Apple trees in landscape design
Content:
Any garden is distinguished by its semantic load, its unique style and symbolism. Often, the assessment of a garden plot is carried out according to generally accepted symbols. For example, Mediterranean gardens are recognizable by cypress trees, while Japanese gardens are recognizable by bonsai. I wonder what is the symbol of the Russian garden? Of course, this apple tree is the closest tree to us, and it has always been like that, in any historical time. Apple trees are symbolic for Russian gardens, they are represented by such spreading trees, somewhere nearby there are gnarled trunks and branches with scarlet apples falling to the ground. Isn't it a very expressive symbol, and very close to our Russian heart. An apple tree in landscape design is a real decoration of a garden plot.
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
About the beauty of an old apple tree
Over time, the apple tree becomes more and more beautiful, its picturesque branches and unusual curvature of the trunk delight the eyes. Of course, this applies to those fruit trees that do not grow quickly and are durable. These include the apple tree.
Fast-growing species are certainly not like that: they are, rather, shoots soaring upward or spreading branches. They won't be as picturesque.
The spring flowering of a ripe apple tree in landscape design is incomparable with anything, as well as the amazing generous amount of beautiful and fragrant fruits. And how beautiful an apple tree becomes in winter, when its spreading and umbrella-shaped crown is covered with a snow blanket.
A mature apple tree has an interesting bark. It is to her that you pay attention while sitting under your favorite tree. Immediately you remember its smoothness and tenderness, then, from childhood ... Mosses and lichens remind of the age of the bark, they are the main witnesses.
Many fruit growers can, of course, hint about the harmfulness of lichens and mosses, and that flaking bark plates indicate serious problems of the tree. And they will be right! Yes, after all, it is worth getting hard mittens and, nullifying the time created, treat your favorite apple tree.
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
Of course, in the first place, the apple tree in landscape design is responsible for the symbolism of Russian gardens, but you can take it broader. Even wider than the symbol of heaven on Earth. If an apple tree is planted in a rocky garden, it will quite become like a sakura. It will easily serve as a great background space for an English mixborder.
Undoubtedly, it is clearer for us if the apple tree, as in deep childhood, serves as a flowering "canopy" over the table, on which the samovar is puffing. Drinking tea under an apple tree is something dear, from childhood, it's like a sacrament with memories and dreams.
Do you remember any plants that look spectacular both at the house with columns and at the wooden hut? Yes, apple tree! In addition, it can be a family, ancestral tree. And the tradition of planting an apple tree before the birth of a child has a deep meaning.
An apple orchard ... It is perceived somehow differently, not at all like a lonely tree. You cannot admire them from the outside, but in order to feel it, you need to go inside.
Decorative apple tree in garden landscaping
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
If you are the owner of an old orchard, then beat it inside. For example, set up a seating area under the branchy branches of apple trees. In the case of a single tree, you need to emphasize the background part, giving some kind of padding at the bottom. A beautifully thought out optimal point will be an object of admiration from the side.Of course, there are special nuances in these two options.
Being in the inner part of the garden, it is impossible for us to get a good look at the merits of the crown, but at the same time, we can perfectly appreciate the beauty of the trunks, branches or bark. Yes, it is on them that it is necessary to focus.
Be careful about replanting apple trees. Ill-conceived large replantings can drown out all the existing apple texture. The best place for large shrubs is behind the trunk. So a beautiful background came out, not the main element.
Large replants can be called plants, the height of which reaches one and a half meters. But small replantings, whether they are bushes or perennial plants, should be placed directly in front of the trunks, their background will be just the large bushes planted before.
Background bushes are chosen according to the color of apple tree trunks, their structure. The choice of shrubs is huge, the only limiting factor here is the presence of shade. All other factors are secondary. The number of varieties of shrubs that grow well in the shade is a huge number, that is, there will be no problems with the choice.
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
There is a small minus of apple replanting - inconvenience during harvesting and a high probability of damage to the fruits of too fragile plants.
As a rule, those gardens that we inherited are trees planted in rows. You can start breaking these rows so that the apple tree in landscape design looks more harmonious. So, being inside the garden, we do not feel it not by the crowns (since we do not see them), but by the places where the trunks and the soil surface “join”.
