be removed. Emerging shoots of the rootstock must be removed.

Reproduction by layering

Horizontal arched annual shoots are used as layering. In the spring, as soon as the soil warms up, dig it around the dogwood bush with the addition of fertilizers, level it, make grooves in it, bend and lay the intended shoots in them, pin them and sprinkle soil at the attachment point, and pinch the tops. When green shoots 10-12 cm high develop at the attachment points of the cuttings, sprinkle them halfway with soil; after 2-3 weeks, when the shoots have gained the same amount of growth, sprinkle them halfway again.

In the fall or next spring, the cuttings are separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place.

Dividing the bush

This method is used when it is necessary to transplant a dogwood bush to a new location. In the spring, before the buds swell, or in the fall, a month before frost, the dogwood is dug up, all old branches are removed from it, the root system is carefully freed from the soil and the bush is cut into several approximately equal parts, each of which has good roots and healthy aboveground part. Before planting, the old roots are cut out, the rest are slightly shortened.

Dogwood is also propagated by root shoots, if they grow from a rooted plant - the shoots are separated from the bush and transplanted to a new place. In a grafted plant, the root growth grows from the rootstock - a wild type of dogwood; you are unlikely to need it.

Easy shrub care

Growing and caring for dogwood in general is not a troublesome task. In the first year, young bushes need frequent watering, but with age, the perennial is able to remain without additional moisture for a longer period of time. After each watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture. You will also need to pull out weeds so that they do not choke the plant. In general, everything is the same as with other garden crops.

Separately, it is worth highlighting the formation of the crown - its future contour is set during planting or in the first year of the seedling’s life, leaving a 50-centimeter standard and from 5 to 7 skeletal branches. In the future, every spring it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning, cutting out young growth, damaged branches that thicken the crown, growing inside the bush or intersecting with each other.

When the dogwood is 20 years old, the bush can be rejuvenated by cutting out branches at the age of 4 years - this will stimulate the formation of new shoots.

As for fertilizing, the perennial develops well without it, especially in fertile soil, but for good yield, dogwood is still recommended to be fertilized. The feeding scheme is as follows:

in spring – nitrogen-phosphorus preparations;
in summer - organic (infusion of chicken manure);
in the fall - humus and potash fertilizers, as well as ash for digging up the trunk circle.

Dogwood growing in a home garden is most often propagated by the vegetative method as it is the most effective and gives quick results, namely:

cuttings;
layering;
vaccination.

In conclusion, I would like to say that every summer resident should have tasty and healthy dogwood berries on his property. This perennial will not only decorate it, but also provide its owners with natural vitamins, and more than one generation will enjoy them.

Shrub care

Caring for the plant almost completely replicates the care for any fruit-bearing tree or shrub that inhabits the average garden. Like all plants, dogwood needs watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil and pruning the crown.

Harvest from one bush

However, since next year’s dogwood buds are formed simultaneously with this year’s fruits, caring for it, especially watering and fertilizing, must be carried out in a timely manner and in no case be late, since a shift in timing even by ten days can be fatal for the next harvest of the year.

Watering

Watering the plant is carried out in the evening or in cloudy weather. It should be plentiful, but not frequent. Usually 1-2 waterings per week are sufficient. There are no watering standards as such; it is necessary to focus on the moisture content of the top layer of soil.

On the other hand, since dogwood is a perennial plant, you can roughly estimate the required watering rates depending on the age of the plant. A plant up to 5 years old needs about 20 liters per watering.

Age 5-10 years requires about 30 liters, older plants will require 40 or 50 liters per watering. In hot weather, watering rates can be increased by 30-50%.

Dogwood fruit sizes

Watering is carried out at the root of the plant, and it is advisable to surround it with a small border with a diameter of about a meter (for plants over 10 years old - 2 m) and a height of 10-15 cm, so that the water does not spread over the area. The plant does not require sprinkling or drip watering.

