Why does the dogwood tree not bear fruit? Dogwood does not bloom

Cornel is a small shrub or tree, the fruits of which are drupes, that is, years with seeds (one or two). It is very common, both in the wild and in the cultured form, possessing specific taste qualities that make it possible to diversify the gastronomy. It is also grown as an ornamental plant, since it has an early flowering period and is able to decorate a garden, a greenhouse, and so on. For all these qualities, dogwood is also loved by amateur gardeners, in whose areas this shrub can be found more and more often. However, many dogwood fans often face difficulties - the dogwood does not bear fruit. In this regard, the need has ripened to consider this issue in more detail and find ways to resolve it.

The main causes of infertile dogwood and how to eliminate them

Plant variety

As a rule, this is the main reason, since the dogwood practically never bears fruit in the first years of life and the given must be taken into account. For example, if you plant "wild", then the gardener will wait for the first fruits not earlier than the seventh, and sometimes even in the tenth year of the plant's life. Many cultivars tend to bear fruit in an earlier period, the average of which is 3-5 years. But today there are cultural varieties of dogwood (for example, mosvir and exotic), which give their tasty and healthy berries to people after 2 years. Thus, in order to harvest an early harvest, it is necessary to know the variety and its characteristics and give preference to cultivated varieties.

Lack of moisture

In general, dogwood, unpretentious to temperature conditions (it tolerates both cold winter and hot summer), it nevertheless reacts to insufficient watering with a lack of harvest or its scarcity. Moisture should be stable to avoid drying out the soil near the plant. The solution to this problem, especially in dry periods, is the use of a drip irrigation system.

Soil poverty

Cornel can grow on almost any soil, but in order to achieve stable and rich fruiting, it is important to feed the plant in a timely manner. In the spring, nitrogen and phosphorus-containing fertilizers are applied under the tree, and potassium in August and September. As the latter, ash from wood can be successfully used. In addition, regardless of the season, you can apply universal complex fertilizers in moderation, including organic fertilizers (manure, and so on).

Timely vaccination

Even highly cultivated selective dogwood varieties begin to run wild over time, bringing ever more scarce and unstable yields. In this regard, the tree must be grafted at least once every 10-15 years. The procedure is preferably carried out in late August and early September.

The main causes of infertile dogwood and how to eliminate them

Plant variety

Lack of moisture

Soil poverty

Timely vaccination

We grow dogwood in the country

We have in almost all garden plots dogwood available. Pollination is cross, the largest number of fruits is formed with free pollination. The flowers of one tree are pollinated by the pollen of another. But with self-pollination, the fruits are not tied! So in order to get a harvest, it is necessary that several bushes grow on the site. dogwood.

For reproduction, you can use the copy you already have. Cuttings dogwood reproduces poorly, but easily by layering or dividing the bush. If you use seeds, you will have to wait about 7-8 years.
Dogwood plant well in light shade. It is unpretentious, winter-hardy, adapts well to weather changes. The bush bears fruit every year. But the harvest, or rather its amount, depends on our labors. After all dogwood requires the same care as other horticultural crops: watering, feeding, cleaning weeds. Diseases in dogwood no, the use of pesticides is not required. This is very attractive, since the harvest is always environmentally friendly.
And more advice. If suddenly your dogwood after all, it will freeze and lose the aboveground part, do not rush to dig up the root. Almost always, it is perfectly restored by shoots. Then mold either a tree or a bush.

Dogwood: planting and care in the open field

Cornelian cherry is a paradoxical plant. It is unpretentious and able to grow on any soil, but this applies to an adult dogwood or its cuttings / root suckers. The common dogwood can be grown from seed, but at the beginning of life it is a very moody object.

Among berry bushes, this plant blooms first and ripens last. The berries look already ripe, but in fact, they take a long time to ripen. The fruits of this plant were considered medicinal. Now they are used in traditional medicine.

Dogwood: plant description

Medium-sized deciduous plant from the sparse cornel family. The second name of dogwood is male dogwood. The deren root system is located near the surface of the earth, fibrous. The leaves are large, 3.5-8 cm long. The location on the branch is opposite. The shape of the leaf is simple. The color is bright green. The leaf has 3-5 pairs of veins.

The fruit is an oval-shaped drupe of dark brown, almost black color. The berries of the common wild dogwood have relatively little pulp. It is less juicy and more dense than the fruits of cultivated forms of turf.

The fruits of the garden dogwood are very large and juicy. They can be of different shapes:

The color of the ripe berry is very dark. The more common belief is that dogwood berries are red. In fact, the collection of deren berries is carried out very early, while the fruits are still firm. Ripe berries are dark brown to almost black in color and burst easily.

The surface of the berries at the male deren is shiny, smooth. Perhaps the wrong structure of the fruit, then the berry will look lumpy. Ripe common dogwood berries in the photo below.

Depending on the variety of garden turf, the weight of the berry ranges from 2 to 6 g. The percentage of pulp to the total weight of the fruit: in the wild 68%, in the garden 88%.

The natural habitat of the common wild dogwood is the southern regions. Thickets of plants are found throughout the southwestern part of Russia. The most favorable conditions for male deer are in the mountains and foothills of the Caucasus and Crimea.

The common wild dogwood did not take root well in gardeners' summer cottages, since it is essentially an underbrush and requires forest soil for successful growth. Also, the male dogwood could not be cultivated north of its natural habitats.

Dogwood is a tree or shrub

Botanists often like to play a trick on non-specialists by asking a question about this or that representative of the flora: is it a shrub or a tree. To the amazement of ordinary people, the tree is often a bush, and the bush is actually a tree. With an ordinary dogwood, you can also joke like that. Initially, dogwood is a shrub 3-5 meters high. But on nutrient-rich soil, the strongest shoot can grow and turn into a tree 5-6 m high.

Dogwood compatibility with other trees

Gardeners know that many trees cannot stand being close to each other. The main enemy of all fruit trees is the walnut. But other plants are not always friends. For example, a pear cannot be planted next to a sweet cherry. Due to the fact that dogwood is still a somewhat exotic inhabitant of the garden, there is almost no compatibility data for it.

It is guaranteed that you can plant different varieties of dogwood next to each other. Perfect compatibility. According to unverified data, it is possible to plant a young dogwood under an adult apricot. Nobody knows what will happen in the opposite situation. According to other gardeners, common dogwood can be planted under almost any fruit tree, as it even prefers shaded areas. What those trees, under which the owner planted a new plant, “think” about this is not specified.

