Red cherry plum - decoration of the garden and autumn table

The history of the creation of the variety

Red-leaved cherry plum is one of the varieties of a subspecies of large-fruited cherry plum. In the southern regions, especially on the Caucasian coast, the Pissard plum is often grown. It looks amazingly beautiful with its pink flowers that darken towards the end of the process in the spring, cherry-red fruits in the summer and very bright red leaves in the fall. Botanist Pissard once brought her from Iran to Europe, where she took root in areas with a warm climate. The first specially created varieties of this variety were "Rosa", "Hollywood", delighted with tasty and fairly large fruits.

A more winter-hardy variety that is in demand in Russia is called "Hessei" (or "Hessei"). This shrubby version of the spreading plum is able to withstand frosts down to -30 degrees. Its pale green leaves, growing, acquire a purple-violet color, cream or pink border along the very edge. Delicate white flowers bloom in late April (or early May).

Column-shaped trees of the "Cistena" variety look very beautiful. Ovate leaves 6 - 8 cm long with a jagged edge, red-violet above and dark purple below, densely covering a two-meter tree, look spectacular against the background of the traditionally green foliage of other trees or the dark green of Christmas trees and pines.

The leaves of tall seven-meter trees of the "Rannaya" variety, red-brown above, intensely red below, densely cover the rounded crown, remaining a bright color spot of the garden throughout the summer. It is hard to believe that such beauty is grown for the sake of delicious fruits, also made in red colors.

In the middle of the last century, breeders began to purposefully work on the creation of cherry plum varieties capable of bearing fruit in the difficult climatic conditions of the center of Russia.

A more winter-hardy plum was taken as a basis. The specialists set themselves a number of tasks - they tried to create varieties that could grow and actively bear fruit in areas with cold winters, resist known types of biological aggression, and meet high requirements for fruit quality. A very good result of their work can be called the Lama variety, which is successfully cultivated not only in the middle lane, but even in the difficult conditions of the Khabarovsk Territory and the Far East.

Video "Description"

From the video you will learn a lot of a new variety of red cherry plum.

Description and distinctive features of the variety

Cherry plum "Lama" is a semi-dwarf tree with a height of 1.3 m to 2 m. Young seedlings have a smooth reddish-brown bark, which becomes dark and rough as it matures. The flat-round crown thickens quickly, but easily forms, tolerates pruning well.

The leaves are up to 18 cm long, with a serrated edge, the upper side is shiny, greenish-burgundy, and the lower side changes color during the growing season from dark red to bright chocolate.The flowers are white-pink, 3.5 cm in diameter, collected in small inflorescences of 3 - 5 pieces.

The fruits begin to ripen by mid-August, they are quite large, up to 42 g in weight, you can already pluck red ones, but as they ripen, they become darker and darker, almost black fall from the branches. The stone is easily separated from the dark red fibrous pulp, which is quite rare in cherry plum fruits, more often a plum can boast of this. Fruits of pleasant sweet and sour taste with a delicate almond aroma contain pectin, sugars, acids, many vitamins and minerals that strengthen the health of the body. The seeds contain a lot of oil, which has been compared to almond oil.

A miniature tree tolerates frosts of -35, and flowers are not afraid of frosts down to -6 degrees. It easily tolerates drought, southern genes help withstand heat up to +40 degrees. One tree can give from 40 to 300 kg of rather large tasty fruits, and fruiting begins in the second or third year. The tree is compact and low, which makes it easier to care for, it is almost not attacked by pests and is resistant to most diseases.

To obtain fruits, trees of other varieties are needed, which will participate in cross-pollination, the varieties "Mara", "Vitba", "Asaloda" do well with this. For the harvest to be annual and high, you need to remember about regular pruning.

Landing

Saplings are best purchased from local nurseries so that they will certainly grow well in your climatic conditions. It is better to choose one- or two-year-old plants with an open root system, so you can carefully examine them and select specimens with even healthy roots and an aerial part. If the root system is closed, then you need to evaluate an even stem without irregularities and damage, it is good if young roots have sprouted through the holes in the package. It is best to choose seedlings in the fall, in the southern regions they are planted in mid-October, but northern residents must dig in the seedlings in a semi-horizontal position and wait for spring, when the air temperature settles at +12 degrees, and the ground warms up to the required depth.

For the middle lane, the best planting time is late April or early May. If the tree was bought in a container, then it can be planted even in summer.

Cherry plum with red leaves can grow anywhere, she is used to surviving in the middle of the mountains, on rocky slopes, even in swampy lowlands, the main thing is that the soil does not turn out to be too acidic. But in order to get a rich harvest, it is better to settle it on bright hills or slopes, protected from the cold wind, so that neither tall trees nor buildings block the sun from it.

It is better to select the soil fertile, well-permeable to water and air, and groundwater should lie no closer than 1.5 - 2 m to the surface of the earth. If it is too acidic, then lime or dolomite flour should be added in advance. Two weeks before planting, you need to dig a hole up to 60 cm deep and about 1 meter wide, mix the removed earth with superphosphate and humus, fill half of the hole with this mixture. Several trees are planted at a distance of one and a half meters from each other. If a cherry-plum garden is laid, then the rows are placed every two meters.

