Material prepared by: Nadezhda Zimina, gardener with 24 years of experience, process engineer
By applying various methods of agricultural technology, you can achieve better results when cultivating your own personal plot while applying less effort. For example, once using the mulching technique to cultivate the soil surface, you can long time forget about watering, loosening and weeding. Plants will feel comfortable without additional care. And decorative mulch, which is available in a huge assortment, will decorate the garden, set accents and fill the empty spaces of the beds.
Mulching technology
Before we cover the ground protective layer from covering material, it needs to be prepared.
You need to do the following:
- Remove weeds from the entire area of the treated surface;
- Water the bed so that moisture remains in it, which we will save;
- Loosen the earth to a depth of at least 5 cm;
- Ventilate, slightly drying the top layer of soil so that when mulching it does not sink and compact.
When to mulch?
Covering measures that contribute to the long-term retention of moisture around flowers constantly growing in one place must be carried out in the spring, after the soil thaws and warms up well. If done earlier, when the soil is cold, the layer of mulch will prevent thawing by keeping the cold close to the roots. This can lead to the death of plants.
In the fall, soil cover is also produced. After all, under a protective layer is much longer than in environment the vital processes of soil organisms will continue, which will lead to additional production of organic matter from the covering substrate. In autumn, it is possible to plant under the mulch of various cultivated plants, For example, . He winters well under the shelter of pine sawdust, which, among other things, also protect him from diseases and pests.
Many garden creepers also need autumn shelter, otherwise they do not survive the winter, freezing to the root. For successful protection from the cold over, climbing roses, actinidia, clematis build a dry shelter with their own hands. You can’t just fill them with sawdust - during thaws, water will wet the covering substrate, and with a significant drop in temperature, it will turn into an ice shell, under which plants can die.
For the construction of a reliable shelter used wooden frames or boxes under which lashes and creepers are placed, they will be in a dry air environment. Then protective structures covered with a "blanket" of sawdust. But this is not enough, since wood shavings do not protect plants from being hit. excess moisture. On top, you need to make another layer that prevents it from getting in. To do this, use a film for mulching.
winter shelters for grapes
The quality of covering measures largely depends on the material used. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, which can help or harm specific plants. For right choice it is necessary to have information about the properties of protective materials.
Mulching with green plant residues
siderates
For spring soil mulching, there is an original, and very economical way that allows you to grow healthy seedlings right in the ground. Of course, we are not talking about tomatoes and peppers (although in southern regions You can also try). First of all, in this way you can plant zucchini, eggplant, and pumpkins.
In the spring, as soon as the earth thaws, they dig it up and sow green manure, rye is best suited. When the soil warms up well and constant positive temperatures are established, you can start planting seeds of cultivated plants. Rye will serve as a natural protection, shading young shoots at the initial stage, creating comfortable conditions for them to develop. When the cucumbers and zucchini grow up, the cereals around are removed, and the earth is covered with the resulting straw. She serves good stuff for mulching, at the same time feeding the soil with nitrogenous compounds.
It must be remembered that immediately after removal from the soil, green manure cannot be used. They must be dried within a day, otherwise the straw will smell bad and rot, as a result of which pathogenic microflora and fungi may appear on it.
cut grass
After weeding the garden or mowing the lawn, a lot of grass remains. Throwing it away is irrational, therefore this type of plant waste has two ways of implementation. The first is to compost them. The second is to organize grass mulching of beds, flower beds and tree trunks fruit trees.
You can also throw weeded potatoes with mowed grass, instead of hilling. The tubers will develop perfectly in a loose layer of half-rotted substrate, and in the fall, potatoes can be easily removed by pulling the bushes by the tops.
And here gourds, cucumbers and cabbage cannot be mulched with grass, as they can become infected with rot or fungus. For the winter, fresh grass mulch should not be left, as pests can start in it. It is best to use plant residues a second time by sending them to the compost. As a covering material for winter, well-dried hay is used, which is used to cover near-stem circles of trees just before frost.
Video: an example of mulching tomatoes with plant residues
Mulching with sawdust
The main function of mulching is the ability to create comfortable conditions for plants. Using organic materials, you can significantly increase soil fertility, reduce the amount of watering and loosening, and get rid of weeds.