The procedure for watering a plant always ends with loosening the soil around it. In this case, you should loosen all the soil inside the watering circle, limited by the edge. Loosening should be carried out to a depth of 8-10 cm, the soil should be carefully processed and weeds and pests should be removed from it, if any are found.

Feeding

During the season, the plant needs five feedings, each of which must be applied strictly on time. It is advisable to combine fertilizing with watering the plant and loosening the soil underneath it.

Each fertilizing is applied after the occurrence of a certain event, and if for some reason it was missed, you should not rush to apply it late on the principle of “just to do it.” It is necessary to understand at what stage the plant is currently in order to either adjust this feeding or abandon it altogether.

After the start of flowering, the bush is fertilized with potassium sulfate

The above applies primarily to nitrogenous fertilizers. Since dogwood flowers bloom very early, it is recommended to apply them only once and only in early spring. On the other hand, already in June the plant may feel a serious need for nitrogen, since significant forces have been devoted to the growing season and the formation of generative buds.

Let's consider the recommended scheme for fertilizing dogwood depending on the time of year:

1 As soon as the snow melts, up to 10 kg of humus or compost is added to each plant. At this stage, you can also apply mineral fertilizer in the form of superphosphate in the amount of 50 g per plant. You should also add up to 1 cup of wood ash under each tree.

2 After the start of flowering, it is necessary to fertilize the plant with potassium salts (it is better to use potassium sulfate rather than chloride for this purpose) in an amount of 20-30 g.

3 With the beginning of the formation of generative buds next year (end of May - June), superphosphate or nitroammophoska is added; application rates are 50 g and 40 g, respectively. Also at this stage, calcium is added again - in the form of ash or chalk.

4 At the end of summer, to accelerate the growth of shoots, you can again apply nitrogen fertilizers along with potassium fertilizers. This can be urea (30 g) and potassium sulfate (20-30 g).

5 In late autumn or before winter, organic fertilizers (compost, humus or a solution of mullein in water) and ash are again applied to each plant.

Two important points in fertilizing that should not be forgotten:

During the period from April to June, it is not recommended to apply nitrogenous fertilizers so that the plant produces flowers and fruits rather than shoots
calcium is applied two, or preferably three times per season, since dogwood prefers alkaline rather than acidic soils

Plant pruning

Growing dogwood requires regular pruning, since its shoots grow quite quickly and a too thick crown does not contribute to high yields.

An overgrown tree that needs pruning

As usual, this process is divided into sanitary and formative trimming.

Before cutting each branch, dip the pruning shears in a solution of bleach in water (concentration 1 to 3). This is done so as not to transfer infections or fungal spores from diseased and damaged areas.

1 Sanitary pruning is carried out in winter or early spring, that is, during the dormant period of the plant. In this case, diseased or damaged shoots of the plant should be removed. Frostbitten branches and additional shoots growing from the root system are also removed.

Separately, you should consider removing shoots damaged by fungus or pests . They should be removed completely, even if they have healthy buds and these shoots fruited well last season. After completing sanitary pruning, all cut shoots must be destroyed; It's best to burn them.

A well-formed center of the plant that needs a little cosmetic pruning

2 Formative pruning aims not only to give the plant a more aesthetic appearance, but also to stimulate the growth of young shoots, since maximum fruiting occurs on branches that are not more than two years old.

Also at this stage, you should remove to the base all branches growing inside the bush and branches located below the grafting point, if the dogwood has been grafted.

Removing non-fruiting branches

Some dogwood species may not require formative pruning in the general sense of the expression, since the growth of branches in these species is directed radially, from the central trunk.

In this case, it is necessary to thin the plant by removing branches from this and last year on which less than three generative buds have been formed, or where there are no buds at all. As practice shows, if the inner branch does not bear fruit for more than two seasons, it will never bear fruit again.

How to grow dogwood in Ukraine and Belarus

In the climatic conditions of Ukraine and Belarus, it is recommended to grow fruit crops in bush form. A rich harvest is possible only when plants are placed in well-warmed and sunny places.

