Compared to ordinary cherry, felt cherry is more resistant to temperature extremes, multiplies easily and yields quickly. Gardeners grow the crop as a fruit or ornamental plant. With proper care, a cherry tree will be an excellent decoration for the countryside.
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Main advantages
Felt cherry is commonly called Chinese. In fact, it has long been cultivated not only in China, but also in Japan and South Korea. From these countries, the tree was brought to Europe and North America. In the Russian Federation, the plant has been successfully grown since the 19th century. The Chinese tree is especially popular in the cold regions of Russia, where ordinary cherries take root very poorly.
In addition to frost resistance, the culture has other important qualities:
- tolerates drought well;
- growing rapidly;
- It does not require special care;
- begins to bear fruit the next year after planting;
- one bush brings up to 15 kg of ripe fruits;
- the tree has a small width and fits easily in a small area.
Felt cherry has been bearing fruit for more than 10 years, growing in places with low groundwater levels significantly increases its life cycle.
Botanical description
The culture is a shrub or a small tree about 3 m high. Its closest relatives are plum, apricot and cherry plum. Crossbreeding is possible with these fruit plants. Felt has no genetic links with ordinary cherry.
Annual shoots, pedicels, and leaves of a Chinese shrub are covered with a felt-like fluff. The branches are rough, massive, light brown. The leaves are oval with jagged edges. Flowers can be either white or pink.
During the flowering period, which lasts almost 2 weeks, the bush looks like a big beautiful bouquet. The color of the berries is from white to dark red. The fruits are located on short petioles close to each other, the branches in their structure resemble a sea buckthorn tree.
Planting and leaving
It is recommended to grow a cherry tree in a sunny place, as the berries begin to rot in the shade. For cross-pollination on the site, several varietal crops should be planted. If you pick them up according to the ripening time (early, middle, late), then the harvest can be removed for more than a month.
Reproduction is carried out using cuttings, layering or grafting. Planting of felt cherries begins in spring - early or mid-May. For this:
- choose the strongest seedling;
- shorten the roots by 20 cm;
- dip the rhizome in a mixture consisting of clay and wood ash;
- dig a hole 50 cm deep and about 60 cm wide;
- install the handle in the hole, cover it with soil;
- the soil is tamped, peat is laid on top.
Watering is carried out in moderation. In order to avoid liquid stagnation, a groove is made around the tree and water is poured into it. Superphosphate and potassium sulfate are used as top dressing. In the fall, fertilizers are re-applied. Pruning is carried out at the beginning of the new season: weak and damaged shoots are removed, a crown is formed.
If you have certain skills, it is not difficult to grow a plant. The implementation of the recommended agrotechnical measures will allow you to harvest a high yield of useful fruits with tender and juicy pulp.
Do you grow felt cherries in your garden?
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