Mulching is one of the most common methods of such shelter. Especially often they are used for. Under warm blanket from large chips, strawberries and garden strawberries winter well and do not get sick various types rot. Pathogenic flora is the very negative factor that significantly affects the yield. But when using sawdust, which act as a sorbent, a significant part of the berries sing quietly on the bushes, and do not rot, since they do not come into contact with moist soil.
Strawberry mulching technology is simple and effective:
Before making sawdust, the bed is weeded, loosened and watered. After the formation of a light crust on the top layer of the earth, proceed to the main work. To do this, take cardboard (it is better not to use a newspaper, since the ink for printing contains lead), and cover the space between the rows with them. Sawdust is poured on top of the cardboard. Everything, the work is finished. By the way, this method protects not only from the appearance of weeds, but also from the excessive growth of the strawberries themselves.
Mulching with hay and straw
These natural materials, which are easy to find in any village, began to be used by summer residents for planting new technology, for the use of which you need to stock up on cardboard (you can ask for boxes at the nearest store), planting material and dry grass.
The process itself can be divided into several stages:
- Covering the ground with cardboard. It can be laid directly on overwintered grass as soon as the snow melts. The point of this action is to prevent light from reaching the weeds, which will die along with the roots within a few weeks.
- Germination and disinfection of potatoes. You can disinfect using a solution of any ready-made biostimulant, and germinate in the sun, planting a tuber. These preparatory procedures have a healing effect, so that subsequently the potatoes under the mulch do not get sick with late blight.
- The next stage is the planting of planting material. To do this, holes are made in cardboard sheets, whose radius should be twice as large as the radius of the tubers. After that, the seed potatoes are placed directly on the ground, sprouts up, so that they rush to the sunlight.
- The final stage of planting is the straw mulching of the entire row. To do this, the dry remains of cereal crops are poured directly on top of the cardboard, with a layer of at least 15-20 cm. Some use hay for shelter, but it has a significant drawback - it is a carrier and accumulator of weed seeds.
This method, revolutionary for the minds of many gardeners, has many advantages. First, it is minimal in terms of labor costs. Imagine, you do not have to plow, weed and hill up plantings. Potatoes under mulch grow well without too much intervention. The exception is drought, when you have to water your plantings a couple of times. And still, the amount of physical labor used is incommensurable with traditional way landing.
Harvesting potatoes that have grown under thatch cover is also a cakewalk compared to traditional digging. This is a fairly clean job, as getting to the tubers is very easy - you just need to push the straw, and harvest.
After harvesting, the beds are left without digging. They are already natural compost, which will quietly rot in the time remaining before the onset of winter cold, and next year these beds can be used for planting without additional processing. Using the straw mulching method, it is possible to achieve a significant improvement in soil fertility on the site in 2-3 years.
Video: comparison of potato yield when mulching different types
Mulching with textiles and film
This type of protective procedures is applied in two cases:
- The first - during the construction of "dry blankets" for the winter for various ornamental plants and vines, as already mentioned above.
- The second type of use is to protect the beds from weeds and moisture evaporation.
A prerequisite for the use of rolled covering materials is compliance with all preparatory procedures (weeding, moistening, loosening), before covering the beds with polyethylene. Applying this method to summer time, use only transparent film and agrotextile. But the black film is used before the start of planting. It has too strong a depressing effect on any plant flora, therefore, even with the use of partial perforation, it is not suitable for summer use.
mulching with agrotextile (left) and film (right)
The film is spread on the beds at the end of March, when it is already warm enough and weeds begin to grow. Within 3-4 weeks, they all die under a black film, and their roots, which die off naturally, are easy to remove with a rake.
Agrotextiles are very often used for mulching strawberries. Usually they take non-woven tightly, which allows moisture to pass through. It is spread over all surfaces of the beds, cutting out on equal distance circles for berry bushes. When using this method, strawberries produce excellent fruit throughout the season, and require little or no additional care.
Mulching with peat
This fertilizer from the swamp is very often used as a mulch layer for the soil, when planting various plants. serves as an excellent protection against weathering and washing out of fertile components from the soil, and does not allow the growth and development of pathogenic flora. After the end of the season, this substrate is left on the beds, and it gradually passes into the soil, improving its composition.
decorative use of peat
The homogeneous structure of peat allows it to be used as a decorative backfill. Peat is also used in the garden, for mulching various crops that require increased care, such as tomatoes. Under nightshade, this substrate is applied when they are well rooted, a couple of weeks after planting the seedlings in the ground.
