A Dangerous Neighborhood For Horticultural Crops. Compatibility Of Fruit Trees And Berry Bushes. Table

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:50

Growing a garden is not easy. Years of labor are spent, certain annual amounts are spent on the care and protection of trees and shrubs, and … after a few years (it may happen) to stand in front of the “sick” garden, convulsively squeezing the sprayer rod with a solution of the toxic chemical. Can mistakes be avoided? Yes you can! To prevent them, it is necessary to hurry up with the planting of horticultural crops in the country "slowly". A garden planted in a hurry will not bring joy later.

For the correct placement of fruit trees and shrubs in the garden, it is necessary to know the biological characteristics of each type of tree: growth, type of root system, attitude to the environment, pests and diseases, compatibility with neighboring plants. It is known that there are inhibitors of fruit trees that release substances into the soil that oppress other crops, dangerous neighbors that transmit diseases, garden inhabitants that protect and breed pests and diseases.

We draw up a landing plan

Having acquired a plot, the owner frantically begins to develop it and makes a major mistake. Trees and shrubs, planted without taking into account their characteristics, compatibility, over time will begin to oppress each other, infect with diseases and pests, get sick due to lack of lighting, nutrition, moisture. It is more practical to draw several schemes with the designation of the main landmarks:

• mark the boundaries of the site,
• indicate the area that will be occupied by residential and farm buildings,
• for the correct illumination of future crops in the garden, it is imperative to draw the location of the site in relation to the cardinal points: south, north, west, east and mark at what time of the day individual zones will be illuminated by the sun (for sun-lovers and shade-tolerant crops),
• indicate the type of soil - black soil, loam, sandy loam, etc.,
• be sure to indicate the depth of groundwater.

The next entry is a list of garden and berry crops for the garden and berry field. This list is not very long, but the wrong arrangement of trees in the garden, unwanted neighborhood, competition - all this can eventually reduce all worries to zero.

So, 1-2-3 trees of each of the desired crops are placed in the garden, taking into account the ripening time, biological characteristics of the variety or hybrid. Usually these are apple trees, pears, plums, cherries, cherries, apricots, peaches, nuts. Experienced gardeners also plant exotic crops. Of the bushes, most often berry bushes are occupied by black and red currants, gooseberries, raspberries, chokeberry, sea buckthorn, irga, blackberries.

Having determined the range of fruit and berry crops, they enter the data into the table of competitors and unwanted neighbors. The diagram clearly indicates where and which garden crops will be planted, taking into account compatibility, competition and protection measures.

How to avoid competition for survival?

It is more practical to lay the garden from the south or southeast, distributing rows of trees from north to south. Fruit crops will be located in a warmer microclimate and will be illuminated by the sun for most of the day, which will reduce competition for lighting and its intensity.

Apple trees and pears can be planted from the north side. To reduce shading, the outer rows of the garden are occupied by undersized crops, and the taller breeds are placed in subsequent rows. Fruit and ornamental shrubs - mountain ash, viburnum, hawthorn, wild rose are best placed along the fence outside the garden plot, observing spatial isolation. They actively suppress the growth of fruit crops.

It is impractical to plant a mixed garden in one dedicated area; it is better to group fruit trees by type and level of compatibility, linking the garden clumps with the landscape of the entire site. Individual garden clumps can consist of several types of fruit crops with good compatibility and simultaneous ripening of the crop. This is necessary for better cross-pollination, more fruit setting.

But even the same crops become antagonists in thickened plantings. A struggle begins between them for space, food and lighting. A tree that is weak in development is more oppressed, grows more slowly and dies, self-thinning occurs. To avoid such a phenomenon, it is necessary to comply with the cultural requirements for the environment.

The distance between the competing fruit crops should be at least 5-7 m. In a row between crops with good alignment, an average distance of 3 meters is recommended. However, it is more correct to plant plants taking into account the diameter of the crown and the root system of each breed of fruit crop

For example, in an apricot, the crown of an adult tree is 3.0-3.6 m, and the diameter of the root system exceeds it by 1.5-2.0 times. In the struggle for lighting and water, apricot root secretions will oppress peaches, cherries, apples, pears, and other small trees and shrubs.

Columnar crops can be planted in a row every 2.0-2.5 m, and leave 2.5-3.0 m between rows.

If the relief of the site has hills and slopes, then on the southern and southwestern slopes it is better to lay the garden from the middle to the foot of the slope. On the northern slope - from the upper edge to the middle, as at the foot the gardens die from frost and accumulation of cold air.