The best dogwood varieties

Garden trees, unlike wild ones, have large and juicy fruits, and are also characterized by regular fruiting. Gardeners have developed many large-fruited varieties. tolerate harsh climates well and produce crops in uncomfortable southern conditions:

Lukyanovsky. It has a high yield (more than 70 kg). The tree grows up to 3m and has a round crown.
Coral Brand. Productivity 40 kg. Obtained by crossing the Amber variety with a regular one. Famous for its amazing cherry taste.
Vladimirsky. An adult tree produces up to 60 kg of harvest. Large red-black berries have a sweet and sour taste. Ripening time is in August.
Vydubitsky. The yield is similar to the Vladimir variety. Many gardeners prefer this species due to its early ripening.
Eugenics. From one mature tree you can collect up to 50 kg of sweet and sour fruits. If, due to climatic conditions, it is necessary to harvest the crop ahead of schedule, the fruits will ripen well even when harvested.
Firefly. It has the largest fruits, ripening in the last week of August - early September.

Also read: Pomegranate in open ground: growing, planting, best varieties

Kizil Vydubitsky

To obtain new varieties, dogwoods are propagated by seeds. Although Kharkov does not have very severe winters, in order to avoid damage to young branches, plants require good shelter for the winter.

General landing rules

Well-prepared soil for planting dogwood guarantees a rich harvest in the future. Six months before planting seedlings, it is recommended:

in the place planned for planting, dig up the soil well (up to 80 cm);
remove weeds;
fertilize the soil with manure;
Lime acidic soil;
Before planting seedlings, prepare the holes by filling them with fertile soil.

Experts do not recommend planting trees individually. For good pollination, 2–3 seedlings are enough.

How to plant dogwood (video)

Watering and fertilizing the tree

Since dogwood has a shallow root system, it absorbs precipitation well. To prevent the roots from drying out in dry weather, you need to water the plant yourself. Over the entire season, this fruit crop requires moisture only 3 times:

spring period (at the beginning of the growing season);
before harvest (2 weeks);
after harvest (after 3 weeks).

The amount of water depends on the condition of the soil and the tree. In spring, plantings need additional nutrition. Nitrogen fertilizers work well. In the fall, it is important to add potash fertilizers. In order to harvest a bountiful harvest, the soil must contain calcium, so lime is added to it. Throughout the season, trees or shrubs regularly need to be fertilized with peat, compost or other organic matter (hay, grass).

To prevent the roots from drying out in dry weather, you need to water the dogwood yourself.

Harvesting and storage

The fruits of the plant in question are harvested from August to September (depending on the ripening period). The berries are removed by hand. You should not delay harvesting, because fruits that have reached physical ripeness do not stick to the branches, fall off, and as a result are eaten by birds and are affected by fruit rot.

The shelf life of the product will depend entirely on the conditions:

at a temperature of +1...+3°C in a dark room, fresh berries retain their value for 10 days;
dried fruits can be stored for up to 2 years;
frozen and processed berries are edible for 12–18 months.

If you plan to transport the fruits, then the collection should be carried out at the stage of technical maturity, when they are still dense and have not begun to turn black. The product is immediately laid out in small containers lined with parchment and transported.

The most famous and popular dogwood varieties

Vladimirsky is distinguished by its consistently high annual yield and large berries. Frost-resistant and unpretentious variety of dogwood.

Tender - yellow berries with delicate sweet pulp. High taste characteristics remain even during canning.

Elegant - dark cherry fruits have a bottle shape. A distinctive feature is that a harvest that is not harvested on time does not fall off the tree. Early variety.

Exotic - large-fruited tree with a good and stable harvest.

Why doesn't dogwood bear fruit?

Common dogwood does not bear fruit for many reasons:

the planted bushes are clones, that is, they come from one mother plant;
lack of pollinating bees during flowering;
lack of nutrients in the soil (very rare);
waterlogging;
overdrying of the soil
insufficient growing season.

If the summer is dry, then you cannot overdo it with fertilizers. Due to the lack of water in the soil, the concentration of salts there is already increased. Additionally, applying fertilizer will cause moisture to be “sucked out” from the roots, which will only worsen the problem.

