How To Place Flowers In A Fruit Garden

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Coexistence of fruit and ornamental plants

The arrangement of gardens has a very long history, and the gardens themselves have a very diverse purpose, and not only utilitarian.

Once upon a time, gardens were arranged for reflection, poetic dreams, scholarship; in the Middle Ages, the monastery gardens were intended for prayers and pious conversations (but they also grew rare medicinal and fragrant, as well as food plants).

Later, the gardens of wealthy people were intended for receiving guests, celebrations, and official events at the state level. There were gardens for intimate dates and melancholic walks during the period of romanticism …

At the same time, there has always been an idea that a true garden should satisfy all human senses: not only sight, but also taste (hence the need for fruit and berry and vegetable plants in the garden), hearing (taking care of birds, rustling streams and waterfalls, aeolian harps and the music of the wind), sense of smell (presence of fragrant herbs, flowers, trees and shrubs), etc.

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Garden organizers at all times have sought to give a person a reason for deep philosophical reflections, reflections, moods and poetic dreams in the gardens. The garden reflected the surrounding world in its kind and ideal essence. “As a gardener is, so is a garden,” they said at the beginning of the 18th century.

Sedum (sedum)

Modern gardens, which are both a garden and a vegetable garden, are also impossible to imagine without floral decorations. Given the small size of our garden plots, it can be very difficult to combine the useful, the necessary and the pleasant in the form of a beautiful variety of flowers. And yet it is quite possible to grow on a classic 5-6 acres the entire full set of fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetable crops and hundreds of species of ornamental plants.

First of all, the gardener must understand for himself what kind of relationship develops between the plants of various species in his garden: which of them competes, and who partners with each other for soil nutrients, moisture and light.

The roots of young fruit trees for the first 3-4 years of their life in the garden are located close to the soil surface, so the trunks are kept under "clean steam", that is, in a loose and free form of any plants. If apple trees grow on low-growing rootstocks, then in subsequent years, near-stem circles with a diameter of about a meter remain unoccupied, and in the rest of the area under the crown of the tree it is quite possible to place annual flowers, alternating them by families and years. In addition, ground cover plants and low perennials with a shallow root system can comfortably grow under the crowns of apple trees, pears, plums, cherries.

Hazel grouse

If the illumination at this place is sufficient, you can plant stonecrops there - white, thick-leaved, acrid, Kamchatka, Lydian, false, bent, rocky and others. Without damage to fruit trees, small-bulbous flowers can grow under the crown: muscari, hyacinth, scilla, chionodoxa, crocuses, hazel grouse, bird grass (ornithogalum), as well as daffodils and tulips. Viola tricolor (pansies), which decorates their yellowing leaves, as well as biennial pyrethrum with flowers resembling small-flowered chrysanthemums, and various annuals in the foreground are good partners for bulbs.

As the tree crowns become denser, the illumination of the near-trunk circles decreases and the choice of plants changes. There are many species of perennials, for which partial shade and even shady places are the most suitable for their nature. The most common of them are aquilegia, badan, periwinkle, brunner, loosestrife, heuchera, diklitra, marsh iris, Siberian iris, marsh marigold, cuneiform saxifrage, shadow saxifrage, May lily of the valley, mint, lemon balm, daffodil (poetic), oxalis, hosta (green-leaved forms), corydalis, primroses and other plants.

Saxifrage

If apple trees in the garden are grafted onto tall rootstocks (these are almost all old trees), then their roots go deep into the soil, while the roots of perennials are located in shallower layers. This circumstance makes it possible to use the area of the near-stem circles for the construction of a wide variety of flower beds with a wide range of species and varieties. At the same time, you can create mini-gardens of continuous flowering under each of the trees. It is interesting to make sure that many species of perennials turn out to be very plastic and feel great in an unusual habitat. Many light-loving species grow quite successfully in shade and partial shade, significantly increasing their usual height, but with good nutrition, this does not interfere with the abundance of flowering.

Given the species and varietal diversity of perennials, there can be an infinite variety of plant placement options. Perennials in this case are preferable as the most durable, hardy, not requiring much maintenance, highly decorative flower plants.

Loosestrife

One of the greatest practical benefits of flower beds in near-stem circles is their ability to suppress weed growth. But the most important thing, in my opinion, is the creation of a carpet of various plants continuously blooming from early spring to snow. At the same time, fruit trees and berries regularly bear fruit, bringing their colors to every day of the garden's life - from the awakening of delicate green buds, flowering of plums and cherries, apple trees, echoing white and purple flowers with lush brushes of dark purple lilacs - to fruiting with scarlet strawberries, raspberry rows, white, red, black currants and blackberries.

And this has been going on for more than half a century - our garden celebrated this anniversary back in 2004. Of course, it wasn't like that in the beginning. There was a land dug by trenches and funnels, which was nurtured by the hands of our parents, then very young people who knew almost nothing about garden wisdom, still overflowing with pictures of the terrible hardships of the war years, but were already laying their first garden.

From the very first steps, we children, as much as we could, helped to take care of the garden, and everyone rejoiced at every small victory in comprehending the eternal craft of a gardener. Every spring, plant life revived after the winter numbness, and we too were revived with flowers and trees. So the first generation of children grew up, and my sister and I chose the profession of flower growers. Then my daughters and nephews grew up in the garden, comprehending and absorbing its beauty and eternal novelty. In the jubilee year for the garden, my little grandson walked his first steps, he stopped at each flower and berry branch, admiring them and touching them with great pleasure and interest.