It is very doubtful that the dogwood bush is the only one of all that can grow under a walnut. In nature, in nature, walnut and turf do not come into contact.

Dogwood frost resistance

The plant is distinguished not only by its relatively good drought resistance, but also by its high frost resistance. Cornelian cherry is able to withstand frosts down to -35 ° C, which makes it possible to grow garden varieties of male dern in the northern regions. But in Siberia, it will not work to grow a cornelian tree, since more severe frosts often occur there. Because of this, only the shrub form of the turf is possible. When the ground part freezes, the plant recovers, letting out shoots from the roots.

Dogwood: from flowering to ripening

In addition to the official botanical names, the common dogwood has one more thing: the shaitan berry. There is a legend about the origin of the name associated with the timing of flowering and ripening of dogwood fruits.

When Allah created the world and decided to rest, during his sleep all living beings fled to the Gardens of Eden and began to divide the plants. There was a noise, din, a fight began. Allah did not like this, and he demanded that everyone should choose only one plant for themselves. Among those who wanted to get something useful for themselves was the Shaitan. And the shaitan asked for himself a dogwood, considering himself the most cunning. After all, the common dogwood blooms earlier than all other berry plants.

This is indeed the case. The flowering period for this plant is in April at an air temperature of 8-12 ° C. The flowers of the male deren are small, yellow. Umbellate inflorescences. The number of flowers in the umbrella is 15-25. Flowers have 4 stamens and a pistil, that is, they are bisexual. Petals 4. Flowering lasts 10-14 days. The common dogwood blooming in the photo is a specimen from the forest. Garden varieties of deren do not look so beautiful.

"Early flowering dogwood - early harvest" - thought the shaitan. The first berry is highly prized, you can get a lot of money from it. Why does the Shaitan need money, the legend is silent. He sat down under a tree to await his harvest of early berries. Summer has passed, all other fruits and berries are already ripe, and the dogwood is all green.

The shaitan decided to accelerate the ripening of the fruits (that's when this technology was born) and began to blow on the berries. The dogwood turned bright red, but remained very sour and hard. Frustrated by the failure of a super-profitable business, the shaitan told people to take this muck for themselves, and spat in frustration. So much so that the dogwood berries turned black.

And now, in late autumn, after harvesting the entire harvest in the orchards, people went into the forest for a cornelian cherry. They picked black, but sweet berries, and laughed at the shaitan.

In fact, the common dogwood ripens not so late. The timing of harvesting the fruits of the male deren is the end of August - September. And you can't delay harvesting, as the berries fall to the ground.

And then everything was attributed to the shaitan, as he was very offended that he gave people his berry. The next year, the shaitan managed to double the dogwood harvest. People were happy about it. But for the ripening of such a quantity of deren fruits, the sun's heat was also required twice as much. And the sun, which had given off all the heat over the summer, could not warm the earth in winter. Since then, there has been a sign that if the common dogwood is well-born, it means that the winter will be cold.

Pollination of dogwood

Although the common dogwood has bisexual flowers, pollination does not occur on one plant. To obtain a crop, common dogwood needs a pollinator. The wind acts as a pollinator at low temperatures, so it is necessary to plant at least two specimens of different varieties in the garden for cross-pollination to occur.

Cornelian cherry is a strict cross-pollinated plant, therefore, you can plant two deren bushes of the same variety, but these seedlings must be from different mother bushes. The easiest way to guarantee a crop from a plant is to plant a wild forest bush next to a garden variety of deren.

When the deren is pollinated with the help of the wind, the yield will be low. Other pollinators of the common dogwood are honey bees. If available, the owner of the garden is guaranteed an annual rich harvest of deren berries.

How garden dogwood blooms

The flowering of garden varieties of male deren is the same as that of the wild ancestor. Due to the fact that summer cottages are usually protected from the cold wind and have their own microclimate, garden turf can bloom even earlier than a wild plant. In northern regions, the lawn may bloom too early and may not produce fruit as a result.

When dogwood is harvested

Cultivated common dogwood can be not only of different colors and shapes, but also have early, mid and late ripening varieties. The earliest varieties of male deren begin to bear fruit in the second half of August, the later ones in mid-October. Therefore, the timing of harvesting berries from male deren bushes in the garden can stretch for 2 months, if you choose the right varieties.

Cornelian cherry does not ripen very amicably, and among the ripe berries there are unripe berries. When harvesting berries "for yourself" you will have to pick the same plant several times.

The yield of male turf depends on age.

Lack of moisture;

Dogwood: planting, growing, care

What associations do you have with the name "dogwood"? I immediately remember the jam that my roommate from Karachay-Cherkessia treated me to during my student years. This is not just a jam, this is a pure delicacy. Cornel is not only tasty and is used in the preparation of jams and various dishes, but also has a wide range of nutrients that improve blood pressure and aid digestion. In Crimea, there are various legends in this regard, which say that any disease can be cured with the fruits of dogwood and a decoction from it. In the Caucasus, nutritious dogwood lavash helped to avoid scurvy during the First World War.

Dogwood

Residents of middle latitudes to have such a "handsome" in their garden is problematic, although the plant itself does not require special care. The thing is that the dogwood begins to bloom earlier than other plants, but its growing season is about 250 days in a warm climate - for example, in the Kuban. Therefore, for middle latitudes, it is necessary to acquire a variety with an early ripening of fruits.

Cornelian cherry belongs to the Cornelian family, represented in the form of shrubs or trees not exceeding 8 m. You can meet it freely growing in the Crimea, Transcarpathia and the Caucasus - in thickets, undergrowth or forest edges. Dogwood has been living for over 100 years. In our country, common dogwood (Cornus mas), or, as it is also called, male dogwood.

Cornelian cherry flowers

The berries of the common dogwood are bright red (during the selection process, varieties with amber-colored berries were bred), fleshy, inside the drupe.

Dogwood fruit

Dogwood tolerates frost well, but at -30 ° C, branches are damaged. Therefore, young dogwood plants require good shelter for the winter. If the temperature is slightly higher than +40 ° C, the leaves on the young tree may dry out, in this case, the first years of life in the garden, the dogwood is shaded with sunflowers and corn.

