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Holly Mahonia is rare in landscape design. The decorative effect of the culture is given by the color of the crown, abundant flowering and bright blue berries. They use Mahonia to decorate the garden, city parks, areas adjacent to the facade of the building.
The use of Magonia in landscape design
Mahonia holly belongs to the Barberry species. The shrub grows slowly, by the age of 6 years, the height varies from 1 to 1.3 m, the indicator depends on the climatic zone. The plant has earned its popularity due to its drought resistance, unpretentiousness to the composition of the soil, shade tolerance. Does not lose its decorative habit in partial shade. If the holly mahonia is located under the dense crown of tall-growing trees, the color of the leaves is paler than in the area open to ultraviolet radiation.
The photo shows Mahonia holly during flowering, the culture is attractive for landscape design throughout the year. The color of the leaves by winter acquires a dark red color, looks aesthetically pleasing against the background of snow, serves as a bright accent in the "sleeping" garden. The plant blooms from early April to May. The culture is completely covered with large inflorescences with bright yellow, small and fragrant flowers. Magonia compares favorably with flowering shrubs for the abundance and duration of flowering.
At the end of summer (from August to September), rounded berries ripen, their arrangement on the inflorescence resembles a bunch of grapes. Fruits are about 12 mm in size and are colored blue.
The shrub is used by professional designers and amateur gardeners to decorate the landscape. The culture is universal in application, it is combined with almost all types of plants. Mahonia in landscape design:
- It is used as a tapeworm in the center of a flower bed or lawn.
- Harmoniously combined with stones in rockeries. A single planting among the main composition of stones attracts attention throughout the year, but especially in winter, when there is no greenery in the garden.
- Used as a background option near the wall of the building, the back of the garden benches, a rabatok.
- A shrub that is planted along the garden path creates a visual perception of the alley.
- A sapling located along the perimeter of an alpine slide marks the boundaries of an impromptu mountain landscape.
- Looks aesthetically pleasing in the center of the edges of city parks.
- The leaves of the holly mahonia are bright green, jagged along the edge with thorns. The use of a plant as a hedge has a protective function, a bush with a dense crown is an obstacle for animals. Mass planting in one line, delimits the zones of the garden, in public places it separates the sanitary part from the resting places.
- In city parks, they are planted as the foreground accent of the composition.
- Placed near tall trees to create a lower tier.
- The shrub looks colorful on the slopes, gives root growth, quickly fills the free space.
- Culture is used to decorate the front door.
In addition to aesthetic perception, holly mahonia in the garden has a practical function. The culture belongs to early honey plants, attracts pollinating insects. Weeds do not grow under the dense canopy of the bush. Berries are used for jam, baking fillings, in folk medicine.The plant is frost-resistant, can be used in landscape design in regions with a temperate climate.
What types of Mahonia are suitable for creating a hedge
In its natural habitat, Mahonia has about 80 varieties, different in the shape of the bush, the structure of the leaves, the color of the inflorescences. On the basis of wild species for landscape design, hybrids from creeping to large-sized ones have been created. To create a hedge, in addition to the holly look, are suitable:
- Lomarifolia Takeda - grows up to 2.5 m, inflorescences - 20-30 cm, leaves are feathery, long. The aroma is weak, the berries are edible. Heat-loving, average frost resistance, shelter is required for the winter. Growing rapidly.
- Hybrid Winter sun created on the basis of wild lomarifolia and Japanese. Flowering occurs at the end of autumn; in cold regions, it is grown in botanical gardens. In a subtropical zone in an open area. Grows up to 2 m.
- By hybridizing Mahonia holly and common barberry, the species was created Magobarbaris Newberg. The plant reaches 1.2 m in height. The culture borrowed frost resistance from the barberry, and the decorative crown and the absence of thorns from Mahonia.
- Fremonti - large size (up to 3 m) with a gray-green color of leaves with pale (closer to beige) flowers. Young leaves are claret, gray by autumn. The fruits are red with a purple tint. The seedling grows quickly, forms a dense crown, and is frost-resistant.
- Japanese magonia Chereti - the tallest representative of the species, grows up to 4-5 m. Branching is average, for hedges they are planted in dense planting. The leaves are curved, without thorns, bright green, burgundy-purple by autumn. The flowers are yellow, the berries are dark blue. The variety is frost-resistant, growth is slow, does not require crown formation.
- For creating borders, a variety is suitable Denver Straingrowing up to 35 cm, with black glossy berries and leathery dark olive leaves.
How to plant Mahonia to create a hedge
To create a hedge from holly mahonia, two-year-old seedlings are chosen. Work is carried out in the spring before sap flow. Planting sequence:
- The planting hole should be twice as wide as the root system, 45-50 cm deep.
- Drainage and a fertile mixture are placed at the bottom.
- The seedling is placed in the center, deepened, taking into account that the root collar remains on the surface.
- Fall asleep, tamp, watered abundantly.
The distance between the bushes is at least 1 m. The culture slowly grows upwards, but intensively forms root shoots, in 3 years it can completely fill the free space.
Mahonia holly releases berberine into the soil, a substance poisonous for fruit and berry crops. Plum, honeysuckle, apple trees can be planted nearby. It is not recommended to place currants, raspberries, gooseberries in the neighborhood, berberine inhibits the vegetation of these plants.
This is the only threat to culture. Mahonia holly does not get sick, garden pests do not parasitize on it. Possible damage is a burn of young leaves and freezing of shoots, therefore protection is required for the winter.
Cropping and shaping compositions
The pruning time of Mahonia holly depends on the planting density. If the planting is rare, the plant is not touched until it fills the entire space. In early spring, cosmetic cleaning is carried out, old branches are removed, young branches are cut off by a quarter. If the goal of landscape design is to form a hedge, after reaching the desired density, pruning is done 2 times a year.
At the first stage, they give the desired shape, then they maintain it during the summer. The main pruning is early spring, mid-August. The landscape design technique includes an option when stunted flowering perennials are planted near Mahonia.So that the holly mahonia does not interfere with the growth of flowers, in this composition, the lower young shoots are cut off from the main trunks, the leaves are removed. Only the upper part of the bush remains dense.
What plants is holly mahonia combined with?
In the spring, Mahonia is harmoniously combined with early flowering plants:
- narcissists;
- irises;
- roses;
- tulips.
In summer, Mahonia holly gives color to the composition with shorter and higher flowers:
- azalea;
- magnolia;
- camellia;
- Erica.
Looks harmoniously with cotoneaster, Japanese quince, irga. In the design of the territory, preference is given to the neighborhood of large coniferous trees: thuja, cypress, Japanese pine. Magonia is defined in the foreground, as a tapeworm or in one line for tamping conifers. To create a hedge, they are planted alternating:
- with spirea;
- bladderworm;
- hawthorn;
- snowberry;
- euonymus.
Shrubs have different terms and duration of flowering, different color of leaves. The requirements for care and pruning time are the same. The photo shows an example of the use of holly mahonia in the composition in landscape design.
Conclusion
Holly Mahonia in landscape design offers unlimited creative possibilities for professionals and amateurs. The shrub has a decorative habit throughout the year. It harmoniously complements any composition. The variety is undemanding in care and soil composition, frost-resistant. It can grow in an open area and in partial shade.