The garden continues its life and decorates ours. The most touching sight is children, parents, grandmothers and great-grandmothers with great-grandchildren happily smiling among the flowers. It was so fortunate that on my mother's birthday we always gathered and celebrated it with the whole family in a blossoming and fruitful August garden.

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Periwinkle

The filling of the garden with flowers took place gradually. They occupied shady places where vegetables could no longer grow fully. Now, almost under every tree and between berry bushes, where there is space and light, flowers have settled and created mini-gardens of continuous flowering, each different from the other. There are not so many types of flowering plants, but unpretentious ones were chosen, capable of being partners for everyone else.

Crocuses, Galanthus, Chionodox, Scylla are the very first to wake up in the spring. The paths are framed by primroses of various types and colors and daisies. Then daffodils and early tulips bloom in groups in different parts of the garden. Blue muscari fringe the borders of mini-flower beds, surrounded by incense and white hazel grouses. Everywhere, flowers-portraits of pansies are pleasing to the eye, they independently move around the garden by self-seeding.

Evening primrose flower

Under the crown of a self-rooted plum in the garden for many years, common primrose, spring crocus, and German iris have been growing together - these species occupy three lines of space from the path to the plum trunks. On the north side, there are several bushes of phlox paniculata with white and pink flowers, in the middle of the square - evening primrose, poultry (ornithogalum), formosis dicentra (low). The southern part of the flower garden is occupied by clumps of muscari and meadow geraniums with river gravity (the latter two species are wild, bloom very abundantly and successfully fill the pause in flowering in June). This set of plants ensures flowering from April (crocuses) to October (paniculata phlox). There is a little trick in prolonging the flowering of phlox: if at the very beginning you cut off several stems into bouquets, then new shoots will grow from the axillary buds,blooming at the end of summer and continuing to delight us until frost.

Daisies

Under the old apple tree, common primroses and Siebold get along well, blooming later than all primroses - almost until the end of June; they serve as the border of the flower garden. The second line behind the milky-yellow primrose ordinary grows poetic daffodils, both species bloom simultaneously at the end of April - May (according to the weather). On the north side, the mini-flower garden is closed by a line of undersized astilba with inflorescences of white and ruby color, blooming in July.

The western part of the square is occupied by a bush of tall astilba with apricot-colored inflorescences, which is effectively set off by a decorative cereal - falaris with variegated foliage and tall stems with graceful panicles of flowers. Inside this rectangle, there are several bushes of mountain cornflower with large blue inflorescences, blooming in June, as well as tall New Belgian asters and autumn helenium. These species bloom later than others - in August - October. There was also a place for a low shrub aster with a beautiful spherical crown, and a small petal (erigeron), blooming in July-August with lilac-pink inflorescences-baskets. At the end of June, a large bright oriental poppy blooms, growing in the center in front of the apple tree trunk.

Dicentra (diclitra)

The oldest apple tree in the garden is Robinovka, she is over 50 years old, and she is still full of strength and beauty, bears fruit regularly. Under its crown, bright yellow daisies of the Caucasian Doronicum, late tulips of the Rembrandt group (red with yellow and red with white, as if painted by an artist's brush), as well as several bushes of a peony of the milky-flowered variety Mrs. Roosevelt (bright pink, terry), blooming in late June - July. The large trunk circle is complemented by a spectacular rhubarb with its high, lush peduncle and large corrugated leaves; it grows closer to the blackcurrant hedge along the eastern edge of the site.

A border of viola tricolor, which blooms from spring to frost, frames this flower garden under the apple tree. The attraction of the garden is the "meadow of tulips", which spreads under the solid saffron Pepin, also a very respectable apple tree. Variegated tulips bloom freely under the translucent May crown of an apple tree. In summer, they are replaced by calendula and the ubiquitous viola tricolor, growing from self-seeding and showing magnificent "portrait" flowers in the most bizarre combinations of colors, strokes and spots on the velvet fabric of their petals.

Badan

A special place in the garden under fruit trees is occupied by perennial asters planted in groups: Alpine, Italian, shrub, New Belgian and New England. Each of these species blooms at one time, and in general - almost all summer. From the end of July or in August, a surprisingly bright shrub aster blooms with a magnificent, correctly spherical crown shape, which it forms independently, without the participation of a gardener, and is especially successful in good lighting.

Lilac-pink, purple, white and blue bushes - the balls of the aster dumosus (its Latin name) are perfectly combined with tall New Belgian and New England asters, which bloom almost the last in the garden and decorate it even after frost and the first light snow. These types of perennial asters must certainly settle in your garden, and they can grow under the crown of trees, without taking up much space, while playing the first violin in the autumn symphony of colors.

Aquilegia

Caring for flower beds under the crown of fruit trees is about providing sufficient nutrition for all plants. In early spring, nitrogen fertilization is traditionally given on still frozen or slightly thawed soil: we scatter urea or saltpeter superficially at the rate of a tablespoon per square meter of area throughout the garden. In mature gardens (over 10 years old), tree roots are spread over the entire area of the site, therefore, the entire territory must be fed.

Then, in June - July, two more fertilizers are given with full fertilizer in accordance with the recommendation on the package. In recent years, the best effect has been obtained from the use of Kemira floral or universal. Water as needed during prolonged dry weather. In September, we mulch the weed-free soil with compost or lime peat with a layer of 3-7 cm, after cutting off the stems of faded plants. You can leave these cut stems in place, folded in a "hut" for better snow retention, and then send them to the compost heap in the spring.

Flowers live well in a fruit garden, even at a very mature age, they enliven it with their colors and aromas, and let there be more such gardens.