Peat is ideal for mulching. It creates optimal conditions for the growth and development of this moisture-loving shrub. The soil will constantly retain moisture, and becomes loose, which allows the raspberry root system to develop well.
Mulching with bark and wood chips
This way of caring for the garden gains more and more fans every year. Bark mulch is commonly used to decorate paths and large open areas. In our climate zone Pine bark is the most widespread. This material for landscape design has a number of useful properties.
decorative mulch made from bark and wood chips
Decorative bark mulch stays in one place for a long time unchanged, perfectly protects the soil from weeds, and saves from the sun on hot days. Also, it does not compact for a long time due to its porous structure and relief surface.
Pine bark
This type of covering material is very popular throughout the country. Benefits pine bark are its lightness, thickness and high content of fungicides, which suppress unfriendly microflora and prevent the appearance of pests.
Features of mulching with bark / chips of near-stem circles of trees
The bark has been used for mulching for centuries. This type of protection has become especially popular for those who constantly need comfortable conditions. The bark retains moisture for the root system, and perfectly decorates the near-stem circle, which saves time when caring for these capricious flowers. It also serves as a winter shelter from freezing.
Wood chips
When buying this material, you should pay attention to the number that is indicated on the package. It corresponds to the size of the chips, and indicates the dimensional indicators of the product. Chips are small (5-8 cm), medium (8-15 cm), and large (more than 15 cm). It is advisable to purchase this covering material from manufacturers that guarantee a minimum inclusion of chip dust in the composition. This property helps protect the beds from oxidation.
Chips for mulching perform the same functions as other materials. It keeps the soil moist and loose, stimulates the development of beneficial microflora, naturally forms humus. In addition to all the above benefits, given material great for decorating the area.
decorative mulch options - based on wood chips and bark
Decorative mulch can be any color and size. It is used in young flower beds, or in discounts made in a minimalist style. It is resistant to external influences, so it can fall asleep flower beds and garden paths.
Precautionary measures
The choice of wood chips must be approached more carefully than the purchase of other materials. When buying it, it is desirable ... to smell it! If the substrate emits a sour vinegar smell, then it is better to postpone the purchase. Most likely, wet chips were stored without access to oxygen, and decay products that were very harmful to plants began to be produced in it.
But, if the acquisition has already been made, the situation can be corrected. The wood chips must be well dried. Once the sour smell is gone, you can use it to mulch the soil.
Unusual types of mulch
Leaves
They are used everywhere, this is the most affordable covering material that serves to protect plantings with perennial flowers and wintering bulbs.
pine needles
Pine needles are used to mulch plants that are prone to massive pest attacks, such as garlic.
Eggshell
This species is used as an obstacle in the way of slugs, scattering the shell thin layer around rose bushes.
Using various improvised materials for mulching beds, you can greatly simplify your life. The protected roots of plants fully use all the moisture introduced into the ground, which provides them with excellent nutrition. The need for constant watering disappears, as well as constant loosening. Mulching the soil will help bring the garden and garden in order, and free up time to finally straighten up and admire the beauty and order created by your own hands.
Video comparison of different mulching materials
Everyone prepares for winter differently. People buy warm clothes and take skis out of the attic, animals carry seeds into their burrows, and fish burrow deeper into the mud. Garden trees also need to be prepared for snow and cold weather. special attention in this regard, requires care for the apple tree. Preparing this fruit tree for winter requires pruning, trunk cleaning, and many other activities. On the Internet you can find a lot of videos and articles on this topic. A gardener who is armed with useful knowledge will be able to save trees and future crops.
Branch and trunk care
The first thing to work with when preparing a tree for winter is the branches and trunk. The apple tree must be carefully examined and dry, broken, diseased branches and those that grow inside the crown should be removed.
Attention! Branches can be cut only in clear weather at a temperature not lower than -10 ° C. If you do not follow this rule, then cracks will appear on fresh cuts, which will increase over time and destroy the apple tree.
