Holly magonia is an evergreen shrub that can survive even in severe frosts. It is used in medicine, cooking, landscape decoration and in the creation of cosmetics.
What does magonia padubolisty look like
The hollow magonia belongs to the Barberry family - these are dicotyledonous flowering plants that are included in the order of Luciferous. They include more than 40 species that are common in America and Asia. Popular varieties such as Apollo and Atropurpurea were bred by Dutch gardeners in the 20th century.
Appearance
Description of appearance: the plant mahonia looks like a bush without thorns with shiny alternating leaves. Small flowers have a yellow color and are located in large inflorescences. Leaves are framed along the edges with denticles. The fruits are blue. It is rare to find a bush of mahonia with red or white berries. Shrub grows up to 1.5 meters. Leaves in the fall acquire a reddish-bronze color.
What are the varieties of magnesium
Magonia is crossed with plants from the barberry genus. Among the popular decorative forms, the following are distinguished:
- Walnut (f. Juglandifolia). It looks like magonia holly. The difference in foliage. The plant has 7 small leaves on each branch. Leaves are dense with a red stalk.
- Graceful (f. Gracilis). Differs from a typical species in longer leaves.
- Golden (f. Aurea). Foliage of such mahonia has a golden color.
- Variegated (f. Variegata). The leaves contain a heterogeneous color, consisting of green and gold spots.
Additional Information! Caring for the above decorative species is no different from caring for ordinary mahonia.
Species of magonia holly found in nature
Some varieties of mahonia have their own characteristics of cultivation and care. Below are some of the most famous species in gardening.
Mahonia creeping (Mahonia repens)
Shrub is a height of 20 to 50 cm. The leaves are large green. It blooms from late spring to early autumn. The fruits ripen by the end of the summer season. The flower of mahonia has a lemon color. The plant survives even with sudden changes in temperature.
Creeping
Japanese mahonia (Mahonia japonica)
Widely distributed in Japan and other tropical regions. It resembles lily of the valley flowers in aroma. The shrub grows to 150 cm. Inflorescences are directed in different directions. Flowers have a bright yellow hue.
Japanese
Mahonia Winter sun
The plant reaches 200 cm up. Blooms in the winter. In appearance it reminds Japanese.
Winter sun
Magonia Fremontii
The shrub grows to 300 cm. The young plant has gray-blue leaves. The berries are red.
Fremonti
Mahonia bract Soft Caress (Mahonia eurybracteata Soft Caress)
The plant comes from China. The leaves are narrow. Flowering takes place in the summer. The bush is grown in special containers and in greenhouses.
Software
Mahonia Neubertii
The height of the plant does not exceed 110 cm. The leaves are ovoid in shape.
Newbert
Additional Information! The listed species are artificially bred hybrids of barberry with other varieties of mahonia.
The most popular varieties among gardeners
The following varieties are winter hardy and unpretentious in care, which attracts the attention of gardeners.
- Magonia Apollo (Apollo). The bush grows from 50 to 100 cm. Leaves 25 cm long have a sharp-toothed edge and consist of 7 leaf plates. In the summer, they are green, and in the fall they acquire a brown color. Flowers are painted in lemon color. Dark blue berries contain a waxy coating on the peel.
- Magonia atropurpurea (Autropurpurea). The height of the bush reaches 65 cm. The leaves are dark green. In length, they do not exceed 30 cm. The flowers are bright yellow.
- Magonia Smaragd. A distinctive feature - shiny emerald-colored leaves with a clear pattern of veins.
How Magonia the holly breeds
Magonia is cross-pollinated. A single bush has no yield. If a gardener grows a shrub as an ornamental and berry crop, then he needs to plant at least 2 plants nearby. There are several ways to propagate mahonia.
Cuttings
For the propagation of magonia by the hollow cuttings, it is necessary in early spring to cut branches with 6 buds. They are planted in shade. Moisturize the soil daily. Before the first winter, cuttings are spud and covered with straw. Next season they will be landing on a permanent place.
Cuttings
Bush division
In early spring, when the juice has not yet begun to move in the trunk and branches, the bush is divided into several shoots. Trimming planted in a fixed place in the usual way.
Layering
In spring, one of the branches of the plant is lowered to the ground and fixed with a metal bracket. The leaves are preliminarily removed, and the stalk lowered down is sprinkled with earth. No additional care is required. In the spring, the seedling that they managed to grow is transplanted to a new place.
Seed cultivation
This is a time consuming way. In autumn, seeds are sown in holes 2 cm deep. They can also be planted in spring after stratification at temperatures from 0 to +5 degrees. Seedlings are left in the shade. In the autumn it is thinned out and seated in separate boxes. After 1.5 years, the seedlings are planted in open ground. Magonium will begin to breed by layering in 4 years.
Important! Some gardeners, when propagating the bush by cuttings, cover branches with plastic bottles. This is not necessary. The roots will appear without additional intervention.
Features of gardening
Care and cultivation of the holly magonia includes daily watering, feeding, treatment of the bush from pests, and pruning. The plant needs a lot of moisture, gardeners water the near-stem circle and irrigate the upper branches. You need to do this in the evening. Adult shrubs can not be watered if the weather is not arid. In hot summers, plants should be irrigated 2 times in 14 days.
Care
Shrubs are fed twice in 12 months: the first in May, and the second in late February. Mineral complexes are used as it. 150 g of fertilizer is required per square meter. Preparing shrubs in the open ground for winter, sprinkle the soil with compost or humus. Their layer should be at least 6 cm.