Planting dogwood

As I said, dogwood is a southerner, he loves a warm mild climate. But don't despair in cooler climates. You just need to more accurately choose a variety that can take root in your region. Once upon a time, grapes grew only in the south, but now in Oryol my parents grow beautiful black grapes without warming or covering it for the winter.

Dogwood leaves

Cornelian cherry grows well on soils rich in lime. In principle, he does not like acidic soils, but he can even grow on them, but this will affect the development of the plant and the yield. Groundwater should be no closer than 1.5 m from the surface of the earth.

When planting, choose a south or southwest side. Plant in fall. It is believed that if the foliage of the poplar began to fall off, then it is time to plant the dogwood.

The depth and diameter of the planting pit should be about 60 cm.
Drive the stake from the side where the wind is blowing, and put the seedling on the opposite side, straighten the roots.
Make the root collar 3 cm above ground level, so that when the ground has settled, the collar is flush with the ground.
When digging a hole, place the topsoil and the bottom in opposite directions. Mix the upper fertile layer with humus and mineral fertilizers and cover the seedling, pour 2 buckets of water and mulch the soil with humus or dry soil of the lower layers.

There should be at least 5 m from the fence to the dogwood, arrange it in such a way that in subsequent years it is provided with good nutrition from the soil and other trees do not interfere with it, otherwise after 20 years the crown of the dogwood will thicken and narrow, which will have a qualitative effect on the amount of the crop.

Cornel is an excellent honey plant, but, as I said, its flowers appear early (flowering lasts about 2 weeks), when the air temperature is about +12 ° C, and for pollination by bees, the temperature regime should be much higher. Therefore, the dogwood must have a pair in the garden, and preferably two, so that the wind can transfer pollen from one tree to another and thus the trees can pollinate each other. At the same time, they are placed at a distance of 3-5 m.

Dogwood flowers bloom early

A dogwood seedling, ready to plant, should be 2 years old, about 1.5 m high, about 2 cm in diameter and have about 5 skeletal branches. After planting, it is necessary to cut the shoots by 1/3. Although many gardeners do not do this in the first year after planting, the plants also take root well.

Dogwood propagation

Dogwood can be propagated by seed or vegetatively. When propagated by seeds, their stratification is necessary. For this, the drupes are cleaned of pulp and placed in wet sawdust or moss, constantly moistening them (the period of stratification is about a year). The peculiarity of the drupe of this plant is that it does not disintegrate into cotyledons, therefore, when planting, it must be buried no more than 3 cm, then a hole appears in the bone through which the sprout makes its way to life. You can sow seeds without stratification, in this case they will sprout in two years, but the seedlings will appear unevenly.

With vegetative propagation more effective propagation by green cuttings, layering and grafting (budding), take a two-year-old seedling. Vaccination should be done at dawn with fresh eyes. I have already described this method several times. You can see it in my articles about apple, pear, etc.

The ‘Yantarny’ variety was obtained by budding, whose fruits are yellow, not red, as we are used to seeing in the dogwood.

It propagates by layering in the same way as most fruit and berry plants. Horizontal grooves are made near the tree, the shoot is laid in them, pinned to the ground and sprinkled with earth, moistened. During the summer period, the branch should acquire roots, then it can be safely separated from the mother plant.

Woody cuttings take root very poorly, sometimes it takes about 2 years before a seedling can be planted in a permanent place.

Dogwood care

Crown formation and dogwood pruning are in the designation of a sapling with a stem of about 50 cm and 5 skeletal branches, adhering to the shape of a bush. Thickening shoots and shoots are removed. Pruning may not be carried out in subsequent years. To rejuvenate the dogwood, a rejuvenating pruning is done around the age of 20 by cutting off 4-year-old shoots. Due to this, many new young branches are formed. For landscaping, many gardeners carry out pruning in various shapes.

Dogwood care consists in weeding, loosening the soil to a depth of about 10 cm, drip irrigation and watering in the first growing year.

Dogwood varieties

Dogwood varieties are varied in color, taste, and fruit shape.

Dogwood varieties. Photo from wallpapersgood.com.de

Below are some interesting, in my opinion, dogwood varieties:

Dogwood ‘Amber’

Variety with yellow fruits. When this variety is ripe, the color becomes so transparent-amber that even a drupe is visible. Fruits about 3 g. Oval shape. Ripens in September, but crumbles when it reaches full maturity, therefore, a couple of days before full readiness, the fruits are removed, and they ripen already removed.

Dogwood ‘Amber’. Photo from the site http://homester.com.ua

Kizil ‘Vladimirsky’

Large fruits weighing about 8 g. Fruit color is black-red, oval-cylindrical shape. The pulp is sweet and sour, with a fairly dense structure. The fruits do not crumble, are excellent in freezing and processing, ripen at the end of August.

Cornelian variety 'Vladimirsky'

Dogwood ‘Firefly’

Fruits weighing about 8 g. When fully ripe, they are black-red in color, with an unusual bottle shape. The bright red pulp is very aromatic and has a sweet and sour taste. At the end of August, you can harvest, it will be perfectly stored, the berries do not crumble. Ideal for processing and freezing. The crown of the tree is pyramidal, the annual yield, even for a 20-year-old tree, will be 60 kg.

Dogwood ‘Firefly’. Photo from the site http://en.eyeni.info

I adore William Pokhlebkin as a historian, a person who proved that vodka was first produced in Russia for the first time in the world. And not the one that intoxicates and destroys people. And the one that does not cause a hangover in the morning, and the state of the body does not cripple. But this is not about this, but about the fact that in his book of national cuisines I really liked the following recipe with dogwood, now with meager culinary abilities, I think if I can implement it and where to get dogwood in our places.

Chicken with dogwood

Ingredients:

Chicken (1-1.5 kg)
1-1.5 cups dried dogwood
0.5 cups raisins
75 g ghee
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp. spoons of parsley
1 tbsp. a spoonful of dill herbs
0.25 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp. a spoonful of wheat flour (fry with butter until light yellow and dilute 0.5 cups of broth).

Preparation:

Prepare the gravy from the products (steam the dogwood, rub it), mix everything, bring to a boil.
Pour pieces of boiled chicken and heat over the fire for 5-6 minutes.

In my opinion, a worthy use of such a beautiful plant. Have you tried to cook with dogwood and what exactly? Hands-on experience is highly appreciated.

Why does the dogwood not bear fruit and bloom?