Branches should be removed in such a way that the cut is as even and smooth as possible. It is unacceptable to leave scuffs of the bark. After trimming, damaged areas must be carefully treated with a solution of copper sulfate at the rate of 1 tsp. per 1 liter pure water. Then the slices are also processed garden pitch. These measures help prevent the appearance and reproduction of fungal diseases.
pruning
And finally, you need to remember about the whitewashing of the trunk, which in winter protects the tree from rodents and sunburn. You need to process the trunk from the root to the lower branches or slightly higher. The best prescription formula for a whitewash mixture for an apple tree: lime - 3 kg, wood glue - 200 g, blue vitriol - ½ kg, water - 10 l.
Advice. If the apple tree variety is not frost-resistant, you can wrap its trunk for the winter with spruce or pine branches, you can also wrap it with roofing paper.
Tillage around the tree
Soil cultivation around the apple tree in preparation for winter includes 3 stages: cleaning, digging, mulching.
- Cleaning. You need to start this stage with the cleaning of fallen leaves and carrion. It is in this mass that pathogenic bacteria and pests hide and multiply. Leaves and rotten apples are best thrown into compost heap sprinkled with lime. Then in a year it will be possible to feed the tree with this.
- Digging. When the ground under the tree is cleared, you can proceed to digging the soil. In this case, the shovel is immersed parallel to the ground by 20 cm. If the gardener works with a pitchfork, you need to carefully monitor so as not to damage root system. You also need to dig up the soil that goes beyond the crown, since there are no roots there, the shovel can be immersed deeper.
- Mulching. This procedure can be carried out using compost or manure. It is also recommended to use peat, sawdust, straw, shavings or needles.
Identification and neutralization of pests
Autumn is a great time to identify and neutralize pests that have settled on fruit trees. Most often they can be found under the old bark of an apple tree. You need to bend it and inspect the trunk under it. Insects found there should be destroyed immediately. Too large outgrowths of the old bark are best removed altogether.
Processing the trunk of an apple tree
For the purpose of treatment and prevention, the apple tree is treated with insecticides in autumn. For example, a urea solution will help overcome powdery mildew or scab. Also used laundry soap, soda ash, copper sulfate. If there is no desire or opportunity to prepare solutions on your own, you can use ready-made fungicides, such as Aktara, Karbofos, Horus.
Autumn top dressing of apple trees
- Organic fertilizers such as compost or humus are applied at the rate of 4-8 kg per 1 m² of soil.
- If it is not possible to make organic fertilizer, you can use a mixture of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen fertilizer. At the same time, nitrogen is needed in a very small amount, about 10 g. Such top dressing will be useful for root growth.
- Acidic soils under apple trees are neutralized with lime, which is applied every 3-4 years. Use for this ground limestone or even old plaster, marl, dolomite flour, a piece of chalk.
- To make the trees easier to endure severe frosts, they need to be fed with superphosphate, diluted 30-50 g per 1 liter of water.
Advice. Dense fertilizers must be crushed before being applied to the soil. For example, burnt lime is quenched with water at the rate of 3 liters per 10 kg.
The owners of some personal plots prefer to postpone the care of the apple tree until spring. But this is the wrong approach, which can significantly damage the tree and reduce the yield. But proper autumn preparation will help the tree to endure the harsh period.
How to prepare an apple tree for winter: video
Autumn processing of apple trees: photo
Common parsnip, or field parsnip, or sowing parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) in the wild is widely distributed in regions with a temperate climate (central Russia, North Caucasus, Crimea, Ural, Altai, etc.), but is still rare in garden plots. True, today the popularity of parsnips is growing quite actively. In animal husbandry and beekeeping, it is used as a fodder plant and honey plant, and in cooking - as a tasty and healthy vegetable.
The universal favorite among the decorative and deciduous perennials of the host conquers not only the beauty of the leaves. It is durable and relatively undemanding, growing in the right place for many years, but it can hardly be called fast-growing. The hosta propagates easily, although you will have to be patient to get spectacular, highly decorative bushes. To independently increase the host collection, first of all, you need to remember the features of this culture.
Dill spreads well by self-sowing, so many summer residents do not consider it necessary to sow this crop every year on the site. But at the same time, everyone understands that dill and dill are different. And the greens of carefully grown dill in the garden in their own way palatability and flavor tends to be superior to dill, which grows on its own. In this article we will tell you how to have green dill in the beds in sufficient quantities with early spring until late autumn.
