Many city dwellers are especially looking forward to the first warm days after winter. And interestingly, their plans do not at all rest on the coast of a reservoir or a trip to the southern resort, but work on landscaping their summer cottage and cultivating various crops. At the same time, nature lovers are not particularly keen to get a rich harvest of fruits and vegetables. Often their main goal is decoration and landscape design. Therefore, recently unusual in appearance plants have become especially popular. Among them, far from last place is occupied by columnar trees. Consider how they differ from ordinary ones and for what purposes they land. In addition, the article will provide useful information on caring for these plants.
Modern site landscape decoration
Often design decisions are truly surprising in their unusualness and extravagance. Do you want to impress others with new forms, reliefs and at the same time a harmonious combination of both? Then it is worth paying attention not only to the use of artificial structures (ponds, flower beds, paths, hedges, light elements, etc.) in landscape design. It’s much easier to try natural solutions. One of these modern options is live plantings. And in the event that you use columnar fruit trees to decorate the site , you can achieve several goals at the same time:
- make more modern design;
- significantly save space for planting plants;
- get a crop of natural fruits;
- to grow trees, unpretentious in care.
Features of the appearance of plants
What are the main distinguishing features of columnar trees? Firstly, their crown is similar in shape to a cylinder that is adjacent to the trunk at about the same distance from it along its entire length. Secondly, fruit shoots grow directly from the main stem in the form of short branches without additional branches. Thanks to these special external characteristics, trees with columnar crowns are often used to decorate the landscape of the site. Of course, in order to obtain ideal strict forms, it will be necessary to carry out a small adjustment (in the first years of cultivation - without fail). But, despite this, nevertheless, the main outlines of the crown of trees are natural and created by nature itself through the breeding of new varieties.
Appearance story
Unusual in appearance, columnar trees appeared relatively recently. To be more precise, in 1964, one of the Canadian farmers noticed a rather strange twig on one of the varietal apple trees of his garden. She, like the neighboring ones, grew from the main trunk, but had some distinctive features:
- there were no lateral shoots on the branch, but at the same time it was literally hung with fruit shoots with apples flaunting on them;
- the wood cover was fairly dense and resilient.
The astonished gardener showed the tree to a familiar breeder, who then began to conduct experiments with the plant. So the first grade was called Vazhel, which means a long stick for transporting hay. Later, the columnar trees came from Canada to Europe, where breeders continued to work on them.
Varieties of trees
Considering the diversity of unusual trees, three main groups can be distinguished. Below is an overview of each of them:
- Conifers. The most unpretentious and for the most part not requiring special trimming to form the correct shape of the crown. They are used to decorate territories with classical architectural landscapes (official buildings, parks, alleys, etc.). Look great when framing the entrance and for getting hedges. Combine with any plants and artificial compositions. The most popular are thuja and juniper.
- Deciduous. Used for the same purposes as conifers. The main difference from them is the need to control the preservation of the plant form.
- Fruit. Used not only for decorating a summer cottage, but in order to solve the problem of limited space. Neat neat trees with an abundance of bright fruits, visible in the midst of scanty foliage, are sure to become the main decoration of the site.
Is it worth planting columnar fruit trees in your area?
This issue is especially worrying for those who have a rather limited summer space, which you can’t especially walk around. After all, I want to intelligently distribute the land for all vegetable, berry and fruit crops. Perhaps you still doubt whether it is worth planting columnar trees on your site. Reviews of most gardeners will help you make the right choice. They will only once again confirm a number of advantages of using these plant varieties both for decoration and for obtaining a good harvest from small land areas. After all, an unusual in shape and a small crown will minimally obscure the area and at the same time bear fruit well.
The procedure for planting seedlings
Colon-shaped fruit trees will bear fruit well only if the work on growing is carried out correctly at all stages. The first and perhaps most important is the organization of planting. It is best to place seedlings of columnar fruit trees in the ground at a permanent place in the fall. Then, until the spring, the root system will be strengthened, and the plants will give good new stem shoots. When marking, it is most practical to plant young trees in rows. Then, instead of separately located holes, you can dig shallow ditches. The distance from one row to another should not be less than 1 m, and between the seedlings - 40 cm.After planting, you need to tamp well the places near the root necks of the plants to avoid the formation of air voids, and then water abundantly (at least 2 liters under each root).
Colon-shaped tree care: top dressing, watering, weeding
Since the plants bear fruit abundantly, the soil on which they are often often depleted. Therefore, mini-trees need to be fed. But too zealous with fertilizers is also not worth it. If possible, use natural products such as manure and urea. In addition to fertilizing the soil, organize regular watering, especially in the first two years after planting, until the plants gain strength. And in order to strengthen the root system even better, you need to follow the elimination of the fruit ovary in the first season. Although the plant can be literally strewn with many flowers, they will need to be completely removed. Only in the second year you can leave them in a tree in limited quantities. Watch for timely and regular watering, as well as weeding. Indeed, weed vegetation absorbs useful substances from the soil. The following describes the features of processing near-stem land.
Features of mechanical tillage
Due to the fact that the colony-shaped fruit trees have a root system that lies close to the surface, carefully weed. This is best done manually, as machining with choppers and shovels can damage the roots. To reduce the weed vegetation, sprinkle the ground between the plants with sawdust or inoculate with cereal crops. Wells can be covered with straw on top to preserve moisture.
Decorate your site with these unusual trees to the joy of your loved ones, as well as neighbors!