Each summer resident seeks to use his 6 acres as efficiently as possible. Moreover, if half of them are occupied by buildings. This problem will be partially solved by planting various green spaces in the near-trunk circles of trees, in particular, apple trees.

What can be planted under an apple tree

The trunk circle is a part of the area under the tree, equal to the diameter of the crown. It is very important for plants: through it, moisture, nutrition, oxygen is delivered to the roots. The crown of all trees is different: it is dense, sparse, openwork. In an apple tree, the foliage gives a diffused shadow, so other shade-tolerant plants can grow under its cover.

In addition to the fact that a beautiful design will be created from planting, the roots of the apple tree will not suffer from drying out so much. There are several options for using its near-stem circles: grazing, planting flowers, vegetables or healthy herbs.

Sodding

By sowing a lawn under an apple tree, you can improve the composition and properties of the soil, enrich the earth with oxygen, and retain moisture for a long time. As a result of these factors, the yield from the trees will improve. Grasses used under the lawn:

  • sprouting bent - a low-growing cereal that forms a green carpet of shoots crawling on the ground in a short period;
  • perennial ryegrass - a higher cereal (up to 50 cm), with a smooth stem, bright green thin leaves;
  • meadow bluegrass - a grass with an abundance of bright green leaves, almost not amenable to mechanical stress;
  • white clover - a culture of the legume family, undersized, blooming with white balls 2 times per season.

Note! Lawn grasses have a high-speed tillering method. They need to be cut several times per season, especially if the lawn under the apple tree is sown as decoration.

For a short period, a beautiful and useful carpet of greenery is formed under the shady crown of a tree.

Pole grass can be planted under an apple tree

Decoration with flowers

With the beginning of the heat, the first flowers appear in the country. They can also plant trunks. Their advantage is that they bloom when young leaves appear on the trees, and they have enough sunlight. And the disadvantage is that by the beginning of summer all of their aboveground part disappears.

The selection of plants that appear above the surface of the earth at different times can solve the problem. For example, hosts come out at a time when tulips are already fading. What can you plant in the shade under an apple tree? From decorative flowering plants you can grow:

  • crocuses, muscari, tulips, daffodils - these are the first spring bulbous flowers that have time to bloom before the abundant crown appears;
  • astilba - a bush with inflorescences in the form of a panicle with shades of white, pink, red, purple;
  • dicentra - has beautiful gray leaves and flowers in the shape of hearts;
  • mimulus (lipstick) - has a single color or leopard color, blooms 2 times a year.

Astilba will decorate the land under the apple tree

In addition to the listed flowers, you can plant daisies, balsams, pansies, aquilegia, bells. Also on the flower bed around the apple tree, you can plant decorative deciduous plants that tolerate shading:

  • hosta is a very beautiful bush with large leaves of various colors;
  • geyhera - a plant with carved leaves of a large palette of flowers will decorate a flower bed;
  • brunera is a low plant with decorative leaves in the form of a pointed heart.

Attention! Do not plant periwinkles and lilies of the valley in a flower garden under an apple tree. These plants have deep creeping shoots that will take oxygen and nutrition from the apple root system.

In addition, there are flowers that carry not only beauty, but also benefits for all nearby growing plants:

  • marigolds - a flower with a specific smell will scare away aphids and prevent the spread of fungal diseases;
  • calendula - will scare away many pests, prevent the development of fungi and bacteria in the soil;
  • nasturtium is not only beautiful, but also scares away aphids, whiteflies, cabbage butterflies.

The root system of these flowers supplies the soil with useful substances, and the plant residues embedded in it then improve its structure.

Vegetable, berry, herbal crops

You can also plant edible crops in the trunk circle. Many can withstand partial shade well and even if the apple tree shades them, nothing terrible will happen.