Benefits of dogwood berries

Dogwood fruits are an excellent source of vitamin C, E, and many micro- and macroelements necessary for humans. The berries of the plant normalize metabolic processes in the body, relieve inflammation, and have a bactericidal and astringent effect.

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Dogwood: from flowering to ripening

In addition to its official botanical names, the common dogwood has one more name: devil berry. There is a legend about the origin of the name associated with the timing of flowering and ripening of dogwood fruits.

When Allah created the world and decided to rest, during his sleep all living beings came running to the Gardens of Eden and began to divide the plants. There was a noise, a din, and a fight began. Allah did not like this, and he demanded that everyone choose only one plant. Among those who wanted to get something useful for themselves was the shaitan. And Shaitan asked for a dogwood, considering himself the most cunning. After all, the common dogwood blooms earlier than all other berry plants.

This is true. The flowering period for this plant is in April at an air temperature of 8-12°C. The flowers of the male dera are small and yellow. Umbrella inflorescences. The number of flowers in an umbrella is 15-25. Flowers have 4 stamens and a pistil, that is, they are bisexual. Petals 4. Flowering lasts 10-14 days. The common dogwood blooming in the photo is a specimen from the forest. Garden varieties of derain do not look so beautiful.

“Early flowering dogwood means early harvest,” thought the shaitan. The first berry is highly valued and you can make a lot of money from it. Why does Satan need money, the legend is silent. He sat down under a tree to wait for his harvest of early berries. Summer has passed, all the other fruits and berries have already ripened, but the dogwood is still green.

Shaitan decided to speed up the ripening of the fruit (that’s when this technology was born) and began to blow on the berries. The dogwood turned bright red but remained very sour and firm. Frustrated by the failure of a super-profitable business, the shaitan told people to take this crap for themselves and spat in frustration. So much so that the dogwood berries turned black.

And now in late autumn, after harvesting all the harvest in the gardens, people went into the forest for dogwood berries. They collected black but sweet berries and laughed at Satan.

In fact, the common dogwood does not ripen so late. The harvesting period for the fruits of the male tree is the end of August - September. And you can’t delay harvesting, as the berries fall to the ground.

Attention! A sign of a cold winter is associated with a large harvest of dogwood berries.

And then everything was attributed to the shaitan, since he was very offended that he gave his berries to people. The next year, Shaitan managed to double the dogwood harvest. People were happy about this. But to ripen so many derain fruits, it also required twice as much solar heat. And the sun, which gave up all the heat during the summer, could not warm the earth in winter. Since then, there has been a sign that if the common dogwood has grown well, it means that the winter will be cold.

Dogwood pollination

Although the common dogwood has bisexual flowers, pollination does not occur on one plant. To produce a harvest, dogwood needs a pollinator. The wind acts as a pollinator for male deer at low temperatures, so it is necessary to plant at least two specimens of different varieties in the garden for cross-pollination to occur.

Important! When pollinated by clones of the same plant, there will be no harvest.

Common dogwood is a strict cross-pollinated plant, so you can plant two bushes of the same variety, but these seedlings must be from different mother bushes. The easiest way to guarantee a harvest from a plant is to plant a wild forest bush next to the garden variety of male dera.

When pollinated by wind, the yield will be low. Other pollinators of dogwood are honey bees. If they are available, the garden owner is guaranteed an annual rich harvest of derain berries.

On a note! Common dogwood is a good honey plant.

How the garden dogwood blooms

The flowering of garden varieties of male dera is the same as that of the wild ancestor. Due to the fact that summer cottages are usually protected from cold winds and have their own microclimate, garden turf can bloom even earlier than wild plants. In northern regions, turf may begin to bloom too early and, as a result, fail to bear fruit.

When is dogwood harvested?

Cultivated dogwood can not only be of different colors and shapes, but also have early, mid and late ripening varieties. Early varieties of male dogwood begin to bear fruit in the second half of August, late varieties - in mid-October. Therefore, the timing of harvesting berries from male deer bushes in the garden can last for 2 months if you choose the varieties correctly.