If the groundwater is close to the soil surface, it is better to plant fruit crops on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks, to use columnar apples, plums, pears in planting. Fruits with a seed (tall) stock are separated and planted on artificial hills or in the highest areas with a monoculture (2-3 apricots) or a separate tree (walnut).

Incompatibility or antagonism of horticultural crops can be associated with various reasons. With the same crown height and diameter, competition can go for lighting and air space, the consumption of nutrients from one layer of soil. These reasons underlie the competition between peach and apricot, peach and cherry, pear, apple, etc.

You can solve compatibility problems in gardening with care. Having created the required conditions, the implementation of all agrotechnical measures, taking into account the biological characteristics of growth, development of culture, in different phases of the growing season, it is possible to mitigate or even remove aggressive manifestations of antagonism between plants. In mixed plantings, light-loving and shade-tolerant crops are combined, with a deep and shallow root system, different periods of intense absorption of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, trace elements, etc.).

If the summer cottage is located close to the forest, then it is necessary to increase the right of way to 7-10 m. Ash, maple, oak, birch oppress garden plantings. With an overgrown root system, they intercept moisture from "spoiled" cultivated plants, spreading crowns delay precipitation and create an unwanted shade.

Among ornamental plants, there are groups of mono-planted crops. They grow rapidly, take over new areas and inhibit the growth of other plants. From home ornamental shrubs, these include sea buckthorn, barberry, viburnum, rose, lilac, wild rose, mock orange. To remove their aggressive antagonistic effect, these plants are planted separately and away from fruit trees and shrubs (Table 1).

Compatibility of fruit and berry crops

Name of culture	Good compatibility	Competitors	Causes and remedies
Apricot		Peach, sweet cherry, cherry, pear, apple, walnut.	Competitor for coverage, common diseases. Walnut is a natural herbicide in relation to competitors. Distance 4-7 m from the competitor.
Pear	Hawthorn, pine, larch., Tomatoes, calendula, dill.	Cherry, sweet cherry, peach, mountain ash, walnut.	He is constantly ill. Identical diseases. Peach and pear oppress each other. A common pest is the mountain ash moth. Treatment with drugs.
Peach		Cherry, sweet cherry, pear, apple, apricot.	They oppress each other. The peach dies completely after 4-5 years. The optimal distance between competitors is 6-7 m.
Apple tree	Pine, larch., Tomatoes, calendula, dill.	Apricot, cherry, sweet cherry, poplar, peach, mountain ash.	An extreme degree of competition for light and water. It suffers from poplar due to the release of ethereal vapors. A common pest is the mountain ash moth.
Plum		Red and black currants, birch.	They oppress each other.
Rowan red		Cherry.	Branches of red mountain ash are exposed from the side of the cherry.
Red currants	Bow.	Plum, cherry, sweet cherry, pine, birch, raspberry, gooseberry.	They oppress each other. Onions protect against kidney mites. Treatment with drugs.
Black currant	Honeysuckle.	red currants, raspberries, gooseberries.	They oppress each other. A common pest is the gooseberry moth. Treatment with drugs.
Gooseberry		Red and black currants, raspberries.	A common pest is the gooseberry moth. Treatment with drugs.
Cherry		All fruit, red and black currants.	All fruit crops that grow under the crown are oppressed by cherries and die.
Walnut	Medicinal herbs. According to some sources - dogwood, sea buckthorn,	All fruit trees, especially the apple tree.	The leaves contain juglone (herbicide). Washing out from the leaves into the soil, it destroys any vegetation under the crown, especially an apple tree.
Raspberries		Strawberries.	A common pest is the raspberry-strawberry weevil. Treatment with drugs.
Irga		All kinds of nuts, lilac, viburnum, barberry, mock-orange.	Compliance with spatial isolation.
Sea buckthorn	Oregano, chamomile.	Raspberries, black currants, strawberries, all nightshade crops.	An aggressive antagonist. Blocks the growth of neighbors with shoots. Better to plant in mono-plantings.
Barberry			Oppresses the growth of other cultures. Better to plant in mono-plantings.
Fir, viburnum, rose, lilac, wild rose, mock-orange			Oppresses the growth of other cultures. Better to plant in mono-plantings.

Diseases are the cause of cultural incompatibility

Another reason for the incompatibility of horticultural crops is infectious diseases. They develop and affect several fruit and berry crops at once in the presence of:

• the causative agent of the disease
• the susceptibility of a variety of a particular fruit crop,
• favorable conditions for development and distribution.

