Ornamental apple trees are one of the most beautiful trees in our gardens; they attract attention from the beginning of luxurious flowering to the shedding of bright leaves in the autumn season. The beauty of their crown, elegant silhouette, the abundance of small fruits - in all such trees are unique. Even inexperienced gardeners can grow them, leaving almost effortless. Ornamental apple tree is a very unpretentious and hardy garden culture.
These plants are planted on a site not for a rich harvest. Their planting is a way to add beauty to their site, decorative apple trees during flowering look better than the famous sakura, and many other trees and shrubs are not at all able to compete with this.
Indeed, the flowering of this plant does not resemble a tree with flowers, but a peculiar pink or snow-white cloud. And after the petals showered, they have something to boast about. The crowns of small trees are almost completely covered with balls of colorful fruits - orange, gold, crimson, red.
Their apples hang on the branches for a long time, often they wait for the onset of frost there (maybe it was about them that they composed the song "Apples in the Snow"). Boxes with a grown crop should not be expected from them, but you can get a delicious apple jelly, and additional support for the birds in the winter will not hurt - they can feed on delicious apples until mid-winter.
When choosing an apple tree variety suitable for your site, first think about which one to choose for you - in the form of a bush or an ordinary tree. Think about the fruits, what color you would like to receive. Decorative trees look great in the front garden, or near the country terrace. If you decide to purchase a bush form of a decorative apple tree, then it is better to plant it in the middle of the lawn or in the flower garden.
You need to consider how much you would like the apples to hang on a tree. So that they decorate the site longer and delight the eye, choose such varieties as:
• "Butterbal" (a variety with yellow fruits);
• "Red Seminal";
• "Evereste".
If you want to use apples from a decorative tree for gastronomic purposes, then among them it is most delicious from the Makamik variety - they give fragrant and delicate fruits.
You need to place a decorative apple tree on a sunny, but not hot place on your site, do not plant trees in the shade of buildings, or large trees - here they will develop slowly.
Growing a decorative apple tree
The main advantage of such trees is drought tolerance, resistance to low temperatures and extraordinary survival even in adverse conditions, in the city, with severe environmental pollution, and even when planted on saline soils, this apple tree can produce crops.
To grow a decorative apple tree in your garden, you only need to provide the plant with nutritious soil and good lighting. This tree does not develop well even with weak shading, fewer flowers are set immediately, they will not be so bright, and in a strong shadow they will not please either the spring parade or the abundance of small apples that euthanize the plant after the leaves fall.
These trees are not demanding on the ground, they are perfectly developed almost anywhere, only they can not be planted on rocky, sandy and swampy soils. Beautiful flowering and many beautiful fruits will bring trees that grow on fertile soil, but also on poor soils, decorative apple trees look attractive, although they are slowly developing.
Planting a decorative apple tree
Basically planting this plant is no different from planting other trees. Only seedlings under the age of 4 years are planted both in autumn and spring, and adult plants take root poorly and it is better to plant them in the autumn.
It is necessary to pay attention to the free space between the tree and plants located nearby. It is necessary to provide enough free space for decorative apple trees, in close proximity to large trees and shrubs, they will normally grow, they will not be able to. For a tree it is necessary to leave as much space as its adult crown will require. In most varieties, the diameter of the crown is 5-6 m (it will be necessary to retreat 2-3 meters from buildings and neighboring plants).
For these trees, it is necessary to prepare large planting pits in advance, it is advisable to prepare them in the autumn of the previous year, or at least 30 days before planting a seedling. Its diameter is approximately 0.6-0.7 m, and the depth is 0.8-1 m. The soil from the pit is scattered over the site, and a special mixture is used instead. It is prepared from sheet soil, coarse sand and humus, in a ratio of 1: 2: 3. It is advisable to add 250-300 g of complex fertilizer to the soil mixture. The depth of planting a seedling is the same as for other apple trees - you can’t deepen the root neck, it should be 5-10 cm higher than the soil surface.
The procedure for landing is as follows:
1. Set the pot with the purchased seedling on the ground at the selected planting location and, having retreated 15-20 cm, draw a circle around the container - this is the contour of the pit (should be 2 times wider than the pot);
1. Dig a hole to the desired depth; loosen the soil at its bottom;
2. Dip the seedling with a pot in a container of water, and hold it until air bubbles appear. This will moisturize the roots and it will be easier to get the seedling out of the pot;
3. Remove the seedling from the pot, place it in the center of the pit, make sure that its stem is installed strictly vertically;
4. The landing pit is covered with soil;
5. Compact the soil around the plant;
6. Make a side along the perimeter of the pit - during irrigation, water will not spill in vain;
7. Water the seedling well;
8. Mulch the near-stem circle with shavings or peat, when overheated, the organics will feed the plant, in addition, the mulch will begin to inhibit the growth of weeds and save moisture in the near-stem circle.
Care
There is a misconception that claims that decorative apple trees must be looked after, as well as ordinary ones. But in reality, the maintenance of decorative varieties is much simpler.
In the first years after planting, it is advisable to provide for young plants, regular feeding and maintenance irrigation to accelerate the development of green mass. If in the future the crown will be formed in any way, then you can start preparing for this from 2-3 years, immediately directing the branches in the necessary direction, thinning the crown if necessary and, if necessary, restricting growth.
In the future, every year, in early spring for active flowering, it is necessary to feed the trees with mineral and organic fertilizers. It is important to provide watering during the formation of buds, although this is not critical for ornamental apple trees.
For them, it is not necessary to form the skeleton of the crown, it looks normal even without cropping, and at the same time it also tolerates strong shortening of branches. The crown of this apple tree can be given strict outlines (often in the form of an umbrella or rounded), they are suitable even for the most complex figures. Mandatory pruning is only to remove broken and dry branches, the rest depends on the silhouette and style of the garden you need.