The common dogwood does not ripen very smoothly and among the ripe berries there are unripe ones. When harvesting berries “for yourself,” you will have to pick the same plant several times.

The productivity of male tree depends on age.

Age, g	Productivity, kg
5—10	8—25
15—20	40—60
25—40	80—100

Dogwood diseases

It is believed that male derain is not susceptible to diseases. At least in the northern regions. In fact, there are no living organisms that are not susceptible to certain diseases. Fungal diseases and pests of dogwood are the same as those of other fruit trees.

Fungal diseases that affect male turf:

scab (Ventura cerasi);
fruit rot (Monilia fructigena). It often affects fruits during long-term storage;
powdery mildew (Erysiphales);
leaf spotting, which is caused by three types of fungi: Ascochuta cornicola, Cercospora cornicola, Septoria cornicola;
brown edged spot (Ramularia angustissima);
dark brown spot (Fusicladium pyracanthae);
fruit rot (Colletotrichum corni);
rust (fungus Fungosporangium chavarieformae).

Below in the photo is what rust looks like on a sheet of male wood.

Methods of combating fungi are common for all plants: spraying leaves with fungicides.

In addition to fungi, the plant can infect such a large organism as the false polypore (Fomes igniarius), which causes rot of healthy parts of the plant. The only way to get rid of tinder fungus is to completely cut down all infected plants and burn them. Since male turf can grow from the root, all root systems of affected plants will also have to be removed.

Of the insects, the male dera plant is eaten by:

cochlear scale insect;
microcodling moth;
multicolor caterpillar.

Conventional methods of exterminating insect pests in gardens will protect the male turf from them. Insects are natural enemies of dogwood and may indeed not be found in northern regions.

The leaves of the common dogwood curl not because of disease, but because of drought and on hot days. If by evening the foliage of the male tree has unfurled, then everything is in order. If not, the plant needs to be watered.

What are the benefits of dogwood for the body?

Traditional medicine has studied and used the beneficial properties of all dogwood nutrients. This is an essential component of the diet for some diseases.

For women

This is a proven useful ladies' ally. In addition to the general effect, the properties of dogwood help solve purely female problems. All parts of the plant are useful in cosmetology:

The pulp of the berries makes a moisturizing and vitaminizing mask for the face and hair.
The cream, enriched with beneficial berry extract, tones and moisturizes the skin. At the same time, it cleanses pores, removing dark spots, oiliness, and smoothing out wrinkles.
The bark is brewed for anti-inflammatory masks.
Rinsing with dogwood decoction makes hair strong, silky, and relieves itching and dandruff.
Ground bones are a healthy, wonderful and safe body scrub.

You can add dogwood juice or pulp to store-bought cream. The berries are endowed with antispasmodic properties, therefore they are useful for women during painful periods.

For men

Men are more susceptible to stress, experience more physical activity, and neglect the prevention of seasonal viral infections. When consuming dogwood berries, the beneficial properties will appear as follows:

Toxins will be removed, which is useful in case of poisoning or working in an enterprise with harmful conditions.
The functioning of the genitourinary system will improve.
Potency will increase.

Contraindications are universal: problems with the stomach, nervous system, constipation.

Dogwood: description of the plant

A deciduous, medium-sized plant from the small dogwood family. The second name for dogwood is male dogwood. The root system of the tree is located close to the surface of the earth, fibrous. The leaves are large, 3.5-8 cm long. The location on the branch is opposite. The leaf shape is simple. The color is bright green. The leaf has 3-5 pairs of veins.

The fruit is an oval-shaped drupe of dark brown, almost black color. The berries of the common wild dogwood have relatively little pulp. It is less juicy and denser than the fruits of cultivated forms of deren.

The fruits of garden dogwood are very large and juicy. Can be of different shapes:

pear-shaped;
spherical;
oval.

The color of the ripe berry is very dark. A more common belief is that dogwood berries are red. In fact, derain berries are collected very early, while the fruits are still hard. Ripe berries are dark brown, almost black in color and burst easily.