There is no way to look after mahonia without a transplant. It is carried out throughout the growing season. A bush should not be transplanted only in autumn. He will not have time to take root and with the onset of cold weather will die. Also, care includes pruning sick, dry and frozen branches during the winter. They do it at the end of February. So that the bushes do not thin out and remain low, pruning is performed in October after the plant ceases to bloom.
Young bushes are covered with spruce branches before winter. Adult shrubs should be subjected to the same manipulations only if they promise frost. The plant survives quietly under the snow. Magonia prefers loose, fertile soil. The best option for it is soil, consisting of humus, sand and sod land.
Important! After heavy rain, the soil around the trunk circle is loosened.
When and how it blooms
Flowering lasts from April to May. Magonia refers to the order of dicotyledonous flowering plants. This is a class in which the flower acts as a reproductive organ, and the seed germ has two cotyledons located on the sides. The flowers consist of 9 sepals and 6 petals of a lemon shade, collected in panicle-shaped inflorescences. Leaves are arranged in two circles.
Flowers
Anthers open in a folding way, from bottom to top. Between sepals and stamens in some varieties, two circles of nectaries are located. The upper ovary is one and consists of one carpel. Ovules are numerous, in some varieties - solitary, located along the abdominal suture of the ovary.
Fruits - berries of blue color. They reach 1 cm in length and 0.7 cm in width. On top of the berries is a shallow fluff. In one fruit 2-8 seeds.
Berries
Possible problems in growing
Magonia is resistant to pests and various diseases. However, with improper care on the plant, traces of rust, powdery mildew, and spotting are noticeable. Below is a list of diseases, as well as recommendations for their treatment.
- Spotting. It appears in the form of crimson spots of different sizes located on the leaves of the plant. They can form if the plant is planted on a site with polluted air and due to a lack of nutrients. Spotting is treated by spraying with agents containing copper or polycarbacin.
- Powdery Mildew This is a fungal disease that affects the leaves and fruits of a shrub. She looks like a white spotted coating. They treat the bush in summer, once every 2 weeks, spraying it with Topsin-M or karatan. As a preventive measure, shrubs are fertilized with mixtures, which include a large amount of potassium and phosphorus.
- Rust. The disease is caused by a rust fungus. It looks like orange spots on the leaves. Soon, these pustules crumble. When you touch them on your hands remains rusty sand - spores of mushrooms. Rust reduces frost resistance, degrades productivity. Its development is facilitated by the excess of nitrogen fertilizers. Cinab and products containing sulfur are also used to get rid of rust.
- Phyllosticosis. This disease is a spreading infection. Affected areas become brown or brown. The leaves die off over time, and the flowering rate deteriorates. The disease is spread by wind and raindrops. The fungus gradually begins to penetrate the stem, as well as the root system of the plant. To get rid of it, you must first remove the affected and fallen foliage, and then treat the bush with a fungicide.
Disease
The main indicators that the gardener improperly cares for the bush are the formation of spots, as well as other lesions, excessive falling of fruits, leaves and buds. If the plant began to fade, then it must be transplanted to a new place, cut off all damaged areas, water, and then add fertilizer to the soil. If necessary, the bush is sprayed with a "therapeutic" agent.
Among pests, magonium, like barberry, attracts the attention of the following individuals:
- Aphid. It is a small insect with a yellow or red color, living under the leaves of a plant. Aphids slowly eat up a bush. “Aliot” or “Kinmix” will not help get rid of. Also, the product is made independently by mixing a spoonful of tobacco, soap and 200 ml of water.
- Sawfly. It looks like a caterpillar with a black head and sixteen legs. The insect eats shoots and foliage. The drug "DNOC" will help get rid of it.
- Moth This insect eats the fruits of mahonia and other trees in the garden. It is a larva of a nocturnal butterfly with a gray-brown color, which leaves its offspring inside foliage or fruits. Hatching insects begin to quickly eat the plant. Get rid of it with insecticides.
In order for all remedies to work as efficiently as possible, before spraying, all affected leaves are cut and burned. They irrigate the bush before the buds appear.
Important! The procedure is repeated without fail after 20 days.
Use in landscape design
Magonia is among the ornamental plants. Its fruits and flowers have a bright color that fits perfectly into the landscape design. Shrubs are often planted to create a decorative forest belt. The average number of rows of bushes in it is 3-5. Despite the fact that such a forest belt is necessary only for a beautiful view, it also performs practical functions. Rows of bushes of mahogany protect from the wind and do not let noise.
Single bushes among the lawn look interesting, but such plants need additional care. Over time, their root neck begins to warp, which leads to death. To avoid this situation, a well is formed around the trunk. It is made out in the form of a small fence or a bench. A shrub is dug around to create a slope.
Design
Magonia is used to create hedges. To control the growth of its root system, at the stage of planting the hedge, slate or metal plates are dug on the sides. To create the desired contour, after flowering is completed, excess branches are cut. A haircut is also carried out in the spring to get rid of frozen branches. In case of severe frosts, a burlap is thrown over the hedge. In addition, landscape designers create beautiful combinations of shrubs with stunted trees, bulb flowers and roses.
The composition of magonium includes many tannins, ascorbic acid and alkaloids. The use of its extract in medicine allows you to fight diseases of the vascular system, intestinal tract, as well as a decrease in blood sugar. With proper care, the bush may not wither for many years. After pruning, the plant is quickly restored. Magonia is unpretentious in leaving and is patient to temperature changes.
