Shepherdia silver - Shepherdia argentea (Pursh) Nutt
Content:
Shepherdia Silver resembles sea buckthorn. However, this is a completely different vegetation. You should find out about the differences between these cultures, the characteristics of the guest from America, and also why she appeared on the garden plots of Russia.
Shepherdia silver: variety description
Shepherdia silver: photo
The culture belongs to the Lokhovye family, sea buckthorn is also included in it. The plant we are considering is known as the "Krasnoplodnaya" sea buckthorn. This shrub is large in height, has thorns, and they may also be absent. The bush is dioecious. Female plants need male plants for pollination.
general characteristics
The plant grows up to four meters high. Twigs are thin, curved, often have thorns. The leaves are elongated, covered with a silvery fluff. The flowers are small, yellow-colored, and appear before the leaves bloom in April.
There are female and male vegetation of the type of flower buds. The female plants are covered with small pointed buds, the male plants are large and round. The shrub is very attractive in any period of the spring and summer seasons. The silvery bush is decorated with yellow flowers in the spring season and red fruits in the summer.
Fruit
The appearance of fruits occurs from 2 years after planting. The berries are round in shape, up to 1.5 cm in diameter. Their color is deep red, with small blotches, the fruits can be eaten by humans and birds. Taste - fruits are sour, bitter, have astringency. Ripening occurs by the first days of September. The assessment of the tasters is not so high, because it is simply impossible to eat them fresh.
Shepherdia silvery: winter hardiness zone
This type of shepherdia has perfectly adapted to the climatic conditions of Europe. Shepherdia silvery has a good winter hardiness zone and resistance to dry periods. She also has a strong immunity to diseases and harmful insects. The plant is undemanding, it needs minimal care. It can easily grow with different vegetation.
You can cultivate a shrub on any soil, but it will feel more comfortable on a loose and nutrient-rich substrate.
When shepherdia blooms and ripens
Flowering begins on April days before the leaves appear. Small flowers are collected in tassels, they remain hanging on the branches for ten days. Full ripening occurs by the last days of August. The fruits left on the bush before the onset of frosty periods become sweeter in taste.
Productivity, fruiting
If you properly look after the shepherd, then the yield indicator will be high. A young bush two years after planting can bear fifteen kg of fruit. Fruiting annually up to thirty to fifty years. Over the years, the yield indicator becomes more and more and even reaches thirty kg per bush.
Where are the fruits used?
Fresh berries are practically not eaten, because they have an astringent tart aftertaste. The most popular are dessert, jam, compote, low alcohol from shepherdia. The usefulness of the plant is difficult to assess until the end. It is added to sauces for meat and fish.
Shepherdia silvery: benefit and harm
Shepherdia silver: photo
Fruits are richer in vitamin C content than sea buckthorn, black currant, lemon. Also, berries have a content of carotene, tannins, vitamins A, E, P, thereby exerting a beneficial effect on the human body.
Utility
- Increased tone.
- Strengthening the immune system.
- Deceleration of aging.
- Prevention and treatment of diseases caused by viruses and inflammatory processes.
- Strengthening blood vessels, preventing hypertension, atherosclerosis.
- It has a choleretic and diuretic effect.
- Can harm people with fruit allergies.
- Immunity to diseases and harmful insects.
The plant has a high immunity to various diseases caused by fungi and viruses. Harmful insects also do not attack the shepherd. This feature excludes the treatment of the bush with insecticidal agents, thanks to which you will get a safe and environmentally friendly harvest.
Advantages
- Undemandingness.
- Resistant to frosty periods.
- Easy to propagate.
- High immunity to diseases and harmful insects.
- Healing properties.
- The fruits are well transported.
Minuses
The bush is not self-fertile. It is mandatory to select a male pollinator bush.
Shepherdia silver: landing
Shepherdia silver: photo
The tree does not require any special conditions for growth and development. Its root system branches, thanks to which the plant can grow on rocky places and cliffs.
Optimal planting time
The optimal time for planting is the spring season. This is especially topical for the Ural and Siberian territories. In spring, planting is carried out in April days after the soil thaws before the buds awaken.
How to choose a site for planting
Bushes are planted in areas well-lit by the sun. The plant needs a spacious place. Lowlands, wetlands, places with fogs and stagnant groundwater are not suitable.
How to prepare the soil for planting
Sandy loam and loamy soil is suitable. They are quite fertile and loose. The plant itself can make its place of growth better. The balls, which are located on the roots, supply the earth with nitrogen elements.
Heavy soil is not suitable for cultivation.
