Fortune's euonymus "Emerald Gold" - application in landscape design
Content:
Euonymus is an undeservedly forgotten plant, which, due to its decorative qualities and undemanding care, is capable of ennobling any garden or square. In nature, there are about 200 varieties of this shrub, but no more than 20 are found on the territory of Russia.
What Fortune's euonymus Emerald Gold looks like: description
Forchuna's euonymus is an evergreen, less often deciduous, shrub that belongs to the euonymus family. The natural habitat of this plant is central and northern China and Japan. Some species of euonymus are found on the territory of European Russia and Eastern Europe.
Fortune's euonymus Emerald Gold
The most common variety of this plant is Emerald Gold, but sometimes other representatives of the shrub can be found in landscape design:
- Silver Queen,
- euonymus Emerald Haiti,
- Blondie,
- Minimus,
- ground cover euonymus Fortune Sunspot.
Due to its spectacular appearance, this plant has always attracted the attention of naturalist researchers. It is believed that the name and the first description of the shrub is due to Karl Linnaeus. As new varieties of plants were discovered, other botanical scientists joined in the study - Miller, Thunberg, Lamarck, Decandol.
When and how it blooms
The decorativeness of Emerald Gold is not due to its colors. They are not very beautiful, appear extremely rarely, and also have an unpleasant smell. The flowers look like earrings of pale green, cream or pink. Usually they are collected in inflorescences of 5 flowers. The form is thyroid or cystic. Euonymus bloom usually occurs in late spring and lasts about 20 days.
At the end of flowering, fruits are formed that are extremely poisonous. The critical amount for a person that can provoke diarrhea, paralysis or even death is a small handful of 30-35 berries. By the way, all parts of the Emerald Gold spindle tree are dangerous.
Fortune's eonymus in landscape design
The main advantage of Emerald Gold euonymus is its leaves, which, thanks to the variegated creamy green or yellow-green color, noticeably enliven the atmosphere of the garden.
In garden plots, the plant will effectively fit into a rock garden, it will look great in compositions of several levels. Evergreen euonymus, designed in the form of a ball or cube, can take center stage in flower beds of the correct geometric shape.
Forchun's euonymus flowers
Features of outdoor care
The Emerald Gold variety is not a capricious crop and does not require any special attention to itself. Nevertheless, in order for the plant to feel comfortable and not hurt, you need to fulfill a number of simple care conditions.
Watering and spraying
The bush does not need special watering.It is necessary to water it only if prolonged dry weather is established. From time to time, you can spray the bush or give it a shower with warm water.
Humidity
The root zone of the shrub requires mulching, which will retain moisture in the soil and prevent the root ball from drying out. Coniferous bark, dry reeds, pine or birch sawdust are suitable as mulch.
Priming
Euonymus grows well on nutritious, complex soils. Before planting a shrub in the ground, you need to evaluate the soil mixture. If it does not meet the requirements of this plant, then it should be prepared by mixing equal parts of humus, peat, sand. In addition, a mineral fertilizer is added to the soil mixture, which stimulates the growth of deciduous mass.
Top dressing
If the development of the shrub has slowed down and causes anxiety in the gardener, then the timely application of fertilizers can correct the situation.
Usually feeding is carried out in two stages:
- application of organic fertilizer in the form of manure, diluted with water, before the beginning of the growing season;
- the introduction of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers during the formation of flowers.
Pruning
Euonymus in landscape design responds excellently to pruning. Spring pruning is sanitary. During it, old, sick, weakened or growing incorrectly, branches and shoots are cut out.
Summer pruning is formative. It is produced after the fruit has finished ripening. Its meaning is to give the shrub the required shape.
Pruning euonymus and shaping it
Winter care rules during the rest period
Those types of ornamental shrubs that are common in European territory, including the Fortune Emerald Gold euonymus, usually tolerate winters well. The protection that is formed by snow drifts is quite enough. Nevertheless, young seedlings of the first year should still be covered with non-woven garden insulation.
The species of this plant that do not shed their leaves for the winter are less hardy and risk freezing, especially in winters with little snow. In this case, the shrubs are wrapped in burlap, and the soil around them is covered with a thick layer of mulch.
How Fortune's euonymus reproduces
Fortune's euonymus can be propagated in several ways:
- seeds;
- dividing the bush;
- by cuttings.
Seeds
You can get planting material by sprouting seeds. To do this, seeds are extracted from a fully ripe seed box and immediately sent to the ground for planting.
Spring planting of seeds requires preliminary cold six-month stratification and soaking. Otherwise, germination will be zero. Since this method of reproduction is inconvenient and does not guarantee a result, it is practically not used.
By dividing the bush
The easiest and most painless way to propagate Fortune's euonymus is to divide the bush. To do this, the bush is carefully removed from the ground and cut into several parts. Before planting the bushes in permanent places, you need to shorten the stems by more than half.
After planting, you need to remember to water the bushes abundantly, and then take care of it like an adult plant in the usual way.
Reproduction of Fortune euonymus Emerald Gold
By cuttings
One of the reliable ways to propagate a plant is by cuttings. Cuttings should be taken from the plant at least 5 years old. Each cutting should be about 8 cm long with 1-2 internodes. The cuttings are planted in a greenhouse, in a nutritious substrate.
After planting, you need to add some sand to the root collar. Rooting occurs after about 7 weeks.
Possible growing problems
Insect pests can attack the euonymus, among which the most dangerous are aphids, spider mites, moths, mealybugs. To combat them, it is necessary to resort to the help of insecticides.The euonymus is quite resistant to other garden sores.
The Fortune variety looks spectacular in hedges, on alpine slides, flower beds and mixborders. Taking care of him, giving him the most bizarre shape, you can discover the talent of a real garden architect.
