Viburnum rhytidophyllum is a very original evergreen shrub with decorative leaves and colorful fruits. This plant does exceptionally well when planted in the shade. Get to know the most interestingvarieties of hard-leaved viburnumand find out what it looks likecultivating viburnum in the gardenWe also advise how to dopruning of the hard-leaved viburnumthat the bush gets a nice shape and does not strip itself from the bottom.
Flowering viburnum
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What does a stiff-leaved viburnum look like?
Kalina stiff-leaved is an evergreen shrubgrows up to a height of 4 m. In youth, the plant grows quickly, then a little slower. Young shoots of the stiff-leaved viburnum are densely covered with a star-shaped cutter. The shoots of older specimens, especially the outer ones, are slightly slanting.
Leaves of Viburnum viburnumare oblong-egg-shaped, shiny on the outside, dark green and strongly wrinkled, and densely covered with gray or yellow cutter on the bottom.
Flat umbrella-like flowers appear in late May or Junebroadleaf viburnum inflorescencesup to 20 cm in size, with creamy white flowers. They appear at the tops of the shoots.
In August, decorative shrubs develop on shrubs, at first bright red and then black berries. They are slightly oblong, gathered in clusters.The fruits of the stiff-leaved viburnumare an attractive decoration of the shrub at the end of summer and at the beginning of autumn.Usually, however, they do not stay on the bush for too long, as they are eagerly eaten by the birds visiting the garden.
Fruits of the viburnum
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Kalina stiff-leaved looks interestingin combination with shrubs with colorful shoots and perennials in English gardens.
Kalina stiff-leaved - varieties
Stiff-leaved viburnum comes in several varietiesthat may be of interest to garden owners:
Viburnum 'Cree'- it is more compact than the species shrubs, it does not curl its leaves during frost and its flowers are white. It also grows much slower than the basic species and is considered the most frost-resistant variety of the hard-leaved viburnum,
Kalina stiff-leaved 'Willowwood'- has a compact and dense habit and also hibernates well,
Kalina stiff-leaved 'Roseum'- this variety of viburnum has pink flowers in the buds and white flowers in bloom,
Kalina stiff-leaved 'Variegatum'- this is an interesting variety with variegated leaves. They are covered with irregularly distributed creamy-white spots. In this variety of stiff-leaved viburnum, however, the so-called reverse, i.e. changing the color of the leaves to green, such as that of the basic species.
Kalina stiff-leaved - cultivation
Kalina stiff-leaved is an undemanding shruband easily adapts to the prevailing conditions. It feels best on fresh, humus soils, in semi-shaded to heavily shaded places. The latter feature makes it an excellent shade plant. The stiff-leaved viburnum will also cope in a sunny place, although it then requires intensive watering.
However, it is important thatthe place where the viburnum is grown is quiet and sheltered from winds In windy positions, this plant hibernates much worse. When the air is dry and the temperature drops to -7 ° C,viburnum leaves curl up into a tube and hang downIn this way, the plant tries to reduce the evaporation surface area of the evergreen leaves during when he cannot replenish it from the frozen ground. We can partially prevent this by remembering to water the plant before the frost comes in autumn, and during the thaw in winter. The plant therefore reacts similarly to evergreen rhododendrons, which also benefit from watering in winter.
Evergreen leaves of viburnum
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In harsh winters, the viburnum may freeze(plant frost resistance zone 6B) but it regenerates well after spring pruning. For this purpose,frosted shoots are cut in spring .
Stiff-leaved viburnum does not require annual fertilization . It is enough to apply universal mineral fertilizers, preferably long-acting, every three years. In spring, you can sprinkle the bush with a layer of compost, enriching the soil with organic matter.
Stiff-leaved viburnum - pruning
Stiff-leaved viburnum tolerates pruning well , but in the first years it does not require regular pruning. We only remove dry or damaged shoots. In order to prevent the bushes from getting bare from below, start careful cutting through 6 years. For this purposeat the beginning of summer, after the flowering of the plant, trim the single shootswith a secateurs at the height of the preferably located branches at the base of the bush.
The rejuvenating cutting of the hard-leaved viburnumis possible, but it should not be delayed too long. Heavily aged plants regenerate poorly. To rejuvenate them, we prune in the spring (before the budding begins) about 1/3 of strongly developed shoots per skeleton. We cut them at a height of 80 cm above the ground. Trim the remaining shoots of the hard-leaved viburnum by about 1/3 of their length. In the following years, we do the same with the remaining shoots. Thanks to this, after approx.3-4 years we will get vigorously growing shrubs of hard-leaved viburnum again.
How to become confident in pruning plants?
If you are unsure how to cut or simply afraid to do it, the fantastic book "Cutting School" will help you. Thanks to it, you will gain confidence in pruning plants and learn to cut plants so that they grow according to your expectations. After reading this book, your approach to pruning plants will probably change completely!
Bibliography:
1. Bartels A., Everything about trees and shrubs, Świat Książki, p. 228;
2. Pirc Helmut, Everything about cutting trees and shrubs, Świat Książki, p. 223;
3. Plant catalog - perennial trees shrubs, collective work, Agencja Promocji Zieleni Sp. z o.o., Warsaw 2016, p. 224.
