The finger bush (bot. Potentilla fruticosa) is non-toxic, easy to care for, robust and also very flowery. This makes it almost ideal for beginner gardeners and family gardens. It is suitable for colorful perennial beds but also for planting a flowering hedge.
How do I properly care for a finger bush?
Caring for the crab bush is simple: plant it in a sunny location with nutrient-poor, calcareous soil. Water it when it is dry, fertilize little and cut it back in spring or autumn to encourage flowering.
Planting the finger bush correctly
The finger bush grows and blooms best in a full sun location with fresh soil. This can be a bit heavier, contains lime and is rather poor in nutrients. The best planting times are early spring and autumn, but in principle you can plant the finger bush at any time of the year, provided the ground is not frozen.
Watering and fertilizing the finger bush
Since the crab doesn't need a lot of nutrients or a lot of water, caring for it is incredibly easy. You should only water your young finger bush a little during a longer dry period. In the spring you also give it some complete fertilizer (€47.00 on Amazon). The finger bush thanks you for a little additional nitrogen fertilizer in May or June with abundant flowers.
Cut the finger bush correctly
The crab doesn't necessarily need regular pruning, but it recovers quite well even from a radical cut. If it is in a mixed hedge, then tailor your cutting measures to potentially more sensitive plants.
From time to time, your finger bush may need a corrective pruning. This is best done in early spring. Pruning in autumn is also well tolerated. If the shrub's ability to bloom decreases over the years, a vigorous pruning will definitely have a stimulating effect.
The most important things in brief:
- easy-care and robust
- Growth height: depending on the species approx. 50 to 130 cm
- Growth habit: ground cover-like to bushy, upright, heavily branched
- Flower color: yellow, white, orange or pink
- Flowering period: June to October
- Location: best in full sun
- Soil: nutrient-poor, calcareous, normal to heavy
- best planting time: spring or autumn
- water in case of prolonged drought
- fertilize rather little
- Pruning possible in autumn or spring
- strong pruning after a few years promotes flowering
- Propagation possible by cuttings
Tip
The easy-care finger bush harmonizes very well with other flowering shrubs such as ornamental cherries, weigela or the wig bush, but also with perennials and/or roses.