Stir fry with beef, soy noodles, vegetables and Iceberg lettuce - recipe quick dinner or lunch for a busy person. It takes no more than 15 minutes to prepare it, and you can feed it to a couple of hungry mouths, which cannot bear to wait for a sophisticated dinner. Stir fry is a way of quickly frying vegetables and meat, which came to us from the east. Don't be upset if a wok is not among your kitchen utensils. Regular frying pan with a thick bottom non-stick coating will fit too.
Among plants that can boast of variegated foliage, alpinia claims to be not only the rarest, but also the most original culture. It simultaneously reminds of bamboos and arrowroot calatheas, and sometimes even vriesias. True, it looks like the latter only with its inflorescences. Luxurious leaves, most often covered with variegated contrasting stripes, look so modern that the beauty of their flawless patterns and brilliance is impossible not to admire.
Vegetarian cabbage rolls from savoy cabbage with mushrooms - steamed cabbage rolls for dietary, vegetarian and Lenten menu. Cabbage rolls are unusually tasty, very appetizing, and, if applicable to food, beautiful, unlike their counterparts from white cabbage, stewed in a brazier or fried in a pan. savoy cabbage tastier than the white head, the head is loose, it is easier to disassemble it into individual leaves. The color of the leaves is from pale green to emerald green.
AT winter time every summer resident is looking forward to spring and is happy to open the season with the first crops of flower and vegetable crops for seedlings. But, unfortunately, the place on the windowsill is limited, and it is not always possible to place it in the apartment. right amount seedlings in cups. In addition, some of the crops may simply not sprout, something will die ... And for us, summer residents, no matter how much you plant, it’s not enough! Therefore, at least some seedlings, but almost every gardener buys.
Growing annuals in the garden has at least two advantages over growing perennials. First, most of the popular annual plants bloom profusely throughout the growing season. Secondly, many letniki are freely sown and appear in the garden year after year with minimal participation from the grower. Which letniki can be planted only once, and then, following simple tricks, meet them in the garden every season?
You can cook jelly and meat salad with onions from pork knuckle. The knuckle, especially the back knuckle, is a very tasty and affordable part of the pork carcass that you can feed small company. From a 2-kilogram shank you get a bowl of meat salad and a large plate of jellied meat. There will still be meat broth, on which I advise you to cook cabbage soup or borscht. For this dish, we take the back knuckle weighing from 1.7 to 2 kilograms, I advise you to beg the meatiest one from the butcher.
Eggplants require sunny but short days, medium-warm temperatures without sweltering heat, sufficient moisture, but without flooding the root system. Provide such conditions in open field most regions of Russia is quite difficult. Therefore, earlier eggplants were grown only in protected ground conditions. With the development of breeding, it became possible to grow eggplants in open ground not only in the southern regions, but also in middle lane.
Among predator plants, sundew rightly claims to be the brightest and most expressive beauty. This plant attracts, first of all, with unusual textures and a play of colors. But the nutritional mechanism of this marsh and quite hardy miracle is so exotic that it is very easy to forget about sundews as plants, primarily ornamental ones. Sundews are quite demanding on humidity, but they are not so difficult to grow in ordinary living quarters.
Chocolate cake with custard from simple and affordable ingredients, it turns out so tasty that rarely anyone is limited to one piece. Biscuit cakes moist, they seem to be made from real dark chocolate, although the recipe contains only cocoa powder. Creamy custard soft and light, goes well with chocolate biscuit. All this splendor of flavors is complemented by coconut flakes, the ingredient is simple, but in this recipe, like a cherry on a cake, it comes in handy.
Although the calendar spring begins in March, it is very difficult to call this month spring. But May is already a real long-awaited spring, filled with aromas and multicolors of awakened nature. Fresh young leaves on trees and shrubs attract the eye yearning for greenery during the long months of winter. In May, the parade of primroses continues in the garden, delighting with colorful foliage and flowering ornamental shrubs, perennials, conifers are updated.
In the middle lane, the formation of grapes suggests the possibility of shelter on winter period, which means that the guideline should be to maintain the head of the bush at the level of the soil. Further north to big harvest you can’t count, but for such areas there are their own pruning principles. The article considers a sleeve-fan scheme for the formation of a grape bush, often used in the middle lane, and a cordon scheme, which has shown itself well in regions with a more severe climate.
