Barberry Cobalt (Kobold, Kobold) - undersized ornamental shrub. It is actively used for landscaping the site by landscape designers and amateur gardeners. If you need to green a large area, the shoots of barberry can be cut and rooted. Further information on the cultivation of crops in household plots.
Description
Barberry Tunberg Kobold is a shrub up to 50 centimeters high. The spherical crown consists of short shoots with brown bark and sharp spikes. Ovate leaves grow on the branches. In the summer they are colored green, in the fall - ruby.
Barberry Tunberg Cobalt
Barberry blooms in May. The petals of the buds are painted yellow. Then edible red fruits are formed. They ripen in September and October.
Additional Information! The literal translation of the barberry from the Arabic language: "petals, like a shell."
Planting a plant
As a rule, barberry is planted on the plot by seedling method.
Plants grown in a container will take root more easily
Young bushes are purchased in the garden center, or grown from seeds on their own. Plants with a closed root system will work best.
From seed
Sowing is done in spring or autumn. For good germination, seeds require stratification. To do this, they are kept in the refrigerator all winter, and in the spring they are planted in a greenhouse. Or seed material is planted in the fall immediately into the ground. In winter, natural stratification will occur.
Matured 2-3 months in cold conditions, the seeds are planted as follows:
- loose soil is poured into a box with low sides;
- make grooves in which seeds are laid;
- cover them with earth.
To create the conditions necessary for the rapid germination of seeds, the box is covered with a transparent plastic wrap. When the sprouts hatch, the shelter is removed. The grown bushes are transplanted into separate containers, then to the site.
Planting seedlings in open ground
For plants allot a sunny place, closed from cold winds. When grown in the shade, the leaves will not have a decorative look. Barberry Tunberg Cobalt is planted on the site as follows:
- dig a hole 40 centimeters deep, 50 centimeters wide;
- pour fertilizer consisting of potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and mixed with soil;
- pour a substrate consisting of sod land, humus, sand;
- put up a bush in the middle, straighten the roots, fall asleep with a mixture of soil;
- water abundantly.
Bushes are planted no older than 3-4 years. The older the plant, the harder it tolerates the transplant.
How to care
Care consists in timely watering, top dressing, sanitary pruning. In the spring, preventive spraying with insectofungicides can be performed.
- Watering
Berberis Thunbergii Cobalt is drought tolerant and can go without watering for a long time. Humidification of the near-trunk circle is necessary only in case of long-established dry, hot weather.
Bushes of barberry Cobalt in the fall
Abundant watering is necessary for plants only in the first time after planting. Humidify the earth in the morning or in the evening. Water only the root system, without affecting the green part.
Note! If a sufficient amount of rainfall falls during the season, additional moisture to the bushes is not required.
- Top dressing
When planting barberry in fertile soil, top dressing is made for the 3rd year. In the spring, nitrogen is used: 20 grams of urea are dissolved in a bucket of water. Nutrients are added to pre-moistened soil. In autumn, peat is poured into the trunk circle.
It should be noted that barberry Cobalt does not impose large requirements on fertility, it will develop well even without fertilizing.
- Pruning
Sanitary pruning is performed throughout the season. Remove old, sick, frozen shoots.
Forming pruning is necessary for bushes planted as a hedge. The procedure is carried out at the beginning and at the end of summer.
Breeding methods
Dilute Berberis Thunbergii Kobold (barberry tunberg Cobalt) on the site in several ways: seeds, cuttings, layering. The first option is usually not used by gardeners because of the long duration and laboriousness of the process. In addition, there is a high probability that not all qualities declared in the variety description will be transmitted.
One of the most popular ways of propagating barberry is cuttings.
Reproduction by cuttings is as follows:
- cut lignified cuttings 10-15 centimeters long, having 2-3 internodes;
- lower sections are dusted with Kornevin;
- planted several in pots;
- the containers are covered with a film.
When the cuttings are rooted, let out new leaves, the shelter is removed. Growing young bushes are planted on the site.
Another popular method of propagation of barberry is layering. The procedure is carried out in the spring. To do this, furrows are made near the bushes, into which the lower shoots are laid. They are nailed, covered with earth. Soon there will be new plants that are separated from the parent bush and planted in a permanent place.
Diseases and Pests
The barberry tunberg Cobalt has good immunity. But with thickened plantings, dry or rainy weather, bushes can be affected by diseases and pests.
Powdery mildew on barberry leaves
If at first a white coating appears on the lower part of the leaves, and then on the whole plant - barberry is affected by powdery mildew. You need to fight the disease at the first sign. To do this, the affected parts are removed, the bush is sprayed with a solution of colloidal sulfur.
The main plant pest is barberry aphid. She sucks the juice from the leaves, after which the bushes die. They get rid of the insect by treatment with a solution of laundry soap.
Important! Using chemicals, you must follow safety precautions.
Winter preparations
Barberry can withstand temperatures down to -35 ° C. Therefore, adult bushes do not need shelter. It is enough to pour mulch from peat or humus into the root circle. Young plants are covered with spruce branches, agrofibre. As soon as the sun warms in the spring, the shelter is removed.
Use in landscape design
Barberry Cobalt is used on the site in various configurations. Planting various varieties in a mixborder, you can create a landscape composition with a diverse color palette.
Barberry Cobalt in a container
Shrubs can decorate a rocky garden, rock garden, artificial pond. A hedge is constructed from them, which will achieve the greatest attractiveness in 4-5 years, after closing the crowns. A single planted plant will look beautiful in design.
Healing properties
In folk medicine, they use not only berries, but also leaves, bark, and roots of the culture. One of the positive characteristics of Tunberg barberry is that it has the following medicinal properties:
- cleanses the blood;
- protects the body from radiation;
- has an anti-inflammatory effect;
- reduces the risk of cancer;
- calms the nervous system.
Use barberry in the form of tinctures and decoctions.
Barberry Cobalt is an unpretentious plant that is very popular among gardeners. Bushes with leaves that change color from green in spring to red in autumn can become a decoration of a garden plot.