We have three bushes (one is 5 years old, and the other is 3 years old) from the Artyomovsk nursery, but, unfortunately, they do not bloom and, naturally, do not bear fruit. And we do not know if we will wait for the harvest. What is the problem?

Dogwood is a very interesting super-intensive crop. Today there is a wide variety of varieties that differ in color, size, shape, taste of berries, ripening times, etc. But the main advantage of this culture is a very quick entry into fruiting. In the first year, the seedling should take root, and the next year it will definitely yield a harvest. Already in the year of planting, you can personally see the “intention” of your pet to bring the harvest next summer: in August, large rounded flower buds, in appearance resembling the well-known spice of carnation, appear on the branches. By the time the fruits ripen, all varieties of dogwood complete the formation of a flower bud, so that, harvesting this year, you actually see the future.

Reasons for the absence of flowering and fruiting of dogwood:

You have purchased an ungrafted dogwood seedling (wild forms);
Lack of moisture;

With good care, the dogwood does not have a fruiting frequency, annually delighting with an abundance of fruits. In our conditions, the only limiting factor is the lack of moisture. By installing drip irrigation, we get a full harvest every year. Winter frosts, return of cold weather, pests and diseases do not have any noticeable effect on the quality and quantity of fruits.

One-year-olds often already have one or two flower buds (from 20 to 60 buds), and a two-year-old carries dozens and even hundreds of them. The grafted seedlings are very noticeably different from the seedlings yielding in the 10-12th year. In order not to doubt, you only need to purchase varietal planting material in proven nurseries, then the harvest will not have to wait long.

A grafted dogwood seedling is the key to a good harvest

Frankly speaking, in the markets I have not yet seen grafted dogwood seedlings. In order to grow a seedling, which we call an annual, you need to spend five to seven years, then it bears fruit in the second year after planting and bears fruits large, beautiful and tasty, and of different colors, shapes and ripening times.

The increased demand for seedlings provoked businessmen to sell anything, and it is good if it is even seedlings dug out in the forest, they still, even in ten years, will bear cornelian fruits, even if they are few, small and sour.

You can just as well buy svidina, and any other forest bush will be slipped to you, as they say, with one left. You need to plant real grafted varietal seedlings next to your "savages", especially since they do not need a separate place - they, especially in the first years of life, feel much better in the shade of trees. Forest "brothers" in the future will serve as pollinators, and at the same time you yourself will see and tell people how they differ from others.

Flowering dogwood

Dogwood blooms in early spring, looks very impressive against the background of other, still unblown shrubs and trees. It is for this feature that the culture is often cultivated as decorative. And in some gardens this is what happens, after flowering the berries are not tied. However, this is not a feature of the dogwood, but errors of planting or leaving.

When the dogwood blossoms

Cornelian cherry blossoms earlier than other fruit crops. As soon as wintering bows made their way out of the ground, buds of currants and gooseberries began to bloom, trees are still bare, gardeners are delighted with lush inflorescences of dogwood. Flowers appear before leaves and fall off at the beginning of their blooming.

Video: dogwood from budding to harvest

A favorable temperature for flowering is 8-12 ° C, in each region it is set at its own time. Thus, the average daily temperature of + 10 ° C in the Krasnodar Territory is observed in March, and in the Rostov Region - in early April. In Central Russia, dogwood blooms in mid-late April, and in the northern regions and Siberia - in late April - early May. Flowering lasts from one to three weeks, depending on the variety, almost always falls under recurrent frosts. However, some species bloom in summer and repeatedly - in autumn, for example, White Dogwood.

How the dogwood blooms

Up to 25 buds appear from one flower bud, which form umbellate inflorescences with a diameter of 5-7 cm. The flowers are bisexual, small, each consisting of a pistil and stamens surrounded by four petals. The common dogwood has yellow flowers, but varieties with white, cream, pink and even bicolor petals have also been bred.

The second name of the common dogwood is male dogwood.

Photo gallery: flowering dogwood

Is it possible to transplant dogwood during flowering

Even at the age of 7–15 years, dogwood easily tolerates transplantation and quickly restores fruiting. But first, the plant is given anti-aging pruning to balance the volumes of the aerial part and roots. Good survival rate is due to the superficial location of the roots, they are easy to dig out without damaging. Despite this, the best time for transplanting is autumn, a month before frost, and a short period in spring, before bud break. However, if there is an urgent need to transplant a flowering dogwood, then dig up and transfer the plant with a lump of earth.

The main part of the roots of the dogwood is located in the upper 40 cm, so the plant should be watered regularly in summer, and in the winter, the tree trunk should be covered with mulch.

Dogwood seedlings obtained by vegetative propagation (by root suckers, layering, grafting) bloom already in the second year, therefore they often go on sale with blossoming buds. Usually there are only a few of them. For better survival, it is recommended to remove them before planting.

Video: features of planting and growing dogwood

Why dogwood blooms, but does not bear fruit

It happens that after abundant flowering, berries are not tied on the dogwood. There are several reasons for this:

There is no cross-pollination: although the flowers are bisexual, pollination occurs between several bushes. On the site, it is desirable to have dogwood of different varieties.
Unsuitable soil: clayey, airtight, deficient in phosphorus and potassium.
Insufficient watering: Dogwood roots are unable to extract moisture from the depths. In the absence of rain, it is necessary to water it once a week, otherwise the plant simply does not have enough moisture to pour the fruit, the flowers will crumble.
Heavy rains during flowering wash away pollen, in addition, pollinating insects do not fly in such weather.
Return frosts: in some years, spring frosts exceed the frost resistance threshold. Dogwood continues to bloom, but the pistils and stamens are damaged, no ovaries are formed. This can explain the situation when last year the dogwood blossomed and bore fruit, but this one does not have a single berry or there are few of them.
Unscrupulous seller: In response to increasing demand, some traders sell unvaccinated seedlings, that is, wild forms of dogwood. An unvaccinated plant has an even bark, without scars or thickenings. The grafting is usually located at the bottom of the trunk, often the color of the bark in this place is a different shade. Another difference is that the wild dogwood blooms very profusely, and on cultivated plants the buds are several times smaller, and they are larger.

Cornel is a long-liver, it grows and bears fruit for up to 250 years. Saplings grown from seeds bring their first berries only in 8-10 years.