Beef with eggplant with vegetable sauce in the oven is a simple, very tasty and not very high-calorie dish, which is quite important in our time. Sauce only from vegetables, no flour, sugar, milk or cream. Meat without fat, and, nevertheless, it turns out juicy and tender. Can be replaced with chicken fillet or veal. Eggplants do not need to be fried first, just a little salt to make them soft. To ready meal I advise you to prepare a light yogurt sauce.
In order for trees to grow quickly, be strong and tall, they need care. This applies to both decorative and fruit species. If earlier trunk circles around 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, then in our time everything large quantity summer residents plant flowers, spicy and vegetable crops on them or sow lawns.
This not only beautifies the garden and benefits the trees themselves, but also saves land area in favor of other types of plants.
To dig or not to dig?
For many gardeners, the vital question is how to properly care for fruit trees and when to dig around them, whether to do it at all, or is it better to sow this area with grass. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages of digging, the following can be distinguished:
- There will be fewer 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 for good, for example, to set up a flower garden.
Since there are more disadvantages to digging the earth around trees, many summer residents have abandoned this practice. This is caused by:
- When digging up the soil in the fall, not only pests are destroyed, but also beneficial microorganisms. For example, aerobic bacteria living on the surface require oxygen. When digging, the top layer of soil turns over and they are underground. Deprived of oxygen, they die, and since it is aerobic bacteria that supply plants with the main nutrients, then thereby the trees are deprived of elements important for life.
- When digging, there is always a risk of damaging 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 ground becomes open to the cold.
Each summer resident decides for himself how to take care of his garden, but all more people they tend to believe that the soil around the trees is an area that can be used with sense and benefit both for the plant and for itself.
Flowerbeds and beds around trees
In light of the above, gardeners prefer to use trunk circles and sow them either with herbs, or flowers, or healthy vegetables and spices. This gives its advantages:
- Gradually, the untouched soil is enriched by the plants growing on it, which, having outlived their time, become a natural top dressing for the tree.
- It is especially useful to sow near-stem circles for additional insulation 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.
- Trunk circles trees filled with vegetation do not need to be dug up and special weeding, which not only saves you from unnecessary work, but also helps to preserve the fertile layer of the earth.
Considering all the benefits, more and more summer residents are using the soil around trees to plant beautiful or useful plants.
Important to know: Plants don't always go well 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, since their harvest can be significantly reduced by satellites that will act depressingly on them.
Types of tree trunks and their care
Making and caring for 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. Along with the growth of the crown, its trunk circle grows, the design of which, as the tree grows older, can change.
Soil care depends on how the soil looks around the seedling:
- If the land remains under black fallow, then it needs regular weeding and light loosening after each rain or watering. In the presence of heavy soil, autumn digging should be carried out annually, while on loam this can be done every 2-3 years.
- Mulching, although the best way conserve moisture, improve soil quality, and protect against cold, is nevertheless considered by many gardeners a waste land area. Mulching methods are described below.
- Decorated trunk circles are becoming more and more popular, as they simplify their care and allow you to create beautiful flower beds, lawns or mini-gardens.
It is important to know: if plants are planted around a tree, then it should be taken into account that its trunk should already be quite high (from 75 cm), and the branches should be raised above the ground.
Materials for decorating trunk circles
Long gone are the days when the design of the near-trunk circle of a tree consisted only of mulching or “bare” soil. Today, landscape designers use natural and artificial materials, flower and herb seeds.
Summer residents do not lag behind them and ennoble their gardens:
- decorative stone;
- gravel and pebbles;
- glass;
- synthetic fiber fabrics, such as agril;
- lawns;
- beds with spices;
- healing herbs.
Important to know: the soil around trees is effective area when it is used correctly. What is permissible on large landscaped 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 with summer residents who cannot devote much time to their garden. These "helpers" are capable of:
- retain moisture;
- protect roots from hot sunlight and severe frosts;
- do not let weeds grow;
- keep pests out.
Such decor of the trunk circle frees the gardener from weeding, loosening and digging the earth. Stones are a natural material that is durable, does not scatter from gusts of wind and looks spectacular.
Mulching
In regions where rain is rare and frost is not, summer residents use dry manure, straw, peat or leaves with reeds as mulch. There are reasons for this:
- this is a natural fertilizer that is dug up in the spring and gives the roots additional nutrition;
- such 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 perfect for this. They look beautiful, keep heat well, pass and retain moisture, are not blown away by the wind and do not give weeds a chance to grow through such a barrier.