There will be no mass destruction of fruit and berry crops if the causative agent of the disease is destroyed at the beginning of development and reproduction or is absent altogether. Fruit and berry crops are affected by fungi, bacteria, viruses. Sometimes insects (ants) create conditions for infection of horticultural crops. In these cases, the fight is carried out in two directions: the pest and the disease are destroyed.

In some infectious diseases, the entire development cycle of the causative agent of the disease occurs on one plant (scab, fruit rot, coccomycosis, moniliosis, powdery mildew, bacterial spots, various types of rot, common cancer), but many species are affected. If 1-2 species of those affected by the disease die, the rest of the fruit continue their normal development. To protect plants from single-farm diseases, you can use the same chemical preparations, but it is better (for a private garden) - biological ones.

Among fungal diseases, there is a group of infectious agents with a change of hosts during the development cycle. The development cycle of pathogens consists of several stages. Each of them needs a different host. Such mushrooms are called diversified and in the absence of one of the hosts, the fungus stops developing. Miscellaneous fungi affect only tree species and are the main reason for the incompatibility of fruit, ornamental and forest crops in joint plantings. Rust fungi affect pears, apple trees, hawthorn, plum, mountain ash and other crops. Juniper acts as an intermediate host. Spores of fungi that have overwintered on juniper affect fruit crops in spring. To protect horticultural crops from such fungal diseases, spatial isolation is required. You can carry out simultaneous treatment of both cultures or interrupt the development cycle of the pathogen by removing one of them. More details on diseases as a source of crop incompatibility can be found in the table.

Diseases of garden and berry crops

Culture	Name of the disease	Dangerous neighborhood
Pome fruit
Apple and pear	Scab	Planting resistant varieties. Removal of affected shoots and branches. Collection of diseased leaves, volunteers, mummified fruits, pest control, treatment of plants and soil with chemical and biological fungicides.
	Moniliosis (fruit rot)	Monoecious rust fungi infect the host and other plants of the same species.
	Powdery mildew	A group of various rust fungi usually develops on two different plants: for apple trees - common juniper, for pears - Cossack juniper.
	White leaf spot	It is necessary to destroy one of the hosts: an apple tree, a pear or a juniper.
	Rust fungus	Destruction of diseased plant parts, spraying with fungicidal preparations during the growing season.
Stone fruit
All stone fruit breeds	Clasterosporia or perforated spot	Affects all organs. Spraying with chemicals before bud break. Repeated - after flowering. Treatment during the growing season with biological products is recommended.
Plum	Red spot of plums	The period from infection to mass flowering is the most dangerous. Cleaning of leaf litter. Spraying during the growing season.
	Rust fungus	Monoecious rust fungi infect the host and other plants of the same species. A group of variegated rust fungi usually develops on two different plants: for plums - anemone weed. Destruction of one of the owners is necessary: the anemone. Destruction of diseased plant parts, spraying with fungicidal preparations during the growing season.
Cherries and sweet cherries.	Coccomycosis	Destruction of plant residues, cultivation of resistant varieties, the use of chemical and biological preparations
Peach	Curly leaves	Fruits with yellow flesh are not infected. Spraying before bud break and the entire growing season.
All breeds of fruit
Pome and stone fruits	Milky shine	Cutting and burning affected branches.
	Root cancer	Disinfection of nursery soil and garden setting. Soil treatment after planting seedlings. Timely watering.
Berry diseases
Gooseberry, currant	Powdery mildew	Resistant varieties, sparse planting, digging and disinfection of soil, destruction of diseased shoots, leaf litter. Treatment of the aboveground mass with fungicidal preparations.
	Anthracnose
	Columnar and goblet rust	Overwinters on the second owner, pine, cedar, sedge. Spatial isolation of trees is required. Destruction of sedges.
Strawberry	White leaf spot	Planting healthy seedlings, timely feeding. Sparse planting, destruction of plant debris. Treatment of plants with biofungicides.
	Brown spot of strawberry leaves
	Gray rot of strawberries
Black currant	Terry (reversion) of black currant.	Transmitted by kidney mites and herbivorous bugs. Affected bushes are uprooted. Destruction of the kidney mite is necessary.
	Rust mushrooms	Intermediate host - sedges, Cedar pine It is necessary to destroy the weed, observe spatial isolation. Spray plants and soil during the growing season.
Raspberries	Rust mushrooms	The intermediate host is sedge, Weymouth pine. It is necessary to destroy the weed, observe spatial isolation. Spray plants and soil during the growing season.