| I planted my viburnum last spring, the leaves have fallen and still I have no sign of berries. What's wrong? |
| Viburnum is a wonderful, carefree shrub that generally grows throughout the northern hemisphere without regard to particular needs. Why doesn't yours bloom? That would require some serious sleuthing! Perhaps the key word above might be "generally". Not ALL viburnums are native to northern climes. Is it possible you got one that is a bit too tender? It is also possible that it is not old enough. You mention you just planted it this past spring. Give it a few years before worring too much. I am assuming it had flowers. If it didn't, that's the primary problem--no flowers, no fruit. If it didn't bloom, try cutting 1 or 2 older branches to the base each year. (Generally this is done AFTER spring blooming. In your case, prune after OTHER viburnums have bloomed.) This may help shock it into bloom. If it bloomed and didn't bear fruit, perhaps your pollinators somehow were affected this year when your viburnums were needing pollination. This sometimeshappens when someone sprays insecticides indiscriminately on a windy day. The spray kills bees, wasps and other insects that do the pollinating. I would also try feeding it with fertilizer high in Potash (the K or last number in the fertilizer ie: 1-1-7) I would avoid giving it too much Nitrogen (first number) as that will promote a flush of green. The Potash on the other hand, improves the quality of crop yield, which in viburnums are the berries! If you have a fireplace, you might put the wood ashes around your viburnams. Wood ashes are high in Potash. |
