Japanese cornel

Japanese cornel: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Large, broad shrub or small tree with one or more trunks, eventually 4–5 m tall and about 4 m wide.

Foliage

Oval, 5–10 cm, opposite, with the curved veins typical of dogwoods; red to purple in autumn.

Flower

Small clusters of tiny golden-yellow flowers on bare wood, in February–March.

Fruit

Oblong, glossy red drupes of about 1.5 cm, ripe in late summer; sour, with a single hard stone.

Bark

Peeling in grey, brown and orange on older branches and trunks.

Flowering: February–March · Harvest and fruit: September–October · Plants: March–April and October–November · Pruning: April

Why grow it?

• One of the earliest shrubs to flower: golden-yellow blooms on bare branches in February–March.
• An early source of nectar and pollen for bees and bumblebees on mild winter days.
• Red fruits in late summer, for the birds and for the kitchen.
• Peeling bark and red to purple autumn colour: interest in every season.
• Easy, hardy and rarely troubled by disease.

Japanese cornel: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers best and the fruits colour best.
• Any ordinary garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky, as long as it does not stay wet for long.
• Normally moist; young plants do not tolerate prolonged drought.
• Give it room: allow at least 4 m across, as a specimen or at the back of a large border.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

5 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -25 °C)

Goes well with

• Lenten rose: Flowers at the same time at its feet, in white, pink or purple.
• Snowdrop: A white carpet beneath the yellow branches in February.
• Crocus: Purple or white flowers alongside the yellow blossom.
• Witch hazel: Another yellow or orange winter-flowering shrub for a winter garden.
• Barrenwort: A ground cover that tolerates the shade beneath the shrub.

Japanese cornel: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in March–April or October–November, when the soil is not frozen.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and loosen the bottom of the hole.
3. Set the shrub at the same depth as it was in the pot and firm the soil well.
4. Keep at least 3–4 m away from other shrubs or buildings.
5. Water in thoroughly straight away, then regularly in dry spells during the first year.
6. Spread a layer of compost or wood chips around the base, keeping it off the trunk.

Care

Watering

During dry spells for the first two years; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

Not needed in ordinary garden soil; a layer of compost in spring is enough.

Mulching

Leaf mould or wood chips keep the soil cool and moist.

Harvesting

Pick the fruits when they are dark red and soft, or gather them as they fall. They are sour: good in jam, jelly or syrup. Remove the hard stone.

Birds

Leave some of the fruits on the shrub: blackbirds and other birds love them.

Tip: Plant it where the low winter sun lights up the branches, ideally in front of a dark background: the yellow flowers, and later the peeling bark, will look their best.

Japanese cornel: when to prune it?

Pruning months: April.

When: It needs little pruning. If necessary, prune in April, straight after flowering: next year’s flower buds form in summer.

How:

• Remove dead, diseased and crossing branches.
• For a tree shape, gradually remove the lower side branches to show off the peeling trunks.
• Never cut the whole shrub back hard: you would lose years of flowers and its natural shape.
• Rejuvenate an overgrown shrub by removing one or two old branches at the base each year.

Caution: Do not prune in winter or autumn: you would remove the flower buds.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Clean the stones in autumn and sow them outdoors in a pot. They are slow to germinate, often taking eighteen months.

Layering

In spring, bend a low branch to the ground, lightly wound the bark and peg it down under some soil. Sever and transplant it after a year.

Cuttings

Semi-ripe cuttings in June–July, in moist cutting compost under plastic; success is not guaranteed.

Japanese cornel: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• Hardy to about −25 °C: no protection is needed in Belgium.
• The flowers tolerate light frost; a hard night frost during flowering can turn them brown, though.
• It can grow in a large pot for years; wrap the pot in hessian in severe winters.

Diseases and pests

• Few fruits: Cold, wet weather or frost during flowering keeps bees away and reduces the crop. A second cornel nearby can improve fruit set.
• Aphids: On young shoots in May. Ladybirds usually deal with them; otherwise hose them off with water.
• Drought: Young plants droop or get brown leaf edges. Water generously and mulch.
• Leaf spot: Small brown spots on the leaves in wet summers; usually harmless. Rake up fallen leaves in autumn.

Through the year

• February: Flowering begins on the bare branches.
• March: In flower. Plant.
• April: Prune after flowering. Apply compost. Plant.
• May: Watch for aphids on the young shoots.
• June: Take semi-ripe cuttings. Water young plants in dry spells.
• July: Water in dry spells.
• August: The fruits turn red.
• September: Harvest ripe fruits for jam or syrup.
• October: Autumn colour. Plant. Sow the stones in a pot outdoors.
• November: Plant. The peeling bark becomes more visible.
• December: Rest. The round flower buds are already visible.

Edible and useful

Fruit (September–October)

In August the small oblong fruits turn red; they are ripe in September and October. They are only edible when fully ripe: dark red and soft. Then they drop of their own accord: spread a sheet under the shrub or gather them every day. They taste sour and a little astringent, like a sour cherry: raw, you will only eat a few, but cooked into syrup, jelly or purée, or dried, they are delicious. Each fruit has one hard, oblong stone that you remove. Use them as you would the fruits of the cornelian cherry, which this cornel closely resembles.

Storing

Ripe fruits keep for two to three days in the fridge: use them quickly, or freeze them stones and all. Stoned and dried, they keep for a year in a closed jar.

Caution: Only eat the flesh of fully ripe, dark red fruits: unripe ones are very astringent. The hard stone is not eaten: do not bite on it, do not grind it and take it out before eating the purée or dried fruit. Do not confuse the fruits with poisonous red berries such as those of yew, honeysuckle or spindle: the oblong fruit with a single stone, on a shrub that flowered yellow in February–March, is typical.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Japanese cornel syrup (Syrup · ± 650 ml · 45 min + 1 hr draining)
• Dried Japanese cornels (Dried · ± 150 g · 45 min + 8–12 hrs drying)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• It is a close relative of the cornelian cherry; one way to tell them apart is the tufts of brown hairs in the vein axils on the underside of the leaves.
• What looks like a single small flower is actually a cluster of around twenty tiny flowers, surrounded by four small bracts.
• The flower buds form as early as summer: in winter you can see them as little round knobs on the branches.