In any case, the choice natural material use for mulching, remains with the summer resident, based on weather conditions and the needs of the tree itself.
Lawn around trees
A beautifully manicured lawn always looks spectacular. It is no exception when it covers the trunk circle of an apple tree, for example, or other fruit trees. Such a luxury can afford the owners of large plots. As the grass grows, it is cut with a lawn mower and removed. As practice has shown, a lawn in tree trunks is beautiful decoration, which provides the tree with additional care:
- protects from the sun;
- protects from cold;
- retains moisture well;
- grass roots themselves loosen the soil, and it breathes.
Important to know: the lawn requires constant care, otherwise the garden will look overgrown and abandoned. Trees also need regular spring dressing, which is best applied directly under the roots.
Planting near-stem circles with forbs
The lawn is not suitable for the owners of the cherished six acres, so the best way out is to create a cultural turf, for which grass seeds are used. Better sow perennial herbs, for example, a cereal mixture of meadow fescue (up to 60%) and bluegrass meadow (40%).
As the grass grows, it must be cut and piled under the trees, as this is the best natural fertilizer, which frees the gardener from additional organic dressings. Such turfing serves as a natural "carpet" that keeps the roots of trees from scorching sun, severe frosts and droughts.
flower garden
Before you start creating a flower garden, beds with spices or medicinal herbs, you should find out which plants of the near-stem circles will bring the 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 will not only decorate the near-trunk circle, but also have a beneficial effect on the productivity of the tree. Among spices and vegetable crops, the apple tree gets along well with:
- dill;
- radish;
- feather onions;
- lettuce;
- sorrel;
- basil.
Today, the cultivation of near-stem circles of trees is a widespread practice, and not a tribute to fashion. When the land can not only be properly used, ennobled and beautified, but also without special efforts improve its composition, this is a chance to make your site ideal.
Early and unexpected frosts are the most serious danger for garden plants because they have not yet had time to adapt to low temperatures and are easily damaged. But it is very easy to insure against such unpleasant surprises - it is enough to carry out autumn mulching of trees and bushes in your garden.
Plant roots are particularly affected by frost. To protect the soil in the near-trunk circles, the soil must be shallowly dug and mulched. For this purpose, both organic and inorganic materials are used.
The former include humus, compost, spruce and pine, while the latter, in turn, include crushed stone, expanded clay, gravel and. The indisputable advantage of organic is that over time it rots, mixes with the soil and not only protects, but also nourishes the plantings.
After mulching, a mound should appear around the trunk, but not as high. This is an example of an incorrect procedure.
However, the use of acidic peat and pine needles provokes an increase in acidity. garden soil. Therefore, trees and shrubs, which grow better on slightly acidic or even acidic soil, are mainly mulched with these substrates.
Inorganic materials are more durable, but some of them, like organics, have a significant impact on soil acidity, its mechanical and chemical composition. For example, it is recommended to cover the soil in rock gardens and rockeries with a layer of gravel and crushed limestone, because plants that prefer an alkaline environment are most often cultivated in them.
The technology of mulching garden trees and bushes is carried out as follows:
- a circle is drawn around the trunk of a tree or bush, the diameter of which is equal to half or two-thirds of the diameter of its crown.
- then, in the inner part of the circle, turf and weeds are removed, a layer of soil is taken out with a depth of 15 to 20 centimeters for shrubs and 20 to 25 centimeters for trees.
- the roots are carefully dug in, and the bottom of the pit formed is loosened with a pitchfork or.
- the surface of the earth is leveled and slightly tamped, and the pit is filled with mulching material (preferably of organic origin).
- lastly, the land previously selected from the pit is returned to the place.
Note that for coniferous crops, the diameter of the circle should be made earlier than the diameter of the crown or even more. The optimal mulching mixture for such plants is their own needles mixed with acidic peat.
Of course, in large gardens it is simply unrealistic to insulate all plants in this way, so I advise you to first protect those varieties and species that are characterized by a minimum. Also, if the soil is on your section easy and clean from weeds, then there is no need to dig a hole and choose soil from it, but it is enough just to loosen it and sprinkle it with a 15-20 cm layer of mulch.