For the trees to grow fast, to be strong and tall, they need care. This applies to both decorative and fruit species. Previously, near-trunk circles around the trees were left in the form of open areas of soil that were dug up and fertilized in autumn and spring or covered with mulch, but nowadays, an increasing number of summer residents plant flowers, spices and vegetables on them, or sow lawns.
This not only decorates the garden and benefits the trees themselves, but also saves the area of the plot in favor of other types of plants.
To dig or not to dig?
For many gardeners, the urgent question is how to properly care for fruit trees and when to dig up the earth around them, whether to do it at all, or whether it is better to sow this area with grass. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages of digging, the following can be distinguished:
- There will be less pests or they will disappear altogether.
- Since the near-stem circle of fruit trees expands as they grow, this makes it possible to use this land with benefit, for example, to break a flower garden.
Since there are more shortcomings in digging the earth around trees, many summer residents abandoned this practice. This is due to the fact that:
- When digging the soil in the autumn, not only pests are destroyed, but also beneficial microorganisms. For example, aerobic bacteria living on the surface require oxygen. When digging, the topsoil is turned over and they turn out to be underground. Deprived of oxygen, they die, and since it is aerobic bacteria that supply the plant with the main nutrients, then the trees lose their vital elements.
- When digging, there is always a risk of damage to the roots. This is especially true for those that are closer to the surface and receive the necessary nutrition from it.
- Autumn digging reduces the frost resistance of trees, as the soil becomes open to cold.
Each summer resident decides how to care for his garden, but more and more people are inclined to believe that the soil around the trees is an area that can be used with benefit and benefit both for the plant and for himself.
Flowerbeds and beds around trees
In the light of the above, gardeners prefer to use trunks and sow them with either herbs, flowers, or healthy vegetables and spices. This has its advantages:
- Gradually, untouched soil is enriched by plants growing on it, which, having outlived their time, become a natural top dressing for a tree.
- It is especially useful to sow trunks for additional warming of the root system. The roots of the "neighbors" create a kind of pillow that prevents frost from penetrating into the ground.
- In summer, a lawn or flower garden protects the roots from the sun, and the tree needs less watering.
- Tree trunks filled with vegetation do not need digging and special weeding, which not only eliminates unnecessary work, but also helps to preserve the fertile layer of the earth.
Given all the advantages, more and more summer residents use the soil around the trees to plant beautiful or healthy plants.
It is important to know: plants do not always combine with each other. Before you plant something, you need to make sure that the “neighborhood” will be mutually beneficial. This is especially important for fruit trees, as their yield can be significantly reduced by satellites, which will act on them depressingly.
Types of trunk trunks and care for them
The design and maintenance of the soil around the tree begins with its planting. So, when he is 2-3 years old, he is 2 m, by the age of six he reaches 3 m, and by 10-12 - 3.5-4 m. Together with the growth of the crown, his trunk circle grows, the design of which as the tree grows older can change.
Soil care depends on how the soil around the seedling looks:
- If the land remains under black steam, then it needs regular weeding and light cultivation after each rain or watering. In the presence of heavy soil, autumn digging should be carried out annually, while on loams this can be done once every 2-3 years.
- Mulching, although it is the best way to preserve moisture, improve soil quality and protect against cold weather, is nevertheless considered by many gardeners to be a waste of land. Mulching methods are described below.
- Decorated trunk circles are becoming increasingly popular, as they simplify the care of them and allow you to create beautiful flower beds, lawns or mini-gardens.
It is important to know: if plants are planted around a tree, it should be borne in mind that its trunk should already be high enough (from 75 cm), and the branches should be raised above the ground.
Trunk Circle Decor Materials
The time has long passed when the design of the tree trunk circle consisted only of mulching or “bare” soil. Today, landscape designers use natural and artificial materials, seeds of flowers and herbs for this.
Summer residents do not lag behind them and ennoble their gardens:
- decorative stone;
- gravel and pebbles;
- glass;
- synthetic fiber fabrics, for example, acryl;
- lawns;
- beds with spices;
- healing herbs.
It is important to know: the soil around the trees is a usable area when used properly. What is permissible on large landscape lawns does not make sense on a plot of 6 acres, where every meter of land counts.
Stone decoration
The use of small pebbles or gravel to decorate tree trunks is especially popular among summer residents who cannot spend much time on their garden. These "assistants" are capable of:
- retain moisture;
- protect the roots from hot sunlight and severe frosts;
- prevent weeds from growing;
- keep pests out.
Such decor of the near-trunk circle frees the gardener from weeding, loosening and digging the earth. Stones are a natural material that is durable, does not fly away from gusts of wind and looks spectacular.
Mulching
In regions where rains are rare and frosts are not, summer residents use dry manure, straw, peat or leaves with bulrushes in the form of mulch. There are reasons for this:
- it is a natural fertilizer that is dug in the spring and gives the roots additional nutrition;
- a similar mulch warms the soil;
- retains moisture well.
It is important to know: such mulching should be done not only 10-15 cm from the trunk, as many gardeners do, but throughout the trunk circle.
However, in warmer regions, an increasing number of summer residents prefer not only to mulch the near-stem circle of fruit trees, but also to decorate it. Pine cones, for example, are great for this. They look beautiful, hold heat well, pass and retain moisture, do not blown away by the wind and do not give a chance to weed sprouts through such a barrier.
In any case, the choice of which natural material to use for mulching remains with the summer resident, based on weather conditions and the needs of the tree itself.
Lawn around the trees
A beautiful well-kept lawn always looks spectacular. It is no exception when it covers the near-trunk circle of an apple tree, for example, or other fruit trees. Owners of large plots can afford such a luxury. As the grass grows, it is cut with a lawn mower and cleaned. As practice has shown, the lawn in near-stem circles is a beautiful decoration that provides the tree with additional care:
- protects from the sun;
- protects from cold weather;
- retains moisture well;
- the roots of the grass themselves loosen the soil, and it breathes.
It is important to know: the lawn requires constant care, otherwise the garden will look overgrown and abandoned. Also, trees need regular spring top dressing, which is best applied directly under the roots.
Tincture of trunks
The lawn is not suitable for the owners of the treasured six hundred square meters, so the best way out is to create cultural sodding, for which the seeds of forbs are used. It is better to sow perennial herbs, for example, a cereal mixture of meadow fescue (up to 60%) and meadow bluegrass (40%).
As the grass grows, it needs to be mowed and folded under the trees, as this is the best natural fertilizer that frees the gardener from additional organic fertilizing. Such sodding serves as a natural “carpet” that preserves the roots of trees from the scorching sun, severe frosts and drought.
Flower garden
Before you begin to create a flower garden, beds with spices or medicinal herbs, you should find out which plants of trunks will bring maximum benefit to the tree. For example, the following flowers are combined with an apple tree:
- Daisies
- daffodils;
- lungwort;
- pansies;
- forget-me-nots;
- bells;
- nasturtium;
- periwinkle.
They not only decorate the near-stem circle, but also beneficially affect the productivity of the tree. Among spices and vegetable crops, the apple tree gets along well with:
- dill;
- radish;
- feather onions;
- a salad;
- sorrel;
- basil.
Today, the cultivation of tree trunks is a universal practice, and not a tribute to fashion. When the land can not only be used properly, ennobled and decorated, but without much effort to improve its composition, this is a chance to make your plot ideal.