In order for your dogwood to not only bloom, but also bear fruit, buy several grafted seedlings of different varieties and be sure from a trusted seller. Prepare a loose and fertile soil for planting, then ensure adequate watering. Protect from strong return frosts by smoke or sprinkling. Even young and low bushes can be wrapped entirely with covering material.

The type and timing of flowering dogwood depends on its variety. However, this fruit culture attracts with its decorativeness at any time of the year. After a long and luxurious flowering, the branches are covered with bright berries, and in autumn and winter - with large beads of flower buds.

Biological properties of dogwood

Dogwoods are very different in biological properties. These are plants of a temperate, cold, less often subtropical climate. Most often, these are deciduous trees and shrubs, some species are dwarf shrubs of an almost herbaceous type. They have woody underground shoots, from which small aerial shoots grow, which die off in autumn.

The thickets of Swedish and Canadian dogwood barely rise above the moss cover. Other types of dogwood are trees and shrubs that grow in different environmental conditions, on a wide variety of soils, some rise high in the mountains, put up with a lack or complete lack of moisture, grow on poor stony soils, others settle in river valleys, hollows, do not withstand the lack of moisture.

Dogwood grows wild in Europe and the Caucasus, there are quite a few of them in China and Japan and at least half of the species in Canada and the USA, where they have one name - dogwood (dog - dog, wood - wood). This name comes from the fact that a decoction of blood-red dogwood bark was used to treat scabies in dogs.

Ornamental dogwood species in America are the best plants for landscaping. Nurseries grow a wide variety of varieties and forms, stunning in the color of leaves, flowers, plant habit.

Dogwood has a remarkable decorative appearance due to its external outline and leaves, abundant flowering, beautiful, often brightly colored flowers or leaves of the flower wrap and fruits, as well as bright red or yellow shoots after falling leaves. Used in single and group plantings or create thickets in open places or under the canopy of trees.

Cornel

Our dogwood is a European species (turf), an ancient fruit plant: from the ancient Greeks to the present, there are many reviews in the literature about it. And now the fruits of dogwood are very much appreciated and in demand. It grows in the southwestern regions of Russia, in the south of Ukraine, in Moldova, in the Caucasus, in Central Southern Europe, in the Balkans and in Asia Minor.

In Crimea, where dogwood has long been one of the most popular plants, there are still names of folk varieties - Shpansky, Tsaregradsky, Sultansky. The name of the latter, among the Crimeans, is obviously associated with a variety that was once imported from Turkey, where they love dogwood very much. Many natural thickets of dogwood have been preserved in Turkey.

At the extremely colorful, noisy Turkish bazaars, you can even today buy an exquisite strong cornelian cherry drink caskets made of wood with wonderful carvings.

By the way, dogwood is a word of Turkic origin and means “red”. Named for its red fruits, which are especially bright before full ripening. The wood is hard, like a horn (the branches of a bush also look like woven antlers). Therefore, sometimes the dogwood is called in Latin "cornus" - horn: the full name of the dogwood is "cornus mas" - male horn.

Cornus mas male dogwood, or true, is common in countries with continental climates, equally attractive in late summer, when its bright red fruits ripen, and in early spring in late February or early March, when openwork yellow clouds of flowering plants appear against the background of emerald spring grass. - after all, the dogwood blooms first among fruit plants, the first among dogwoods, starting a bright show, giving the first bribe to bees that wake up after winter dormancy.

The name "male" in dogwood is due to the fact that at an early age only male (staminate) flowers can form in plants, with age the flowers become bisexual, in contrast to the blood-red dogwood, in which only female (pistillate) flowers are formed at an early age ...

Since ancient times, the unique properties of dogwood, the versatility of its use as a fruit, medicinal, melliferous, technical, ornamental plant have been known.

Pleasant, sweet and sour taste with a specific aroma, cornel fruits are eaten raw, and also processed in the confectionery, canning industry. Excellent jam, jelly, marmalade, jam, extracts, syrups, fruit drinks, fillings, kvass, compotes, soft drinks, fruit dough, vinegar are prepared from them.

The fruits are used as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes, from which they prepare "lavash" - an antiscorbutic and dietary type of food in the Caucasus. Fruits are salted like olives; they are often used to prepare sauces, seasoning for borscht. It is noticed that they relieve physical fatigue well and quickly.

The high nutritional and medicinal properties of these fruits are due to the presence in them of pectin substances, easily digestible glucose and fructose (up to 9-12%), vitamins (vitamin C - up to 150-180 mg%), mineral salts of iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium , which work well for patients with an impaired cardiovascular system. Of particular importance are biologically active substances - catechins, anthocyanins, the content of which in dogwood fruits is significant.

Various parts of this wonderful plant are used for medicinal purposes. Cornel is very useful for a lack of vitamins E and C in the body, muscle atrophy, metabolic disorders: it improves vision, has a tonic effect. In folk medicine, a decoction of fruits, leaves and bark has long been used in violation of the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, as an appetite stimulant, astringent, diuretic, general strengthening. It is useful for liver diseases, gout, diarrhea, anemia, skin diseases, rectal inflammation, intestinal catarrh.

Dogwood is a durable breed. Plants live up to 150-200 years, bear fruit abundantly annually, yielding a harvest from a tree at 15-20 years of age up to 40-80 kg, at the age of 70 or more years - up to 80-150 kg.

Cornel does not require any special agricultural technology. The cultivation work consists of removing weeds, if necessary, watering and fertilizing, to which it responds very well.

Dogwood fruits ripen well during storage, acquiring the appropriate color, sugar content, reducing acidity and tannin content, and therefore they are convenient for long-distance transportation. You just need to collect them unripe.

Dogwood officinalis

It turns out that the same properties as the real dogwood, and possibly more medicinal ones, have the medicinal dogwood - the Cornus officinalis (Cornus officinalis), originally from Japan. This is the only species whose fruits are exactly the same shape and color as the real dogwood (turf), only they are much smaller. The work on its selection is still awaiting its researchers. As for the medicinal properties of the dogwood, it has no equal.

A native of Northeast China and Korea, the dogwood is widely used at home as a medicinal plant. It is one of the most important plant materials in Chinese traditional medicine. For the countries of East Asia, 24 species of medicinal plants have been identified, and most often, the dogwood is used. It is one of the main components of Japanese recipes for the treatment of kidney and bladder, as well as Korean fees for the treatment of impotence.