How to choose and prepare seedlings of shepherdia silvery
For planting, seedlings of shepherdia silvery are used, which have a developed root system. Dried and diseased roots are cut off. Healthy roots are trimmed up to 3 cm without touching the tubers. The branches are shortened by one third. Saplings of shepherdia silvery are placed in a solution of the preparations "Epin", "Heteroauxin" or potassium permanganate.
Shepherdia silver: planting progress
Planting and caring for a plant is very easy. First, a pit is prepared for planting. The scheme is 50x50x50 cm. A mound of soil filled with nutrients is poured into the center. A seedling is installed on it, the roots are straightened.
The plant is sprinkled with soil, at the same time it is gently shaken to compact the earth. The planted seedlings are watered and mulched. An interval of one and a half to two meters is observed between the plants. If the plans include a hedge, then fifty cm will be enough.
Shepherdia silver: leaving
Shepherdia silver: photo
Any vegetation needs to be looked after. And this culture is no exception, since harvesting without care is impossible.
Required procedures
The plant loves to be fed.In the spring season, manure is introduced, which is quail, it also has a content of nitrogen, urea and ammonium sulfate. In the midst of the summer season and at the end of it, superphosphate, potassium sulfate, ash infusion are added.
When the fruits are formed, watering is carried out, especially in drought and heat. Young plants need to be loosened and mulched. This will protect the roots lying at the surface. This is not done to an adult shepherd.
Circumcision procedure
The shrub is fast growing and actively branching. It just needs to be cut. It is also worth forming a bush. The shoot in the center is cut at a height of two and a half meters, the lateral shoots are near the first branch. The procedure is carried out every three to five years in order to prevent the plant from growing and in the future it is easier to harvest.
Anti-aging circumcision is performed every seven years. Branches older than seven years are cut off so that young shoots grow in their place. It is important - sanitary circumcision, diseased and broken branches are removed. Sanitary pruning is carried out annually in the spring season.
How to prepare a plant for the winter season
Shepherdia grows almost everywhere, as it is frost-resistant. It grows in all Russian regions, excluding the extreme north. The culture tolerates frosty periods up to minus forty degrees. There is no need to cover the bush for the winter. Only young plants are insulated and mulched.
Plant propagation
Reproduction is carried out by seed, cuttings, root shoots.
Seed method
You can get the grains yourself. For this purpose, the fruits are ground into a gruel and dried in the sun, then the grains are separated. Planting is carried out during the harvesting season, because germination is not maintained.
Grains are planted in greenhouse conditions that are not heated. The seeds are deepened by two to three cm. The emergence of seedlings can be expected in the last days of April. By the autumn season, the plants grow up to fifteen cm and are transplanted to the selected area. The culture grown by the seed method is distinguished by the preservation of all varietal characteristics. Fruiting begins after five years.
Reproduction by root suckers
The shoots are used, which are formed at a distance of one and a half to two meters from the bush. Two-year shepherds are taken. The soil is dug up, the shoot is cut off from the main bush, and dug up. The slices are disinfected. Bushes are planted immediately on a permanent site. Watering and shading are carried out.
Cuttings
A stalk is the upper or middle part of the shoot. Those shoots are selected that have not yet had time to woody. Cuttings are prepared in the first days of July. The further algorithm is fully identical to the grafting of other berry bushes.
Shepherdia silver in landscape design
Shepherdia silver: photo
This plant is often used to decorate garden plots, urban areas and home gardens. With the help of culture, hedges are built, slopes are strengthened.
If the shepherdia is planted alone, then it will be clearly visible, because its leaves are silvery in color, and the fruits are red. The variety of shepherdia we are considering has a decorative variety for the Moscow region - "Golden". The tree is strewn with fruits of a rich yellow color.
Shepherdia silvery has a strong immunity to diseases and harmful insects.
Shepherdia Silver was noticed by Michurin himself. Nowadays, it is not very popular among Russian gardeners. Everyone knows more about sea buckthorn. However, the culture we have considered also deserves to receive a harvest from it and decorate a garden plot with it.
Shepherdia silver: reviews
Marina, Tver region: “I watch the silvery shepherd, as an outside observer. It grows in a neighbor's territory, he loves exotic plants, constantly convinces me that this culture should grow in everyone.I tried the fruit jelly, I didn't really like it. She did not want to use it as a decoration for her garden plot. I love the cherry, which blooms in the spring, and the hydrangea, which blooms in the summer season. "
Margarita, Stavropol Territory: “I know about the beneficial qualities of the silver shepherdia. Let it be better cultivated by farms and handed over to be processed in mass quantities. In the future, jam and medications will be prepared. In the park area of a large city, you can use the silver shepherd to create a hedge. It will look very nice, I think. "