Attention! Red fruits can compete with lemon in terms of acidity.

The surface of the berries of the male tree is shiny and smooth. The structure of the fruit may be incorrect, then the berry will look lumpy. Ripe dogwood berries in the photo below.

Depending on the variety of garden tree, the weight of the berry ranges from 2 to 6 g. The percentage of pulp to the total weight of the fruit: for wild 68%, for garden 88%.

The natural habitat of the common wild dogwood is the southern regions. Thickets of the plant are found throughout the Southwestern part of Russia. The most favorable conditions for male deren are in the mountains and foothills of the Caucasus and Crimea.

The common wild dogwood did not take root well in gardeners' summer cottages, since it is essentially undergrowth and requires forest soil for successful growth. Also, male turf could not be grown north of its natural habitats.

Dogwood is a tree or shrub

Botanists often like to make fun of non-specialists by asking a question about this or that representative of the flora: is it a shrub or a tree. To the amazement of ordinary people, a tree often turns out to be a bush, and a bush is actually a tree. You can also joke like this with an ordinary dogwood. Initially, dogwood is a shrub 3-5 meters high. But on soil rich in nutrients, the strongest shoot can grow and turn into a tree 5-6 m high.

Important! A dogwood that has grown into a tree has horizontal branches with dark bark.

Dogwood compatibility with other trees

Gardeners know that many trees do not tolerate proximity to each other. The main enemy of all fruit trees is the walnut. But other plants are not always friends. For example, a pear cannot be planted next to a cherry. Due to the fact that the dogwood is still a somewhat exotic inhabitant of the garden, there is almost no compatibility data on it.

It is guaranteed that you can plant different varieties of dogwood next to each other. The compatibility is perfect. According to unverified data, young dogwood can be planted under an adult apricot. Nobody knows what will happen in the opposite situation. According to other gardeners, dogwood can be planted under almost any fruit tree, since it even prefers shaded places. What those trees under which the owner planted the new plant “think” about this is not specified.

Warning! In nature, the common dogwood reproduces by root shoots and is quite capable of strangling a fruit tree.

The statement that the dogwood bush is the only one that can grow under a walnut is very doubtful. In nature, walnut and turf do not come into contact.

Frost resistance of dogwood

The plant is distinguished not only by relatively good drought resistance, but also by high frost resistance. Common dogwood can withstand frosts down to -35°C, which makes it possible to grow garden varieties of dogwood in the northern regions. But it will not be possible to grow a dogwood tree in Siberia, since severe frosts often occur there. Because of this, only the shrub form of the tree is possible. When the ground part freezes, the plant recovers by sending out shoots from the roots.

Homeland of dogwood

The historical homeland of dogwood is considered to be China, on whose territory the first mentions of the cultivation of this crop were found. However, today, the plant is found throughout the globe: in Europe, South Africa, Asia Minor, Japan, North America and others. Dogwood is absent only in Australia.

Did you know? According to research by linguists, dogwood took its name from the Turkic language and translated means “red,” which reflects its rich scarlet color.

Dogwood varieties suitable for cultivation in Belarus

Dogwood is quite frost-resistant and can grow in almost any climate. Problems may arise with harvesting: early flowering makes the plant very vulnerable to spring frosts, and with the early onset of cold weather in autumn, the berries do not have time to ripen. Therefore, under short summer conditions, it is better to choose varieties of early and medium ripening.

In Belarus, it is possible to successfully grow dogwood varieties selected by S.V. Klimenko: Vladimirsky, Elegantny, Nezhny and others. In addition, some nurseries in the city of Minsk (Nursery of fruit and berry crops “VICTORY GARDENS”, “Garden World”, GoldenSad) offer varieties Crimean and Original, as well as dogwood seedlings.

