If you’re planning to practice your gardening skills in the UK, it is better first to learn facts about chokecherry bush in Devon, you’ll need to learn a thing or two about this plant before you can grow them. Chokecherries are a relative of ponderosa pine, willow, alder, snowberry, and aspen. You can usually find these large suckering shrubs along with valleys and sheltered hill slopes, as well as streambanks, gullies, drainages.
This type of plant looks more like a small tree with oval-shaped leaves is native to Great Britain, particularly in the southeast and most parts of the UK. In Devon, you can find that plant in areas with an elevation difference of about 5,000 feet. These usually interspersed with ponderosa pine, juniper, scrub oak, aspens, cottonwoods, and piñon pine.
Chokecherry trees initially bear creamy white blooms that turn into dark red fleshy fruits before becoming purple-black with a pit in the centre. Although chokecherries can grow up to 41 feet tall, most of them are only about 12 feet tall.
Can You Eat Chokecherry Fruit?
When eaten raw, chokecherry fruit can taste highly tart. However, you can use it to make delicious jams, jellies, wines, and syrups. Be sure to avoid eating its fresh seeds or its wilted leaves because these contain cyanide.
What are Chokecherries Good for?
The bark of a chokecherry bush one can use as a flavouring for cough syrups and a cure for diarrhoea. When its fruit added to pemmican, it can cure cold sores and canker sores.
Furthermore, when its leaves and twigs used to make tea, they’re used to treat rheumatism and colds. Lastly, its wood can also used to make good bows, arrows, and pipe stems.
How Can You Grow Chokecherries from Seed?
First, you need to refrigerate the seeds for three months before you plant them in early spring. Make sure that you use moist, well-drained soil with light, medium, or loamy consistency. You may use land with pH levels that are acid, neutral, or basic.
Chokecherries grow best when they get total sun exposure or dappled shade. When spring season has come, you may plant the seeds at about 1/2-inch deep. If you’re growing them outdoors, be sure to leave enough space for the plant to spread once it matures.
How Long Does It Take for Chokecherry Bush to Grow?
It usually takes up to 18 months for a chokecherry bush to begin to grow and put outshoots. For this reason, you shouldn’t expect to get quick results.
If you plant chokecherry seed outdoors, make sure that the area surrounding the source weeded thoroughly. It’s essential to keep the site weed-free, especially within the plant’s first three years of life, because chokecherries find it difficult to survive if they have to compete with the weeds around them.
What Eats Chokecherries?
British foxes love chokecherries. Since they need to consume about 5,000 calories a day to reach their ideal denning weight, these foxes consume approximately 4 to 6 pounds of chokecherry fruit and acorns daily. In case you’re wondering, a single pound made up of about 1,500 chokecherries.
Other animals who like to eat chokecherries include grouse, squirrels, raccoons, wild turkeys, chipmunks, coyotes, deer, foxes, woodpeckers, thrushes, grosbeaks, jays, and robins.
Are Chokecherries Poisonous to Dogs?
Yes, they are. When your dog, or any of your pets, ingest fresh, bruised, wilted, or even dried chokecherry leaves, they could suffer cyanide poisoning. If cyanide poisoning is left untreated within minutes of ingestion, dogs can exhibit clinical signs that include difficulty breathing, dilated pupils, shock, bright red gums, and even death.
Can I Plant Chokecherry Bush in the UK Polytunnels?
Yes, you can. You may place them in small or medium-sized pots before you transfer them outdoors. Just make sure that the soil is kept moist but never soggy.
Planting in a polytunnel is hugely beneficial to you, to your chokecherry bush and your other plants because of the following reasons:
It creates a haven for your plants
Whether you’re growing fragile ornamentals or hardy vegetables, a polytunnel can provide your plants with the protection that it needs from inclement weather, seasonal pests, and vermin that may attempt to cause damage to them.
It serves as a multipurpose environment
Aside from protecting your plants from external forces, a polytunnel also serves as a multipurpose environment. For instance, you may use it as storage for your gardening tools, accessories, and equipment.
You’ll get to Save Money on Grocery Bills
Having your polytunnel provides you with opportunities to grow your fruits and vegetables. Growing your fruit and veg means more savings on grocery bills and fresh produce all year round.
You’ll Gain More Control Over Your Produce
Polytunnels gardening will not only cause you to save money on groceries, but it will also help you maintain a healthier lifestyle because you’ll get to eat homegrown and fresh produce. Since polytunnel allows you to take control over your plants’ growing environment, you’ll have the option to refrain from using toxic pesticides and other chemicals that may harm your health.
If you think you’re ready to grow, you better first learn facts about chokecherry bush in Devon. Why don’t you give polytunnel gardening a shot? It’s worth the investment.