Many owners of suburban areas dream of having a garden surrounded by greenery and fragrant flowers. But for the successful implementation of the idea and the creation of a picturesque artistic image, you have to use every centimeter of the earth. As the practice of experienced gardeners shows, lush and elegant flower beds can be equipped not only in open areas, but also used for these purposes and tree trunk circles.
Principles of arrangement of trunks
It is rare to find a summer cottage or suburban area where fruit trees would not grow. But these plants with spreading crowns and well-branched root systems occupy a lot of space on the site. How to rationally use the near-trunk area under the trees to make the garden more elegant and attractive, but not harm the plants?
Flower beds and plant compositions are best broken under mature trees. After all, immature young seedlings in the garden are more vulnerable
Young seedlings need careful care. Their trunk circles must be left open, as they are needed for fertilizing and watering. The opinion that the roots of trees grow, going straight down to the ground is a mistake. Some of them are located in the upper layers of the soil, only 40-50 cm deep. This point should be taken into account when choosing a place for a flower bed so that the roots of neighboring plants do not harm each other in the struggle for life-giving moisture and nutrients.
For example: birch, walnut and horse chestnut have a powerful surface root system. Any plants in the near-trunk circles of these trees feel uncomfortable. But the apple tree, hawthorn and mountain ash have a rooted root system. They gladly let ferns, ornamental cereals and flowers under their crown, making it possible to turn bare barreled circles into picturesque flower beds.
Although spectacular perennials that can transform any corner in the garden, planting under the crowns of trees is not entirely advisable, among the variety of magnificent plants, you can always choose flowers that feel great in a little shade
When creating flower beds around trees, one should adhere to the same principles as when arranging flower beds in an open area. The only difference is to carefully select plants that will be comfortable in conditions of lack of moisture and light, as well as carefully process the soil before planting flowers with minimal damage to the root system of the tree.
What do you need to think about first?
Thinking over the place of arrangement of the flower garden, it is important to imagine how the plants planted under the tree will look like in a couple of years. When choosing flowers, you should take into account the peculiarities of the soil composition on which they prefer to grow, their resistance to temperature extremes, and lack of moisture.
At the site of the future flower garden, with a small spatula, we clear the soil of small roots penetrating the soil, debris and stones. The roots of the trees should not be touched. But it is necessary to determine their density in advance by digging a shovel in several places of the future flower garden, diving into the bayonet. If each time the shovel rests on an extensive network of roots, for a flower bed it is better to look for another place. There is a variant of rooting in which “interfering” branches are pushed to the sides, creating small “pockets” for planting flowers. If you can’t do without partial pruning of the tree’s roots when arranging the flower garden, then you should be guided by the principle that you can “chop off” no more than 10 percent of the entire root system. After trimming the root, the crown of the tree will also have to be shortened, cutting by the same amount.
The bottom of the dug holes, designed to equip the planting pits of flower beds, is lined with non-woven material or fine mesh. This will prevent the penetration and interweaving of plant roots and somewhat slow their growth.
Drainage is an important moment when arranging a flower garden. To prevent water from stagnating in the flower garden, we line the bottom of the “pockets” with a ten-centimeter “pillow” made of gravel, pebbles or sand.
Empty spaces between the bushes of flowering plants can be decorated with sawdust, wood chips or chopped bark
Half-filled the prepared holes are filled with a fertile soil mixture, the third part of which is the earth dug during the creation of landing pits. We plant in the wells of the plant so that the root neck of each is 2-3 cm above the ground level. Tamp the soil and water it.
You can find out what soil fertility depends on from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/ot-chego-zavisit-plodorodie-pochvy.html
If the site is dominated by moisture-saturated soils, then when designing a flower garden, preference should be given to moisture-loving plants
What plants to choose for compositions?
Most of the blooming perennials prefer sunny fertile areas. But placing a flower garden under a tree such conditions is unrealistic to achieve. Even if the tree has a transparent, thinned crown, only part of the sunlight will fall on the flowers planted under it.
Therefore, when choosing plants, preference should be given to shade-tolerant and shade-loving flowers. For the design of a flower garden under a tree, dwarf varieties of coniferous plants, bulbs and annuals are ideally suited.