Cornel is also listed among 31 types of medicinal plants that tone the body, in particular, it is an integral part of such well-known drugs of this group from China as Sandy-Huang. It is very often used as an antidiabetic medicinal plant, especially in the countries of East Asia.

It turns out that our European dogwood is less common than its East Asian cousin, which is also a magnificent garden plant. It is grown over large areas in Japan, and is known in England and North America. Interestingly, this species is less common in Korea, from where it was introduced to Japan, where it is widely cultivated for excellent edible fruits and as a medicinal plant.

Like our dogwood, the dogwood is quite winter-hardy, drought-resistant and, just like for sod, a wide range of soils is suitable for it - from acidic to alkaline. This indicates that the dogwood is one of the most promising types of fruit plants.

This plant is also beautiful as an ornamental one. The bark of the trunks is brown or orange in color, brightly colored and attractive, especially on older plants. And plants during flowering in March, when their branches are abundantly covered with luxurious yellow inflorescences, can compete in beauty with any other plants.

Dogwood swedish

Among the species of the dogwood family, there are also herbaceous plants. So, the Swedish dogwood is an alpine species native to the mountainous regions of Europe - a herbaceous plant. Creeping stems with underground rhizoids grow several centimeters per season. This species grows in humid places.

Loves acidic, moist, peaty soils, can grow as a ground cover plant under acidophilic shrubs.

Dogwood canadian

Canadian dogwood also grows with a very small shrub, forming continuous thickets in nature. In culture, it can be successfully used as a ground cover plant. A white wrapper of an inflorescence of 4 large petals surrounds a small inflorescence of small yellow-green flowers. Compound fruits of the Canadian dogwood are formed by small bright red edible fruits. He feels good even in strong shade conditions.

Sweet dogwood and wrinkled dogwood Most species of dogwood are beautiful honey plants containing biologically active substances. So, for example, fragrant and wrinkled dogwood for their medicinal properties are listed in the US Pharmacopoeia and the National Pharmacological Directory. The sweet dogwood was previously used to treat malaria as a substitute for cinchona and to treat chronic diarrhea.

Flowering dogwood

Dogwood is a popular ornamental plant in North America. Breeders are constantly expanding the flower range of varieties. And in Europe, dogwood is gaining more and more recognition as fabulous garden plants.

The flowering dogwood is one of the most beautiful flowering trees in America. A small tree up to 5 m tall, with ovoid leaves and white-green field-like inflorescences with rounded white or red bracts that bloom in April or May. The fruit is orange-red.

The plant is extremely beautiful during flowering and fruiting. It is not without reason that it is the symbol of the state of Missouri. Famous varieties of this wonderful plant are Cherokee chief, Cherokee princesses, Cherokee Breive. It is used in landscaping, forming luxurious low trees with a large number of original fruits similar to those of raspberries.

In Central Asia, flowering dogwood has been cultivated for over 200 years. It turned out to be quite winter-hardy, so the selected forms can be grown in more northern regions. We have this species in the Crimea and in some botanical gardens.

Cornel nuttala

Cornus Nuttelli, also called mountain dogwood. It is even more beautiful than flowering dogwood: the multi-flowered inflorescence is surrounded by a beautiful wrapper of six, less often 4-5 egg-like white or pale pink leaves. The fruit is ellipso - or ovoid, up to 10 mm long, 6 mm in diameter. Blooms in May.

Naturally distributed in western North America from British Columbia to southern California. The author of these lines had a chance to visit the states of Oregon and Washington at several exhibitions of ornamental gardening.

Cornel Nuttala is grown even indoors - luxurious flowering plants were exhibited in decorative wooden tubs, causing everyone to admire. One such plant, depending on age and size, costs $ 200-400. There are two very effective varieties known - 'Coldrigo Grant' and 'Eddiei'. A hybrid of flowering dogwood and Nuttala - Byte Wonder is very popular. These varieties have luxurious flowers on slightly wavy shoots.

Head dogwood

On the southern coast of Crimea, the common dogwood, or strawberry tree (Cornus capitata), is cultivated - a very ornamental plant with edible fruits collected in fleshy orange-red fruits, with a strawberry aroma. Inflorescence on a pedicle, strongly expanded upward, capitate or bullet-shaped, composed of 25-30 flowers, surrounded by a beautiful envelope of four whitish-yellowish or pale pink leaves. Grows wildly in the Himalayas and Central China.

Very decorative spore dogwood (Cornus controver-sa). Plants with horizontal branches arranged in tiers, similar to an oriental pagoda.

The well-known variety 'Variegata' is especially original thanks to its variegated leaves with white edges.

Japanese dogwood

The most popular as an ornamental plant is Japanese dogwood, or cousa (Cornus cousa). In terms of decorativeness, it is not inferior to the previous types. Thanks to the extensive breeding work carried out in recent years in the United States, it has become an extremely popular ornamental plant. Decorative, like other species, there are bracts - pointed leaves of the wrapper. Bracts appear after the leaves bloom, at the beginning of flowering they are green, then they change color to white and pink. Plants bloom in June and last for six weeks or longer.

The shades of pink of the varieties are different, depending on the duration of flowering and lighting. The varieties “Light of the Moon”, “Radiant Rose”, “Autumn Rose”, “Blue Star”, “Butterfly”, “Silver Cup”, “Moonlight” and others are bred, which are characterized by excellent multi-colored shades of wrappers and mosaic leaves. Certain varieties are selected for their wonderful autumn attire.

The gray, bronze or brown bark resembles the bark of a sycamore and flakes off with age. Fruits - drupes in seedlings 5-6 cm long and 1.5-2.6 cm in diameter on long stalks, at first green, and as they ripen in late August - early September they turn red. The fruits are tasty, however, not as juicy as those of the real or medicinal dogwood. They are mealy, crumbly with a specific aroma, used fresh and for processing.

In autumn, dogwood plants of all types are very decorative: leaves of bright red, raspberry, violet, yellow, orange color. And when the leaves fall, attention is drawn to the bizarre shapes of crowns, branches and shoots of trees and shrubs.

Various types of dogwood are valuable for park construction. they can be shaped with a bush or tree. They form magnificent trellises, palmettes, cordons, vases and other exquisite shapes. they can be trimmed and cut, for which they are highly valued in "aerial gardening" when laying parks, alleys, bosquets.

The glorious molded alleys are known in the Versailles Park, which is near Paris.

