Looking for ornamental plants to decorate a personal plot, owners often are faced with the need to choose between the spectacular culture and the capricious nature of a more modest representative of the flora. Tatar honeysuckle, with all its beauty and decorativeness, is very easy to care for, for which it is loved by gardeners around the world.
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Description of varieties
A stable and lush shrub with a height of up to 4 m has a dense crown formed by hollow shoots and green leaves of an ovoid shape. At the end of spring, a continuous flowering of the culture is observed, in which flowers of various colors bloom, exuding a light aroma with sweet notes. At the end of summer, the fruiting phase occurs.
The brightest representatives of the species:
• Tatar honeysuckle Rosea - a spectacular shrub with a pyramidal crown, laced in late May with bright pink buds. Blooming in the middle lane is observed in early summer, when the plant is decorated with five-petal flowers with a pink tint. The fruits are orange.
• Tatar honeysuckle Hack Red - a beautifully flowering shrub with a spreading crown. In late spring and early summer, when the flowering phase begins, saturated red flowers bloom, contrasting with pink, still closed buds. After a while, at the place of inflorescences, you can see the round fruits of purple color.
• Tatar honeysuckle Grandiflora - a delicate variety distinguished by white and fragrant flowers that adorn the shoots with rich green foliage.
Landing of the Tatar honeysuckle in the open ground
Carrying out planting works of the Tatar honeysuckle includes several main stages.
Site selection
An undemanding culture with a luxurious crown perfectly develops both in light shading and in sunny areas. Culture in the wild prefers loose, drained soils with a good fertile layer and a neutral reaction. It can grow on saline soil.
Preparing planting material
In order for the bush to quickly develop and enjoy good health, it is necessary to purchase high-quality seedlings. The best option would be to buy a two-year-old planting material with 3-4 well-developed skeletal branches in a specialized store or nursery.
Advice! The seedling should be carefully inspected for damaged or dry shoots, roots.
Terms and technology of landing in the open ground
Planting dates depend on the root system of the seedling: if it is open, then it is better to carry out work in early autumn, and for the closed one, the whole growing season is suitable. Landing is carried out according to the following scheme:
1. Planting pits with dimensions of 40x40 cm are dug up 5 days before planting.
2. The distance between the holes is maintained from 1.5-3 m, depending on the purpose of landing and the growth of the selected variety.
3. At the bottom, drainage is placed with a 5 cm layer of broken brick or gravel.
4. 1.5 kg of compost, 50 g of superphosphate and some ash are poured onto the drainage layer.
5. At the time of planting, the pit is filled with water, after which a small mound of substrate is made in it, made by mixing turf land, peat and sand in a ratio of 3: 1: 1.
6. A seedling is placed on the tubercle, the roots of which are straightened.
7. Honeysuckle is sprinkled with a soil mixture so that the neck protrudes slightly above its level.
8. The soil in the near-stem circle is compacted, watered and mulched with sawdust or peat.
It is interesting:edible honeysuckle
Outdoor Care
Care measures are quite simple and will not take much time and energy from the gardener, which is ideal for busy people who want to decorate the garden with original and spectacular plants.
Water treatments
Regular watering is necessary only for young plants.
Over the years, it will be necessary to moisten the near-stem circle 2-3 times during the whole season at the rate of 10 liters per bush.
Loosening and mulching
It is recommended to loosen the soil under the honeysuckle after each watering, which will ensure free air circulation and fully develop the plant. In mid-autumn, it is recommended to mulch the trunk circle, which will protect the root system from the negative effects of winter frosts.
Top dressing
During the growing season, you should feed the plant three times with various fertilizers:
1. For the first feeding, which is carried out before the awakening of the kidneys, nitrogen fertilizers (urea, ammonium nitrate) are suitable.
2. Phosphorus-potassium complexes should be introduced into the budding phase under the bush.
3. After fruiting is completed, wood ash is introduced under the digging of the trunk circle.
Pruning
The shrub is trimmed before sap flow or in mid-autumn. When pruning, the shoots are shortened by ⅓ part.
Sanitary haircut is carried out only from 6 years of life of honeysuckle,
when all dry and damaged shoots are cut.
Diseases, pests and methods of dealing with them
Tatar honeysuckle is often attacked by aphids, spider mites, scale insects, leaf beetles. If one or more of these pests is detected, immediately spray the crown with an insecticidal solution according to the instructions on the packaging. Among the diseases, powdery mildew, spotting and mosaic stand out, which must be combated by spraying with copper-containing fungicides.As preventive measures, in order to prevent damage to the honeysuckle by harmful organisms, it is recommended to carry out spring spraying with a Bordeaux mixture and timely remove fallen leaves in the autumn, which serves as an excellent litter for pests and pathogens.
Breeding
Tatar honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) can reproduce both generatively and vegetatively, which is considered the most productive and effective.
Cuttings
The procedure, as a rule, is carried out in the summer with the help of cuttings that are cut from green shoots 12 cm long with 2-3 knots. Places of cuts on the cuttings are treated with a growth stimulator, after which they are buried at an angle into the substrate from peat and sand. The container is kept under the film until the cuttings root. For the winter, the box moves to the room. Planting in the garden next spring.
Propagation by layering
A quick way in which three to four year old shoots are dug in the grooves and take root during the summer. Layers from the maternal specimen are only separated for the next year.
Honeysuckle in landscape design
Beautiful flowering shrubs are often used:
• when creating a hedge using several varieties;
• at registration of flower and shrubby compositions;
• when decorating shaded garden areas in single and group plantings.
Edible or not Tatar honeysuckle
Despite the attractive appearance of small berries of red or orange colors, the fruits are inedible and are distinguished by a bitter taste and poisonousness.
Thus, the unpretentious shrub Tatar honeysuckle with a lush, decorative crown and bright or delicate flowers is an excellent culture for landscaping a garden plot and garden areas.
