One of the most elegant landscape features you can have in your house is a tree. They offer a sense of relaxation and calm, create shade, and look beautiful.
However, there’s one drawback to consider. Oftentimes, it is difficult to accommodate the area around the tree’s base. If you ignore your tree, it will probably absorb all the nutrients and water in the soil around its roots. In addition to that, it’s difficult for plants underneath the tree to get enough sunlight to thrive because of the shade from its branches.
So, how can you beautify the space around your tree without affecting its health? Do you have to hire tree removal companies to get rid of your tree? The answer is no. There are several tips you can follow to properly landscape around your tree.
Be Careful with the Bark and Roots
The bark of your tree is a protective layer against the elements and diseases. You shouldn’t chip or nick away at the bark whenever you are gardening or landscaping near trees.
Also, you should be careful with the roots as well. A couple of trees have shallow roots hidden beneath the soil. Thus, they’re extremely easy to accidentally damage.
It is fine to place other plants around trees with shallow roots. However, you need to pick shallow-rooted plants as well that will compete properly with your tree.
Choose The Correct Plants Near Your Tree
If you’re planning to use plants to fill the empty space near your tree, you’ve got to ensure you pick ones that can manage to live under a tree.
If you’re living in the Pacific Northwest, evergreens will be common. Most of them are thick enough to produce a densely shaded spot near the trunk where virtually no sunlight gets through. To make things a lot harder, they can also block rainwater from falling on plants near the trunk.
On the other hand, some trees sometimes do enable dappled sunlight through their branches. This produces a spot of filtered shade under it.
Before you choose plants to fill near your tree, you should take a look outside during a sunny day. Make sure you look at how much sunlight can pass through the branches. You might have to search for plants that survive in low-light conditions if it is extremely shaded. This includes hostas and ferns.
Think about flowers that bloom in the spring if you’ve got a deciduous tree that loses its leaves during fall. These work well since this type of tree allows more sunlight through during the spring before they have a complete leaf for the summer.
Do Not Add or Get Rid of Too Much Dirt
It is extremely crucial to maintain the soil level around the trunk of your tree. If you add too much soil, you’re starving the roots of oxygen. This can eventually kill the tree. Thus, you should leave a ring of empty space between the new soil and trunk if you’ve got to add some soil. Also, try to limit the amount of soil you add.
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