From the dogwood family

Taking into account that the assortment of species of the dogwood family in Russia is poor, and it includes many economically valuable species, botanical gardens, arboretums, forestry institutions introduced at different times about 30 species of plants of the dogwood family of different geographic origin. Some species are very common, others are represented only in the collections of botanical gardens and arboretums.

Most of the introduced species used white svidina (Swida alba) - a native of Siberia and a sprouting svidina (Swida stolonifera) - a shrub from North America. The bright red, coral shoots of these species are very beautiful, especially in winter against the backdrop of white snow. Both species form a mass of root shoots, easily propagated by seeds and stem cuttings.

Regular pruning of old branches stimulates the formation of young shoots - they are the ones that have red bark. Extremely beautiful forms of white svidina, form of argenteo-marginate. They are widely used in green building. they are planted in groups, tapeworms (single plants) and as hedges. Shoots go to weaving baskets, making sticks.

Some species of dogwood have inflorescences with white, purple or yellow flowers. Despite the fact that the flowers are small, they are brightly colored and collected in axillary or apical inflorescences, a head or an umbrella, which makes them very decorative. In other species, the flowers are small, collected in inflorescences, little noticeable, but the inflorescences are surrounded by a wrapper of large bright peel-like leaves - bracts, which makes the inflorescence seem to be a large bright flower.

White, pink, red flower with four petals. What's so special about her? And before us is a plant-actor, and his plastic gift is unique. What we take for a corolla is an artistic imitation of a flower ...

To make small flowers, collected as if in bunches, four leaves were rearranged: they became like petals, played their role. These leaves are oval, often elongated at the top, sitting on the stem in pairs. Allegedly ordinary. But it was they who were repainted in white, pink and folded into a cruciform stand to draw attention to the colors. Such flowers are already perfectly visible!

These are the adaptations of plants for attracting insects, pollination, and the formation of offspring. Plants are an uncomplicated living organism, some organs help others: leaves came to the rescue of indistinct flowers.

It is very difficult to confuse the sweet and sour taste of dogwood jam: it is familiar to many from childhood. Cornel is widely popular with gardeners in our country due to its simplicity in care, easy cultivation and a variety of varieties. The correct planting, breeding methods and varietal diversity of this crop will be discussed in this article. As usual, the text is complemented by bright photos.

Dogwood legend
Description of the crop and common varieties
Planting dogwood
Care and feeding of dogwood
Reproduction of varietal dogwood
Diseases and pests of dogwood
How to plant a dogwood: video
Growing dogwood: photo

Dogwood legend

According to legend, once the dogwood was attracted to the shaitan for its early flowering. “If a tree blooms early, then it will give fruit first,” he thought. However, he miscalculated: other fruits were ripening, and green hard fruits were still on his tree. Then the shaitan got angry and threw the dogwood out of his garden.

More than 50 kg of berries can be harvested from one dogwood bush

In late autumn, picking mushrooms in the forest, people saw a shrub all sprinkled with bright red berries that taste sweet. They took the bush to their garden. And for a long time after that they made fun of the shaitan, and he decided to take revenge. The next year, the dogwood gave people a generous harvest, but the sun spent all its energy to ripen it. Therefore, the winter was severe and frosty. Since then, the second name of the dogwood is shaitan-berry, and there is a sign among the people: a rich harvest of dogwood promises a harsh winter.

Dogwood- a shrub from the Cornelian plant family. It looks very interesting on the site, and especially bright when it begins to bloom. Translated from the Türkic, the name "kizil" corresponds to the flower of the tree's fruit - "red". Dogwood was grown in Asian countries - China and Japan - but then successfully migrated to Eastern and Southern Europe, and America.

Cornel ordinary

The common dogwood tree - another name for "male" - reaches 2.5 meters in height. Grows leaf mass with dark green leaves, bright, red shoots and milky inflorescences. It can be grown both as an ornamental plant and as a source of useful fruits.

Pros of keeping dogwood: the tree takes root quickly, has an elongated shape, so it is easy to take care of the crown. The plant is quite frost-resistant, it can survive under conditions of up to -15 or -20 degrees, but if the air temperature drops below -30 degrees, freezing of the ends of the shoots begins and the vitality of the dogwood is lost. The shrub also holds the record for life expectancy - over a hundred years!

Cons of keeping dogwood: it is hard to find the obvious disadvantages of keeping the dogwood - the shrub is too good - but the disadvantages most likely lie in the planting. Cornel is recommended to be planted in autumn. spring planting is carried out only if the spring is early in the region, so the soil has time to warm up. The soil for planting can be any, but in acidic soils it can grow, but often more. It is also worth noting that dogwood is a paired plant. it is imperative to plant a second bush five meters from one bush, otherwise it will not bloom.

The reason for the lack of fruiting with excellent flowering dogwood can lie in two different problems:

Lack of moisture in the soil mixture, respectively, improper care;
Wild form of dogwood, that is, an unpicked seedling;

Non-grafted dogwood seedlings do not take root well, therefore, they definitely should not be acquired by beginners in gardening, otherwise it will not be possible to immediately identify the reason why the dogwood blooms, but does not bear fruit.

How to distinguish grafted seedlings? Firstly, when buying, attention is paid only to the planting material belonging to a particular variety, and, secondly, they have from 20 to 60 buds and no more, while wild ones - more than a hundred and the peak of their yield falls on 10 th year of life.

Insufficient watering is bad for the fruiting of dogwood due to the fact that the shrub likes constant moisture. If all the conditions for the development of a plant are observed, then it can bear fruit non-stop. How to achieve active fruiting in dogwood and carry out constant watering? There is a solution: the drip irrigation system will not only increase the number of fruits in the dogwood, but also solve the problem with the energy and time-consuming care process.

If you notice that the dogwood blooms, but does not bear fruit for some reason, immediately exclude frostbite or pests and diseases, since they do not have such a strong influence as the choice of variety and subsequent care, namely watering, on the fruiting of the dogwood on the site.

(1 rated, rating: 3,00 out of 10)

Dogwood is an unpretentious, super-intensive crop. However, gardeners are often faced with the problem of lack of flowering and fruiting. Why this happens and what to do if difficulties arise, read below in the review.

Dependence on the climatic zone

Cornelian plantings tolerate frosts well down to -50 ° C, but in such a cold flower buds freeze out, so in the northern regions it will not bloom and bear fruit without high-quality shelter. In addition, one should take into account such a feature of the culture as the early flowering period.