  • pumpkin crops (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins) - unless they are planted together, they will feel good by throwing the whips on the apple tree;
  • tomatoes - planted along the edge of the trunk circle will scare off the moth and give a good harvest in summer;
  • berry plants - wild strawberries from the forest quickly form a carpet of leaves and useful berries, its garden counterpart, strawberries, is no less famous and useful;
  • legumes - peas and curly beans can be tied to the lower branches, which will look very impressive;
  • useful herbs - dill, lettuce, sorrel, spinach, mint - will grow juicy leaves in the presence of nutritious and moist soil;
  • garlic - in winter it preserves the root system of the apple tree from gnawing pests, in summer it releases phytoncides that are useful for the soil.

Important! Edible plants can be planted in the near-stem circle of an apple tree, provided that it is not sprayed with pesticides during the season, or biological agents are used.

In addition to these crops, green manure is sown under the tree, which is used as a natural fertilizer. Their rapidly growing greens are not dug up, but cut and buried in the ground. With the help of green manure, the soil is enriched with nitrogen, they do not allow weeds to grow, prevent the spread of various diseases.

Tomatoes can help the apple tree

Siderata are subdivided into:

  • cereals (oats, barley, millet, rye);
  • legumes (alfalfa, vetch, clover, soybeans, field and fodder peas);
  • cruciferous (mustard, rapeseed).

You can sow them throughout the year, and get 3-4 harvests of useful fertilizers in a season. Growing green manure is a simple process that does not require special skills.

Attention! Cherries are not the best option for planting under an apple tree. A powerful tree will be able to completely shade the berry crop and the harvest will turn out to be extremely poor.

How to plant plants correctly

What can be planted next to the apple tree

When planting several different crops, factors such as their compatibility with each other and the apple tree, the effect on the soil and each other, and the characteristics of the root system must be taken into account. The plants selected for symbiosis will heal the roots of the tree, acting on the soil and driving away pests, and the apple tree will create the partial shade they need.

How to make a trunk circle under an apple tree? For mutually favorable growth, plants are planted no closer than 20 cm to the tree trunk. There should not be a large thickening of the trunk circle: otherwise, it will be necessary to step into the flower bed to pick up the fallen apples.

Under trees treated with various poisons, it is better to grow decorative deciduous or decorative blooming flowers, siderates. The ground under the barrel circle should be dug up to half the bayonet of the shovel. To keep the roots as little as possible, it is preferable to use a pitchfork.

Plant a mint under an apple tree

The apple tree is fertilized not in the center, but along the contour of the trunk circle.Bottles with a cut-off bottom are buried with the neck down, through which feeding is done. As the crown and roots grow, the bottles move, the pits are covered with earth.

Before planting vegetable crops, it is recommended to add soil, fertilize the soil with manure, humus. Plants will be located in loose soil, will not take moisture from the apple tree, and the harvest will be mutually good. Fertilizers should not touch the root collar to prevent it from drying out.

Note! Green spaces with a deep root system are not planted in the near-stem circle because they take nutrients, substances, moisture and oxygen from the apple tree.

The flower bed under the apple tree is not watered too often. Excessive moisture can give a secondary growth of shoots on the tree, and this will have a bad effect on the wintering of the plant.

How to clean a site

Is it possible to plant a pear next to an apple tree

After picking apples, you need to think about cleaning the site. Dried plants are pulled out and destroyed. After all the apple foliage has fallen, the soil is carefully dug up with a shovel, trying not to damage the roots. Clods of earth do not break. If the winter is frosty, the trunk circle must be covered with mulch, garden soil, and snow.

The next digging takes place in the spring, before the leaves bloom. During this period, digging is done with a pitchfork, shallow. The layers of soil are broken, the territory is leveled. In summer, only loosening is done, provided that a crust forms between the grown plants on top of the soil and weeds grow.

Digging provides the apple tree with moisture, oxygen, and nutrients. The number of soil pests decreases, weed roots are damaged, and a favorable environment for plant development is created.

Planting various plants in the near-trunk circle, the gardener solves several problems: empty shadow areas turn into picturesque resting places; self-made compositions decorate the garden space; green spaces are beneficial for the garden. Knowing what can be planted under and around an apple tree, any gardener will be able to use the space more beneficially.