School geometry does not say that a couple of points make a line ... It follows that if this line is created by several points, then it is perfectly visible. It turns out that if some points are removed or visually veiled, then the straight line is visually broken.
These points can be weakened by filling in the tree trunks, for example, with perennials or using short shrubs. This move can be done with several apple trees, using the height of the padding and choosing different colors. Thus, the visualization of straight lines disappears.
Single apple trees in garden landscape design: what is the beauty and what is contraindicated to do
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
Now let's talk about the possible design of a single adult apple tree in garden landscaping. As a rule, this is an unusually beautiful spreading tree with an interesting structure, and we perceive it from the outside.
Everything matters here, that is, here, when designing, you need to think about the shape of the crown, and about the tortuosity of the trunks, and about the pattern of the branches. These components affect perception both together, in the aggregate, and separately.
Take as proof a picture with a beautiful full-length apple tree (with roots, a trunk and a spreading crown) and block part of the picture with a leaf. Hasn't the perception of the drawing changed? Moreover, for the worse.
The same effect will be if, instead of a paper leaf, a bush or other not very well-chosen plant appears.
If necessary, then it is worth placing a landing with such a height and splendor so that it does not cover the trunk. If this is a tall plant, then it must be included in the basis of the composition, at a distance from the trunks.
If you are planting an additional plant to an apple tree in landscape design, it is important what kind of crown this plant has. Looks strange against the background of an adult spreading apple tree, for example, vertical conifers. The vertical line here cannot be subordinate to the umbrella crown. In this case, the opposite is true!
About the time of dying ...
Decorative apple tree in landscape design: photo
Nothing lasts forever under the moon ... Sooner or later the time for the dying of the apple tree comes.
There are gardeners who have a lot of unfertile apple trees, but they do not want to cut them down. There may be various reasons, but still not because of their beauty, but because of memory. Trees remind of relatives, happy or not very childhood, of some important event. After all, these apple trees are no longer just trees, but witnesses of the past years, loved ones and events.
If, nevertheless, you decide to say goodbye to old apple trees, then leave at least 1 tree. And then don't be surprised. And don't say you weren't warned! One "historical" tree will take over all the memory. Now it is the core of the garden, and all the energy will be concentrated on it. Now - this is your doctor, and maybe the memory of the family ... The owner will be drawn to this apple tree, and thoughts of regret about the cut down garden will visit him for a long time.
Of course, the time will come, and this apple tree will be overtaken by death. After all, it is impossible to restore an apple tree through planting on a stump. Otherwise, you could cut it off before it fades, and thus rejuvenate. Unfortunately, this is not possible.
Think, maybe it is worth leaving as a souvenir and a snag from a valuable "historical" tree. After all, an apple tree may not rot for a long time, due to its strength. Try to saw at least one apple or cherry tree, and you will definitely see their strength.
Remove the bark from the driftwood and it will live for a very long time. It can be skillfully beaten ... Just be careful: this tree is already dead and can cause dissonance in the living picture of your garden.
Decorative apple tree in garden landscape design: photo
The example of an apple tree trunk bent towards the ground and framing perennials and ferns sprouting between them is quite successful, and this whole picture is quite natural. Not so - with bare, peeled from bark and sticking up trunks without a crown, albeit entwined with some kind of liana. If you take this decor seriously, then you need to create the feeling of the absence of a dead apple tree, without emphasizing it.
Alternatively, use a perennial woody vine. They will grow and after a very short time will curl beautifully, hanging down with an umbrella. A bird feeder or a hanging lantern will also help to transform the composition, of course, taking into account the style of your garden.
Conclusion
With the help of mature apple trees, gardens are created in any style, not necessarily in the classic one. The garden design is neutralized with old trees. Here it is worth turning to your aspiration and imagination. With different accessories - with chains, ropes or wickerwork from a vine, and even with simple supports for burdened fruit branches, you can get a wonderful decorative apple tree in garden landscape design, which, like a real work of art, will delight you all your life.
Decorative apple tree in garden landscape design: video