Also useful will be material on choosing the best shade-loving perennials for the garden: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/tenelubivye-mnogoletniki-dlya-sada.html
The picky annuals and conifers in nature grow in forests and therefore are used to constantly fight for moisture and sunlight
In conditions of partial shading, perennials such as hosta, lily of the valley, anemone, digitalis, ivy, primrose, lysimachia will feel comfortable.
Making out the tree trunk circle, two problems can be solved at once: to achieve a decorative effect and to protect fruit trees from the encroachment of harmful insects. Nasturtium is able to protect cherry and apple trees from apple thistle and blood aphids. Marigolds and chamomiles perfectly repel aphids and nematodes, and lilies of the valley protect stone fruits from fruit rot.
Since fruit trees prevail on household plots, the crowns of which create a rather dense shadow, planting of early flowering ornamental plants will be an excellent option for the design of near-trunk circles.
In early spring, the bare branches of trees will not impede the penetration of light into the flowerbed, making it possible for primroses to please the eye even before the leaves on the crown open.
Ready-made schemes for arranging flower beds
There are many options for creating spectacular plant compositions on the trunk circle. These can be round-shaped flower beds of different shapes, the outer edge of which is decorated with stunted plants, and the inner space is filled with higher flowers.
When making tree-trunk circles of trees placed along a structure or fence that are visible only on one side, semicircular and asymmetric flowerbeds are more suitable.
Flower arrangements decorated in the form of improvised slopes equipped with retaining walls around tree trunks look interesting
When arranging multi-tiered compositions, it should be borne in mind that the tree trunk circle of fruit trees can be filled up to a height of no more than 10-12 cm. Filling the root of the tree neck with soil can cause the trunk to rot.
Option # 1 - spring kaleidoscope
To equip such a flower garden in autumn, it is necessary to clean the near-trunk area around the tree from small stones and weed roots. It is possible to enrich the soil by applying compost and organic fertilizers.
A motley composition of flowers blooming after each other in early spring will fill the area that is just waking up from hibernation with bright colors
Bulbs look spectacular in small groups: they are like placers of multi-colored glass kaleidoscope sparkle in the sun. Daffodils, crocuses and tulips are planted in groups, placing them at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. In the foreground of the flower garden, small tufts of Corydalis are planted - a herbaceous plant that got its name due to the bizarre shape of the flower. Empty spaces between the bulbous glades are filled with vinca creeping on the bushes.
To protect the bulbs from frost and provide them with conditions for growth and full flowering in the early spring, it is better to cover them with spruce branches or foliage before cooling.
Option # 2 - contrast of primroses
It is not necessary to give the flower garden an even round shape. A worthy setting for contrasting flowering glades will be decorative tiles, with which you can give the flower garden any shape.
The colorful spring composition, which successfully combines miniature blue-skinned shades of soft blue shades and spectacular irises of saturated yellow flowers, will bring bright contrast to the plot
Bulbs of daffodils and bluebills also planted in the fall, placing them in small groups around a tree trunk. After the daffodils have faded, in their place there are pretty grassy "bushes" collected from elongated smooth leaves that retain decorativeness until mid-summer.
On the rules for planting onion flowers in the fall, more details can be found in the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/posadka-lukovichnyx-cvetov-osenyu.html
Option # 3 - solar paints
Early spring eratis, decorated with tiny golden yellow flowers, shows the greatest decorativeness only in the sun. Fortunately, in early spring, the tree crowns do not give a dense shadow, making it possible for these unusually beautiful herbaceous plants to express themselves in all their glory.
The elegant composition of spring primroses is also built on color contrast, in which blue and purple crocuses stand out against the background of pale yellow spring flowers
When arranging a flower garden, they first think over the pattern of the composition. Corms of crocuses are planted along the outlined contours, and as a background, rhizomes of the winter spring. After spring blooming of crocuses, wilted flowers are not removed, thereby allowing plants to reproduce with the help of seeds.
With the help of flowers, even empty places under a tree can be turned into picturesque and pleasant corners of the garden for relaxation. Spectacular floral arrangements framing the trunk circles will decorate the garden with delicate colors and fill it with charm.
