Maiden five-leaf grapes: description and cultivation

The maiden five-leaf grape is an excellent choice for landscape design. This plant becomes especially decorative with the onset of autumn. On the territory of Russia and neighboring countries, the cultivation of "Engelman", "Star Showers" and other decorative varieties is already successfully practiced. You can choose the right option by studying their description, planting features and breeding methods.

Among the popular deciduous lianas, the Maiden five-leaf grape stands out for its decorativeness, unpretentiousness and high covering abilities. The historical homeland of this plant is the eastern part of the United States and southeastern Canada. It also occurs naturally in Guatemala and Mexico. Liana belongs to the category of ornamental tree-like plants, its fruit (berry) is inedible, contains oxalic acid, but is actively eaten by birds in winter.

Five-leaf Maiden grapes are also called Virginia grapes. Its main features can be formulated as follows:

• shoots are up to 20-30 m long;
• the color ranges from reddish to rich green;
• the presence of antennae with a suction cup of about 5 mm;
• palmate leaf shape with 5 segments;
• color change over the season from emerald to crimson;
• panicle inflorescences, 80-150 flowers each.

The five-leaf Maiden grape, in addition to its wild subspecies, has many cultivars that are highly valued by landscape designers and ordinary gardeners.

Among them, the following varieties can be distinguished.

• Star Showers. In Russian-speaking countries it is often called "Starfall". The variety of American selection looks like an artist's painting: yellow and green tones are simultaneously present in its motley carpet, and pink colors appear in the fall. The leaves are smaller than those of the wild variety, and it grows very slowly, reaching a height of no more than 5-8 meters throughout its life.

• "Engelman". A variety with reduced size leaves and extremely tenacious tendrils with which the vine clings to the supports. The shoots are reddish at first, and turn green as they become woody. The green carpet of the "Engelman" Maiden's Grape acquires special beauty in the fall, painting in carmine-violet tones. Liana gives an annual growth of about 1 m.

• "Muroroom". It reaches a height of 15 m, frost-hardy, very decorative. It is chosen when you need to quickly cover large areas of the wall or make a hedge. The autumn foliage is purple, up to 10 cm in size, effectively set off with deep black berries.

• St. Pauli. This variety has a special decorative effect. An elongated leaf plate in combination with highly branching tendrils is well suited for braiding arbors, looks spectacular both in summer and in autumn.

• Troki or Red Wall. Under these names one and the same variety of Polish selection is hidden. It is a maiden grape with very bright bronze-green foliage coloration in summer. In the fall, it turns crimson. The variety forms an almost continuous dense carpet on vertical surfaces. The maximum length of the vine is 7.5 m.

Five-leafed maiden grapes thrive on fertilized fertile soils. For its planting, illuminated areas are chosen from the south side. In this case, in the fall, it will be possible to observe how the green leaves of the plant gradually acquire a noble wine-purple hue. Planting is carried out in the autumn, keeping a distance of about 1 m from the support and the nearest plants. The optimal soil type for Maiden grapes of this type is considered to be loam with low acidity or alkalinization. When preparing the substrate for the hole, use 2 parts of earth and humus for 1 sand.

The pit is formed along the width of the root system, but with a small margin in depth. It is obligatory to drain the planting hole with large crushed stone, crushed brick to a height of 150-200 mm. A sand pillow 20 cm high is laid on top, and then a prepared soil mixture (up to half). The hole is left for 14-20 days for the soil to settle properly. A five-leafed Maiden grape seedling is placed inside together with an earthen lump. The root collar should be located above the edge of the pit. If an already rooted plant is transplanted, the whips are pre-cut from it. At the end of the planting, watering and trampling of the soil around the bush is carried out.

The main care required by the Virginia Maiden Grape is periodic watering and pruning of overgrowing vine shoots. Creating favorable conditions for the plant in stages looks like this.

• Regular watering. It is produced monthly, 10 liters per plant. Watering is accompanied by weeding of weeds, loosening of the soil.
• Hilling. Maiden grapes tend to bare their roots. Periodically, you need to add soil to the base of the vine, and then slightly huddle the near-trunk area.
• Mulching. By sprinkling the soil in the root zone with sawdust, peat and rotten foliage, you can prevent it from drying out.
• Top dressing. It is only required at the end of spring. You will need to add 50 g of nitroammophoska for each square meter of planting. Re-feeding, if necessary, is carried out in the summer, in July.
• Trimming and shaping. This stage of care is relevant for plants from 3 years after planting. Before trimming, the lashes are fixed on the support in the desired direction. The crown will then be periodically trimmed with a garden pruner over the healthy bud. In the spring, you will have to remove all unnecessary, frozen and damaged lashes.

The plant allows for different breeding methods. The easiest way to get seedlings is by cuttings. It is performed throughout the warm season, from April to October. The grafting process looks like this.

• A lignified whip is selected. She must be strong and healthy.
• Several pieces of 15-20 cm are cut off, with 3 buds each.
• The resulting blanks are transferred to a container with soil. Tied to a support. It is necessary to deepen the seedling up to 1 node.
• Before rooting, cuttings need regular watering, protection from drafts and other external threats.

Reproduction by layering is also practiced, which in the case of vines always gives good results. In this case, a not very deep trench is dug next to the rooted shoot over 3 m long. The future layering is laid in it, pinned to the surface of the soil, sprinkled with earth so that the leaves remain on the surface. Before rooting, the furrow will have to be moistened periodically, but not as often as when grafting.

The seed method for obtaining new plants of five-leaf Maiden grapes is the most difficult and long-term. Sowing is carried out before winter or already in the spring, with preliminary stratification.Pre-soaking of the material for a day is mandatory.

Five-leaf Maiden grapes are perfect for solving various problems in the field of landscape design. With its help, you can perform landscaping of a balcony or loggia, veranda, terrace. In this case, it is planted in containers. A hedge is formed along a pre-stretched mesh, and if you fix it on the wall, you get a surface entwined with a liana.

Also, Maiden grapes are actively used in the design of gazebos, arches, pavilions. It can be allowed to grow along the fence or used in vertical gardening of the site. The variety "Murorum" is especially good for covering large areas, growing rapidly in width. Its planting can be made a good background for roses or peonies with large flowers. Autumn compositions look good in combination with shrubs with yellow and green foliage, for example, with the Aurea variety of Thunberg barberry.