A strong peg up to 1 meter high is driven in in the middle of the pit. Before planting, the roots are dipped in an earthen mash with the addition of Heteroauxin. They are straightened, evenly laid out over the entire width of the pit, sprinkled with earth, carefully tamping it. The root collar is left a couple of centimeters below ground level. The trunk is tied to a peg, the tree is watered abundantly using several buckets of water, then the entire surface above the pit is mulched with grass or dry soil. All shoots are shortened by a third.

Tree care

Caring for a mature tree does not involve constant hassle, it does not require constant attention.Cherry plum needs to be watered, fed, pruned, covered for the winter, protected from pests and diseases, and the fruits should be cut off in time so that you do not have to collect them from the ground later.

Mature trees can easily tolerate periods of drought, but young trees before fruiting (especially in the middle of hot summer) should be watered every two weeks. Watering should be abundant so that all the roots are well saturated with moisture, 3-4 buckets will have to be poured into the prepared hole around the trunk. For an adult tree, watering is carried out according to the weather, but twice a season you need to fill the trunk circle with water - when the fruits begin to form (May or early June) and after harvesting before preparing for the dormant period (September - October).

Before budding in the spring, experienced gardeners recommend spraying the tree with a urea solution, this is both foliar feeding and a preventive measure that protects the plant from enemies and diseases. It is often advised to carry out such a top dressing a few weeks after planting, but urea can burn young leaves, it is better to do this top dressing on unblown buds.

It is considered mandatory to apply nitrogen fertilizers in the spring for the first two to three years in order to accelerate the survival rate and stimulate the growth of the plant. Ammonium nitrate granules are advised to be scattered over the root system, in the area of ​​half a meter around the trunk. For an adult tree, it is enough to apply complex mineral fertilizers, including nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, to a specially prepared groove around the perimeter of the trunk circle annually in spring. Humus and compost are used instead of mulch, stacking them around the trunk (50 cm radius) for overall tree health, supporting a regular bountiful harvest.

Regular pruning serves the same purpose - abundant fruiting, the overall health of the tree. For the first few years, pruning is aimed at forming the crown - 9 - 11 skeletal branches are enough for good growth of this compact, low tree. Every year, starting from the second year of life, it is necessary to shorten the annual shoots, which grow by 1 - 1.5 meters during the season, it is on their middle part that fruits appear. Cherry plum is prone to thickening, so every year you have to cut out excess shoots and shorten the existing ones so that the sun gets inside the crown. Pruning is done with sharp tools in early spring before the buds begin to open. All sections, the diameter of which is close to 1 cm, must be treated with garden varnish in order to exclude infection and help the tree to heal the wound.

Towards the end of autumn, with the approach of frost, the tree trunk and the bases of the skeletal branches are whitewashed with a mixture containing clay, chalk and Karbofos, you can simply use acrylic or water-based paint. The trunk circle is mulched with manure, compost or humus, covered with dry earth on top. If very severe frosts are expected, then cover with spruce branches, lutrasil or other material. If there are a large number of rodents nearby, then the trunk and skeletal branches should be wrapped in burlap or something else. Rodents usually do not touch the whitewashed trunks, so whitewashing is at the same time a good protection from mice and hares.

Diseases and pests

Cherry plum in general, and the Lama variety especially, thanks to the efforts of breeders, shows amazing resistance to pests and diseases. But there are such unfavorable circumstances, the confluence of which provokes various diseases. Thus, a long period of humidity combined with coolness or, on the contrary, prolonged heat can weaken the plant and strengthen pathogens. Then fungal diseases threaten cherry plum: perforated spot, monilial burn or verticillosis. This happens very rarely, but special drugs will come to the rescue.To avoid troubles associated with diseases, you need to monitor the cleanliness around the trees, remove leaves and weeds, loosen and mulch the ground, make sure that the entire crown is penetrated by sunlight, and do not leave fallen fruits under the tree.

Harmful insects, and these can be aphids, mites, moths, hibernate or leave offspring in the ground around the tree or under its bark. If you monitor the cleanliness of the trunk circle, whitewash and clean the bark of the tree, remove root shoots in time, then the pests will not interfere with a quiet life and fruiting.

Harvesting

Fruits on compact low trees of the "Lama" variety begin to ripen from mid-August. When they turn red, they can already be harvested, during storage they will ripen, acquire a darker color. Usually, the berries are harvested in a day or two, without waiting until they become completely dark, because they do not hold well on the tree, a summer rainstorm or strong winds are quite capable of transferring the entire harvest from the tree under it. That is why experienced gardeners allow clover or other grass to grow under cherry plum trees, which does not have too deep roots - it will not take away many nutrients from the tree, and when the fruits fall, it will save them from injury.

In the second - third year, the tree can already give up to 30 kg of fruits, and after ten years - up to 300 kg of delicious sweet and sour berries. Berries keep well for several months if you put them in wooden boxes and keep them at a low temperature. They are very useful when eaten fresh, but delicious desserts made from them also contain many of the substances our body needs. Juices, preserves, jams and confitures, marmalades and even sauces for meat - all this is made from cherry plum.

Video "Growing"

From the video you will learn how to grow a cherry plum fruit tree.