The plant can release bunches-inflorescences already in March, and in May - to form an ovary. Even though the flowers at night, and also, when the temperature drops, curl up into buds and stand up to -7 ° C, such a natural "protection" may not be enough for high-quality pollination.

In the absence of flowering in the southern regions, it is necessary to look for the reason in other factors.

During freezing, it is not the petals that are damaged, but the pistils and stamens, which play a major role in reproduction. Outwardly, this cannot be determined in any way. The flowering will be abundant, but the berries will simply not form in the future. In addition, if there is a rainy season in the growing area in spring, pollen can simply be washed off with water, which also prevents pollination.

Unvaccinated sapling

The reason for the lack of fruiting may lie in the fact that the gardener came across an unvaccinated seedling. Such a plant bears fruit only for 8-10 years. The cultivated (grafted) seedling will enter the fruiting phase for 2-3 years. Also, vegetation will differ in the level of resistance to diseases, pests and adverse environmental factors.

Varietal units are more resistant to various external influences, since the purpose of breeding is to increase such abilities of the plant organism and the level of fruiting

Therefore, it is important to be able to distinguish grafted seedlings from unvaccinated ones.... The budding site should be located at a height of about 15 cm from the root. It looks like a stump left over from cutting off the shoot. What is also very important - just below this place, the trace from the knife should be clearly visible - a thin line passing in a semicircle directly under the hemp.

Important! In order not to purchase a wild seedling, the purchase of planting material should be carried out only in specialized nurseries, which can provide quality certificates for their goods.

Lack of moisture in the potting mix

The plant in question is very demanding on soil moisture. The soil must be constantly moistened... With drought, the dogwood has a periodicity in fruiting. The most optimal solution to the problem is to organize a drip irrigation system on the site. In this case, the gardener has the opportunity to dosed water supply every other day to each plant, 3 liters.

If only a few grows on the site, then watering can be carried out at the root, adding 20 liters of water under each plant 1-2 times a week, taking into account the weather conditions.

Incorrect care

Dogwood, like any plant, requires proper care. Failure to comply with the elementary rules of agricultural technology leads to a lack of fruiting. In addition, unkempt plantings are more often infected with diseases and pests, which significantly reduces their resistance to adverse environmental factors.

Did you know? To provide a daily intake of vitamin C for an adult, it is enough to eat 300 g of dogwood berries.

First of all, you should create favorable conditions for vegetation when planting:

location area for 1 copy, it should be 25 m² - this means that a distance of 5 m must be observed to fences, houses, other trees and shrubs, as well as in the aisles;
lighting- abundant or partial shade;
soil composition- anyone, can grow even on rocky soils;
distance to groundwater- 1.5 m;
soil pH level- neutral, within 5–7 pH units;
draft- missing.

Video: Why dogwood does not bear fruit

How to properly care for dogwood

It is worth mentioning right away that the dogwood is a cross-pollinated crop, so the reason for the lack of fruiting may lie in the fact that there is only one bush growing on the site. For high-quality pollination, you need to plant 2-3 plants of different varieties at once.

At first, after planting, caring for the dogwood consists in regular watering, loosening and mulching the soil.

Top dressing begins to be applied after 4 years of plant life on the site. During the season, fertilizers are used 2 times:

at the time of swelling of the kidneys - liquid cow dung, diluted in a ratio of 1: 5 with water (10 liters for each specimen);
after harvesting - 0.5 kg of wood ash or 100 g of superphosphate in the trunk circle, embedding to a depth of 5 cm.

During the ripening period, foliar feeding with a decoction of nettle with the addition of wood ash will be useful. For this, 1 kg of grass and 300 g of ash are placed in 10 liters of boiling water. The liquid is infused for a day, then the trees are filtered and sprayed. The cake is used as mulch

Pruning is one of the important steps in crop care.... The first manipulation is carried out at the time of landing. At this stage, all skeletal branches are shortened by 1/3, the stem is cut at a height of 60 cm.This will help start the enhanced formation of the root mass and increase the plant's survival rate in a new place. In the future, the formation of the bush is carried out in the fall (September - October), and the result is controlled and the branches damaged by frost are removed - in the spring (March).

Formative pruning aims to give the plantings a decorative look and stimulate the formation of new fruitful shoots. In this case, one should start from the botanical features of the dogwood - produce the largest amount of ovary on shoots no more than 2 years old.

Based on this, when forming a crown, branches should be removed:

over 2 years old;
growing inside plants;
located below the vaccination site.

Some dogwood varieties do not require formation at all.... This type includes vegetation in which all branches are at right angles to the trunk. For such specimens, only sanitary and anti-aging pruning is carried out. Damaged branches are removed annually, and every 3 years all old, non-fruiting shoots are cut out.

After trimming, it is imperative that all wound surfaces should be powdered with wood ash, and then covered with garden pitch. Otherwise, there is a high risk of getting fungal spores into the open cut.

As soon as the snow melts and the temperature is about + 5 ° C, broken, dry, frost-damaged shoots should be cut off. Also zero shoots growing from the root and shoots that are located below the inoculation level are subject to removal... If this is not done, wild shoots will grow, which will displace varietal ones, and then the plant will lose its value.

To get a stable harvest, it is important to take care of preparing the vegetation for winter.... When growing dogwood in the central regions, before the cold snap, in about 3 weeks, the trunk is whitewashed with lime to a height of 1 m. Then mulching is carried out with a mixture of hay, peat and sand to a height of 10 cm. When cultivated in the northern regions, after the above procedures, the plants are covered with agrofibre.

Pests and diseases

Cornelian plantations are extremely resistant to negative external factors. This makes it possible not to use chemical agents for prophylactic purposes. Only as a result of improper care can the crop in question be affected by diseases and pests. It can affect vegetative processes, including flowering and fruiting.

Possible diseases and pests of dogwood:

Dogwood is unpretentious in care, but requires a thorough approach to the choice of location and climatic conditions. The reasons for the lack of flowering and fruiting may be the purchase of an unvaccinated seedling, a lack of moisture, or incorrect implementation of the rules of agricultural technology.

Did you know? Dogwood berries contain a large amount of phytoncides that can destroy the bacteria that cause typhoid and dysentery.

To get a good harvest, it is important to get acquainted with the botanical features of the culture first, and already starting from them, organize work on the site.