The sloe is an important wild shrub. In the spring it provides nectar to many insects, especially butterflies, serves numerous species of tensioners that feast on the leaves, and also provides food for some species of beetles. Finally, the blackthorn is still a food source for numerous birds, such as titmice and warblers. Sloe corners offer shrub breeders ideal nesting and living conditions.
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Die Schlehe
Prunus spinosa is native to all of Europe, the Middle East and as far as North Africa. The sloe is the stem form of our house plum and the cherry or blood plum. The shrubs are particularly suitable for natural gardens. There they serve as wind protection, privacy protection and for slope reinforcement.
The sloe is one of the first trees to open its flowers each year, often as early as mid-March. The flowers are small and white in color. They appear before the leaves shoot and smell slightly of almonds. The shrub’s growth is very sparse. The name blackthorn already suggests that the shoots are thorny, often very thorny. These thorns are long and pointed. They make the plant impenetrable, which is why it is also often used for hedges. The branches have sharp tips. The branching is often right-angled.
The sloe grows slowly, just 20 cm per year. The shrub grows up to 3 m high. You have to know that their roots spread widely, up to 10 m long root shoots penetrate the earth all around. This is ideal for mounting on a slope, but it can be a nuisance in the garden.
The fruits of the sloe, which are dark blue and small, are edible and contain plenty of vitamin C. They are only harvested after the first frost, because then they are milder and sweeter. The processing is laborious, because firstly the small fruits have a large core and therefore little pulp and secondly, this core is very difficult to loosen. If you take the trouble, you can make jam, juice and liqueur from the fruits. The fruits are inedible raw.
Sloe bushes can live up to 40 years. During this time they form dense and large scrub, impenetrable and popular with insects and birds. These plants are not particularly suitable for small home gardens. They look best uncut. If you have to cut to curb the growth, the bushes often look unnatural and are not as dense. It is better to only plant them when there is enough space. This is how they can develop properly.
Care of the sloe bush
I have read repeatedly that many gardeners have had a lot of trouble with their sloe bushes. “Nightmare in white” and “the ground elder among the bushes” were nice words. So you have to think twice about whether you want to plant this wood in the garden. In principle, it is not a problem if you take precautionary measures.
Sloes need space to spread. If you don’t want an impenetrable bush, you have to use scissors. It is ideal if the roots are prevented from spreading infinitely while planting by planting them in a concrete ring. It cannot get out of there, or if it does grow beyond it, it does not go unnoticed. If the sloe is allowed to grow indefinitely, it will have to be stopped later. That usually degenerates into work. The roots must be exposed, dug up and severed. The sloe is a shallow root and you don’t have to go deep into the earth, but the root system is so dense that it is really exhausting. It is easier to pull the entire plant out of the ground, for example with the help of a tractor. All root shoots must also be out of the ground,
location
A sunny location is important for a sloe. If the shrub does not get enough light and sun, it will grow poorly and it will look sparse with flowers and fruits too. If a sloe hedge is planned, it must be ensured that all plants have the same conditions, otherwise the hedge will grow unevenly.
- Definitely sunny and warm
- Gladly at the edges of paths and forests
- Likes rocky slopes
- Gladly in combination with other wild bushes, e.g. as a hedge
- Up to an altitude of 1,600 m
- Sloe does not grow in heather sand areas or in damp areas
Plant substrate
The sloe is not particularly demanding when it comes to the plant substrate. The floor must never be too wet. The wood copes much better with dryness than with wetness. The earth shouldn’t be too nutrient-poor. Lime in the soil is not bad for that.
- Nutrient-rich, rather dry and well-drained
- Kalkhaltig
- Gladly stony
- Moist soil is not tolerated.
- pH 6 to 8.5
plant
When planting, it must be borne in mind that sloes spread vigorously and widely. If you don’t feel like cutting and digging runners from the earth, you have to prevent them from spreading right from the start with a root barrier. Only such a barrier will keep the roots in place. Concrete rings 50 cm deep are best.
An alternative to this is dense planting with competing plants. The shadows cast by these plants keep the sun-loving sloe smaller. Such plants should be evergreen, provide competition all year round. Yew, cherry laurel and holly, for example, are suitable.
