Dogwood, unfortunately, is not very common in our country. Nevertheless, this plant has unique properties, including medicinal ones. Therefore, it is worth thinking about how to grow it in your garden plot.
Planting dogwood and its further cultivation is not such a difficult task. Even a novice gardener will cope with this. This plant is very unpretentious and at the same time gives edible and tasty fruits. In our latitudes, the most common dogwood is found .
What does dogwood look like?
Dogwood is a small bush or tree, about 2-5 meters high. The diameter of its trunk ranges from five to forty-five centimeters.
In garden areas, it is easy to grow bush dogwood. Growing a tree is a little more complicated, but it is easy to shape. By the way, the dogwood bush usually has several boles.
The trunk of the plants is even, the crown has a beautiful and compact pyramidal or round shape. The root system of the dogwood is very strong, lies shallow. The roots are 20-120 centimeters from the soil surface.
Dogwood has no periodic fruiting - the crop is harvested annually. That is why he needs constant recharge and good hydration. This article is for those who decide to grow dogwood. Planting and caring for this plant require special attention.
Dogwood fruit
The dogwood fruit is a juicy drupe. Wild dogwood is distinguished by elliptical or cylindrical fruits. The photo above is what he is. In domesticated plants, bottle-shaped, pear-shaped and oval fruits are also found.
The color of the cornel fruit can be pale, slightly reddish, and can be almost black. There are also varieties of dogwood, in which the berries are yellow and pink in color.
Inside the fetus there is an oval bone. The length of the bone is about one and a half cm. One to three seeds can be in the bone.
Dogwood - planting and care
So, you decided to decorate your garden with this useful plant. It is best to pay attention to an ordinary dogwood. Growing this plant can be done in several ways. You can grow it from seeds, or you can use vegetative propagation (spring grafting with cuttings and summer budding with a sleeping eye, reproduction with lignified and green cuttings or layering).
Those who decide to breed dogwood with seeds should remember - there is no guarantee that the resulting offspring will retain maternal indicators. In those places where this plant is widespread, seed propagation is used mainly in order to obtain stocks for vaccination propagation.
In places with colder climates, where dogwood was not previously grown, seed propagation of this plant with numerous transfers is practiced. This allows you to select the most winter-hardy forms and get plants that are adapted to special climate conditions. More resistant seedlings can also be grown from seeds brought from more northern places where dogwood grows. Planting and care for them will be almost the same as for plants grown in warmer climates.
Seed propagation
It is very difficult to grow dogwood from seeds, as they sprout hard, have a dense shell and have a deep rest. If you sow them in the fall, then in part they will germinate in the second year. Most of the seeds will sprout only in the third and fourth years.
Dogwood seed planting begins with pre-sowing preparation and long stratification. If you have hotbeds, then you should use the method of stratification of seeds described below , in which the germination rate reaches 80%.
Seeds (always freshly picked) are placed in boxes filled with wet sawdust, moss or sand. Prepared boxes are put in a greenhouse, pre-filled with manure. It is best to use horseback riding. The thickness of the layer of manure is 40 centimeters. Above, a layer of 10 centimeters, the earth is laid.
Before laying the seeds for stratification, it is necessary to pre-soak them for three days in water. It needs to be changed periodically - this will speed up the physiological processes necessary for germination. You can hold the seeds for a while under running water. Due to this, substances that slow down germination will be washed out of the dense shells.
The second method of seed propagation
There is another technique that allows you to grow dogwood bushes or trees from seeds. The fruits of the plant are placed in barrels or bags and remain there until active fermentation begins. Subsequently, they are rubbed and washed. Bones obtained after stratification are mixed with sawdust and stored in a cold place for a year and a half. After this period, with the onset of spring, seeds are planted in the ground. For the first year, seedlings grow by 3-4 centimeters. For the second - another 10-15 centimeters.
It is worth noting that the seedlings will grow for a long time, and the plant will begin to bear fruit only after 7-10 years. Those who want to get healthy berries faster choose other methods of growing dogwood.
