Barberry rarely grows in gardens of the middle strip and is cultivated mainly for landscaping the borders of the garden. Its fruits are not harvested or consumed due to low taste. At the same time, its healing properties, known to medicine from the 7th century, are forgotten. It has been used since ancient times as a blood purifier. Now the medicine is obtained from the berries, leaves and roots of the plant. Especially effective infusions from the roots of barberry with jaundice and other liver diseases, with diarrhea.
The most commonly
grown Ottawa
barberry is the Superba, as it is unpretentious, winter-hardy, and easily propagated. Soils of any type are suitable for him, however, planting should be carried out in well-prepared soil. Planted, as a rule, in the fall, although spring plantings are also allowed. Digging holes for shrubs of at least 40x40x40 cm in size, season with fertilizer: superphosphate - 50 g, lime - 0.3 kg, humus - 5 kg per 1 sq. m. Seedlings are usually taken two-year-old, with a good root system, which is distributed evenly along the bottom of the planting fossa. If the Ottawa barberry is planted like a berry, then its bushes need good lighting, otherwise they will not bear fruit. The distance between the berry leaves is not less than 2 meters. If the plantings are decorative, then you can plant more closely - 1 meter from each other. After landing, barberry Superba needs good watering, especially in the first half month.
In the future, when leaving, the bushes are watered, weeded, trimmed. Pruning involves removing old, dried branches and forming a crown. It should be remembered that the Ottawa barberry gives a harvest on last year's branches. After 10 years, anti-aging pruning is necessary. After it, the bushes grow again, bear fruit abundantly, retain decorative effect.
The fruiting period begins on the 3rd year. Ottawa barberry blooms in April, and the berries ripen in September. Harvesting is possible when the fruits are slightly unripe - then they are dense, keep their shape well, do not wrinkle. They are filled with sugar or dried, and they save their useful properties during storage for a year. They can be used as a seasoning for meat, pilaf, fish, used in the preparation of various sauces and added to tea.
Ottawa barberry can be propagated by the vegetative method and seeds. The choice of method depends on the purpose of the cultivation. For decorative planting or for breeding purposes, seeds are preferred. The seed material is obtained simply: after collecting the ripe berries, they are dried, ground through a sieve, the seeds are separated and immediately sown on the garden bed. In the spring they emerge, but all summer should grow in one place. Transplanted only the next year.
If you need to maintain the varietal characteristics of the grown bush, use cuttings, layering, plant division. More often, cuttings are cut at the beginning of winter, stored in wet sawdust in the basement, in the spring they are planted in a greenhouse. Humus is brought into fertile soil, sand, watered 2 times a day, and after a month roots appear on the cuttings. By autumn, cuttings turn into seedlings. Saplings take root well, in 80-90% of cases.