- Good in the company of juniper , barberry, hazelnut , hawthorn species and wild roses
- Can be bought as a bare-root shrub and as a container plant
- Root products are cheaper, but only available in autumn and winter
- Container plants are best planted in spring or fall.
- When planting hedges, you count two plants per meter
- The planting hole must be large enough for the root to be spread out.
- Cut out diseased root shoots
- Incorporate fertilizer when planting
- Trample the earth firmly so that there are no cavities
- Water sufficiently after planting
Watering and fertilizing
As for watering, there is hardly any work with sloes. They are absolutely drought tolerant. They actually come through the summer without additional watering. Fertilizing is important when planting directly. Fertilizer is added to the planting hole at the same time. Otherwise there is not much to be fertilized.
- Hardly needs to be poured.
- Copes well with drought
- Only the time after planting until it has grown must be sufficiently watered
- Too much moisture, especially in the long term, is harmful
- It is best to fertilize with compost
- Work this into the ground
- Fertilizing when planting with mineral fertilizers, but not too much that damage to the roots occurs
To cut
It does not have to be cut, but it can. If you have enough space, the sloe can grow uncut. If you have to cut, you should do it right from the start, because otherwise you can’t get everywhere through the thorns, especially not inside. An uncut hedge looks most beautiful, but it becomes really dense and impenetrable.
- Cut immediately after flowering
- Just thinning out
- If the shrub has become too big or too bulky, it can easily be pruned vigorously.
- Pruning is well tolerated, even put one on the stick
- When pruning heavily in winter, it is easier to cut back, i.e. in February or March after the main frost period
- Cut off the root runners if the sloe is not supposed to spread and multiply itself
Overwinter
Wintering is not a problem. The sloe is very hardy, even without protection. However, the flowers are at risk of late frost, especially in years when the sloe blooms very early.
Multiply
The sloe can be propagated by sowing, cuttings and cutting off runners / root shoots, sinkers and self-sowing. In most cases, it is very easy to reproduce. On the contrary, it is much easier to reproduce than to curb the spread, regardless of whether the seeds are spread by birds and sprout or whether root runners form and more sloes sprout everywhere.
sowing
- Stratify together
- Spend the winter outdoors in earth or sand
- Sprouts quite reliably, even if it may take a while
Cuttings – cut in summer
Cuttings
- Cut between November and February
- Sections of annual rods
- Each piece should have a bud at the end.
- Bundle cuttings
- Store frost-free and stick in the desired location in spring.
- Don’t forget to water regularly
Sinker
- Bend branches to the ground.
- weight down with a stone and wait for roots to form
- Then cut off the shoot and plant it separately
Diseases and pests
Sloes are prone to damage from road salt. Damage to leaf spots can be seen. In addition, gray mold occurs from time to time. Whole shoots can die and damage surrounding shoots.
- Meat lick disease – red leaf spots, triggered by a hose fungus, severe infestation leads to the leaves drying up and leaves falling early – consistently remove all leaves that fall, cultivation of less susceptible varieties
- Web moth – the caterpillars of the moths bore into the buds and / or the young leaves in spring. It can lead to skeletal damage, whole shoots are eaten bare, everything is spun in. The webs are easy to see. The nests should be cut out. It’s best to burn them. With Bacillus thuringiensis one can fight biologically. There are also oily agents for spraying.
- Gray mold rot (Botrytis cinerea) – shoot deaths, the fungus mainly affects young, not lignified shoots. These are killed, they wither, hang limp and dry up. Prevention with chemical pesticides and adequate ventilation of the site. In the case of infestation, spray fungicides as a preventive measure in the next year
- Salt damage – brown spots on leaves, similar to damage caused by drought, leaf edges curl up, premature leaf fall, the symptoms can appear years after use, because the salts only slowly get into the deeper soil layers – soil replacement, fertilization and watering can help
Conclusion
The sloe is an attractive shrub, the flowers look great, the fruits are edible, but I still have to warn against this woody plant. It is spreading extremely. The sloe is not suitable for small city gardens. If you have a meadow with orchards and want to fence in something, sloes are ideal as natural hedge plants. They can grow, spread and no one is bothered by the offshoots. This hedge is also great for birds and insects. In the garden, however, these plants do a lot of work tearing up the shoots that are spread around the mother plant.