Propagation by layering
Many do not know how to plant dogwood using layering. This is actually very easy. Branches that grow close to the soil surface must be bent and laid in a shallow ditch. Their tops are brought out.
You can use hooks to secure the branch to the bottom of the ditch. After this, ditches need to be dug and watered all the time while the growth period is on. Paddles are also made with soft wire to improve the rooting of branches at the inflection point. In fact, gooseberries, and currants, etc., are propagated in the same way.
Propagation by lignified and green cuttings
Amateur gardeners should not get involved in this method of dogwood propagation, as this requires the presence of greenhouses in which fog is artificially formed. In addition, special growth substances must be used. If all this is available, then this method will bring good results.
Vaccination propagation
This is the best way that an amateur can use so that dogwood seedlings appear on his garden plot. Using it, you can get plants of various shapes and many cultivars. Each of them has its own unique properties. For vaccination, seedlings of 2-3 years are selected.
Plant care
Dogwood is very demanding on soil characteristics. It grows best on fertile soil with good loosening. It is necessary to regularly water the dogwood. Planting and caring for this plant will require you to be careful, especially at first. The soil around it must be mulched with mowed grass, peat or sawdust.
Watering the dogwood is also necessary correctly, only then you will collect a rich harvest. Throughout the summer period, the soil is watered regularly. As we have already said, the root system of this plant is not deep from the soil surface.
The positive quality of dogwood - he likes slightly shaded places.
So, what needs to be done in order for your dogwood to grow beautiful dogwood? The photo above illustrates perfectly how a healthy and strong plant looks. It must be periodically fed with fertilizers, carefully weed and regularly watered. During the growing season, dogwood is treated with nitrogen-phosphate fertilizers, closer to autumn - potash (wood ash). Sometimes compost and humus are used. An important role is played by top dressing with lime, since calcium is vital for this plant.
Plant pruning
A distinctive feature of dogwood is the ability to form both trees and bushes. Defining pruning should be done in the first years of its cultivation.
Stamp seedlings should reach 50-70 centimeters in height. All shoots arising below this level are necessarily removed. Special pruning, which will help increase the number of crops, is not necessary. Branches thickening the crown are eliminated.
Be sure to remember: the roots of this plant when weeding is very easy to damage. Soil is processed no deeper than 10-15 centimeters. If the soil is swampy or very moist, the plant may die.
Dogwood Properties
This plant is a wonderful honey plant. In addition, it is a cure for a variety of diseases. Its fruits have more vitamin C than gooseberries, mountain ash and lemon. Dogwood berries increase appetite, and also have astringent, antipyretic and anti-zingotic properties.
Dogwood fruits are used for prophylaxis if there is a danger of poisoning with lead or mercury. The pectins contained in them bind harmful substances and contribute to their rapid elimination from the human body.
A person suffering from gastrointestinal disorders should be given infusion from the berries of this plant, since they have phytocidal and astringent properties.
From the fruits of dogwood, you can make a delicious jam or cook stewed fruit. They can be combined with other fruits and berries. They also eat fresh berries - many people really like their unusual taste.
Afterword
Dogwood is a plant that will feed and treat, and will delight the eye with spring golden flowering, and will surprise with an autumn crop.
So, if you properly protect the dogwood before winter and during the whole pore of colds, then you will not regret it.
I would like to give at the end of the article one medical prescription for which the fruits of this plant are used. It will help everyone suffering from hemorrhoids.
First you need to, in no hurry, eat a full glass of cornel seeds. They can be diluted with something or consumed with apples, cabbage, potatoes, bread, meat, etc. You can take the seeds not directly from the fruit, but use those that were stored at your place or those that remained in the compote or jam. After this procedure, the problem will leave you in a week.
There are many other recipes that will help you get rid of annoying ailments. But in addition to therapeutic effects, dogwood berries have a tonic effect. The use of the fruits of this plant can prevent the appearance of many unpleasant diseases and will become an additional source of vital energy.