If you want to decorate your site with a winter-hardy shrub with high decorative qualities, but easy to care for, then you will surely like alpine currants. It has several different forms and types, including dwarf ones, with yellow or red leaves. The shrub lends itself perfectly to a curly haircut, which allows you to create a hedge or interesting objects from it.
Alpine currant: photo and description
This deciduous shrub in the natural environment is widespread in Europe, Western Turkey, the Caucasus, Morocco and North Africa. In Russia, it can be found even in Western Siberia. He prefers to grow along the banks of rivers, on light edges and glades, in mixed forests.
Alpine currant is a shrub reaching a height of one and a half meters with compactly arranged branches densely covered with foliage. Greenish-yellow flowers form drooping brushes. The leaves are shaped like a regular garden form, three-lobed, up to 4 centimeters wide, dark green, glossy. The berries are small, 6-8 mm in diameter, pink in color. The bush blooms in May-June, and fruiting begins in July and lasts through August, depending on weather conditions. The berries are edible, but the taste is low, so the plant is grown more as an ornamental.
Plot Location
Like most decorative and deciduous plants, alpine currants (see photo in the article) prefers well-lit areas where there will be a sufficient amount of solar heat. Choose a place where there is no groundwater passing nearby. If seedlings are planted in groups or for the formation of a hedge in the future, then a distance of one meter or even one and a half must be left between them. This is necessary for good lighting and proper development. Survival is best for seedlings with a closed root system, planted in containers. They cost a little more, but more often it pays off, especially if you need one or a couple of bushes.
The timing of alpine currant transplantation and planting is the same as for any other shrub. You can do this in spring or autumn, before the onset of cold weather, so that the plant has time to grow stronger.
Shrub soil
Alpine currants are not too demanding on the composition of the soil. Depending on the variety, the acidity criterion of the soil can vary, tolerate even slight salinization. If you want the shrub to grow well and delight with its decorative look, then prepare nutritious soil before planting.
Approximate dimensions of the landing pit - 50 * 50 * 50 cm, drainage is optional. Use humus, turfy ground, sand. If you are preparing a place in the fall, then add mineral fertilizers, and in the spring again carefully dig a plot under the bush.
Shrub care
Alpine currants do not require too much attention. The main care is watering, fertilizing with fertilizers and timely pruning, the formation of a bush. Compost or humus is recommended to be applied to the soil at least once a year in the spring, mineral complex preparations - twice (in April-May and after flowering).
Shaping and sanitary pruning of shoots should be done before the start of sap flow, that is, in late March - early April.
Alpine currant, described as a drought tolerant crop, still needs watering for normal growth and development. If the season turned out to be too hot, then it is necessary to water the shrub 2-3 times at the rate of 5-6 liters of water for one copy. We recommend using a method such as drip irrigation. This will not only save water, but also contribute to its best absorption by the plant.
Pests and diseases
Like the usual garden form, alpine currants are susceptible to attack by pests. The most common are aphids, spider mites, and rust. In order not to save the bushes from any misfortunes on an emergency basis, experts recommend that preventive treatments of various kinds with fungicidal and insecticidal preparations be carried out . The first, for example, include Fitosporin, Acrobat, Ridomil, Ordan and others. But get rid of insect pests will help you “Fitoverm”, “Actellik”, “Karbofos”, etc. There are modern methods of biological control of insects, when some species inhibit others, while not damaging and not affecting the plant.
Reproduction of alpine currants
Shrubs can easily be propagated in several ways: seeds, layering and lignified cuttings. In the first case, the best time to plant is spring or immediately after ripening. Seeds must be stratified. With spring sowing, its period should be 2-3 months. The most optimal embedment depth is 0.5 cm. You can sow immediately in open ground on a prepared site or in seedlings.
The easiest way to propagate is cuttings. Material should be harvested from annual shoots of the first branch row or root. The length of the handle is 15-20 cm, the thickness is at least 0.5 cm. The best time is early autumn (September). Having started the roots, young plants will have time to grow stronger, and in the spring they will immediately start growing.
Also, alpine currants can be propagated by horizontal, arcuate and vertical layering. At the same time, roots and shoots are rooted with good growth, preferably two-year-olds. Perhaps the division of the bush currants.
At the moment, there are many forms and varieties, but we want to note the most common and famous.
Currant alpine Schmidt
Compact shrub variety with dense branching. The leaves are three-lobed, up to 4 cm long, of a deep dark green color; in autumn they turn into bright yellow tones. Flowering time begins in May, small green flowers are collected in a brush. Inedible spherical fruits later appear. The berries ripen in July-August and stand out sharply against a dark green background, which gives even more decorativeness.
Alpine currant Schmidt (photo above) grows quite slowly (up to 15 cm per year), therefore it is recommended to plant it as a hedge, in groups on a lawn or edges. This is a long-lived shrub, growing up to 40 years. It is shade-tolerant, drought-resistant, frost-resistant. To soils, the Schmidt variety is demanding and prefers light and medium loams, sandy loam soil. If you prefer to prepare the substrate for planting yourself, then mix peat, sand and turf soil in a ratio of 1: 1: 1.
Currant Golden (alpine)
Golden currant got its name due to the characteristic color of young leaves. This is a dwarf form of shrub growing up to 1 meter in height. Golden alpine currants are most beautiful during flowering, when the bush is as if woven from lace. This impression is created due to small pale yellow flowers located on short brushes. At the end of summer, the bush is covered with many berries of a juicy bright red hue. They are tasteless, so the plant is used exclusively for decorative purposes. Soil requirements and other characteristics are similar to those of the previous variety.
Whatever your site, large or small, light or in partial shade, alpine currants (photos are presented in the article) will always come to the rescue when planting it. Single or group plantings, hedges, tapeworms with bright and juicy dark green foliage will become a real decoration. And in the fall, decorative forms will turn purple or yellow, strewn with red berries.
Armed with a secateurs, you can easily create curly hedges, simple geometric shapes and complex compositions from elegant bushes. Add to this the minimal care and high resistance of the species to various adverse environmental conditions.