Vladimirsky

Vladimirsky is a large-fruited, high-yielding variety. Shiny, red or black-red in color, large (on average 7.5 g, maximum up to 9.5 g), slightly flattened oval fruits turn black by the time they are completely ripe. The berries are firmly attached to the stalk. The pulp with a dense cartilaginous structure has a sour-sweet taste. The stone accounts for approximately one tenth of the fruit's weight. Ripening occurs in the 20th of August. Vladimirsky bears fruit regularly and abundantly - an adult plant produces up to 60 kg of berries.

The dogwood variety Vladimirsky is one of the most common in Belarus.

Vydubetsky

Vydubetsky also belongs to the large-fruited varieties, although the size of the fruits is inferior to Vladimir - the average weight is 6.5 g, maximum 7.6 g. The berries are burgundy, oval-pear-shaped. The thin, glossy skin covers the dark red, juicy pulp with a sweet and sour taste and a pronounced dogwood aroma. Ripe berries almost never fall off. It ripens in the 20th of August and produces regular large yields (50–60 kg per mature tree).

Vydubetsky is a large-fruited, high-yielding dogwood variety

Evgeniya

The berries of this dogwood have a regular oval shape, covered with a thin and dense glossy skin of dark red and then almost black color. The sweetish-sour tender pulp has the same color as the skin. The size of the fruit is the same as that of Vydubetsky, the seed is small (8.5% of the weight of the berry). It ripens a little later than the previously described varieties - from the last days of August to September 5. The variety is characterized by high yield - up to 50 kg of berries can be obtained from a 15-year-old tree. The ripening of the crop is smooth, the shedding is low. The berries can be stored for 4–6 weeks; they have the ability to ripen during storage. It is considered one of the best varieties in terms of nutrient content: sugars - 11%, vitamin C - an average of 168 mg per 100 g, pectins - 1.3%. The berries retain their quality well when frozen.

The dogwood variety Evgenia produces very tasty fruits with a high content of vitamins

Elena

The Elena dogwood harvest ripens early (the first half of August). The fruits are not too large - on average 5 g, maximum - 6 g. The berries are round-ovoid in shape, have a bright red or dark red color and are covered with a shiny, thin skin. The red-colored flesh is juicy and has a delicate, medium-dense structure, with a sweet and sour taste. The small bone makes up about 9% of the total mass. The fruits, when overripe, fall to the ground, so it is recommended to collect them 5–6 days before full ripeness.

Good both for table consumption and for making juice, wine, jam and other preparations.

The dogwood variety Elena is characterized by high productivity

Coral Brand

Coral Marka is a unique variety with unusual barrel-shaped berries of pink-orange color. This color is explained by the origin of the variety from the crossing of Yantarny dogwood (yellow-fruited) with red-fruited varieties. Medium-sized fruits (weight 6 g, maximum 6.8 g). Fully ripe berries become transparent. The pink pulp has a sweet, slightly sour taste reminiscent of cherries. Ripening occurs on average - August 15–20. The plants bear fruit annually, yielding 35–40 kg of berries from 1 tree. The fruits are tasty both fresh and processed. Jellies, jams and juices made from this dogwood are especially high quality.

Dogwood variety Coral Brand has an unusual fruit color

Elegant

Elegant is an early variety, ripening in early August and sometimes at the end of July. Smooth, beautiful berries have the shape of an elegant bottle. The weight of the fruit is 4.5–5 g. The color of ripe berries is cherry-black, the pulp is dark red, with a delicate structure and pleasant taste. The berries stick very well to the branches and do not fall off until frost. The plants are low-growing (up to 2 m tall), characterized by a rather wide, sparse crown. The yield is high - 30–50 kg from trees 15 years old. Usually the berries of this variety are consumed fresh.

Dogwood of the Elegant variety ripens early, and the berries can stay on the branches until frost

Original

Dogwood Original early ripening (from August 20 to September 10). It is characterized by high frost and drought resistance. The fruits are quite large (5.6 - 6.5 g), beautiful, pear-shaped. A thin glossy red skin covers the same red flesh, not too dense, with a sweet and sour taste. The tree's yield is high - 45–50 kg.

An adult dogwood tree of the Original variety annually produces up to 50 kg of beautiful pear-shaped fruits