Spherical willows for landscape design

As a common tree, the willow has many varieties and hybrids. Due to the ease of crossing, there is a wide variety of its types: from creeping up to 20-meter specimens.

Description

Due to their decorative properties in horticulture, spherical willows are often used. The name they received from the shape of the crown. Their rich green foliage thickens their beauty. In height, they can reach 20 meters. The sprawling crown in the form of a tent, straight drooping branches, openwork foliage, the ornamentality of young shoots in early spring - thanks to these qualities the spherical willow (brittle) is very popular. After four years, the branches become brittle and small pieces cover the tree trunks . The life span of these plants is about 75 years. Since globular willows well tolerate the gas contamination of city streets, they are often used for greening parks and avenues.

Willow in landscape design

There is an opinion that gardens can be issued only using willows of various forms. There are kinds for curbs, there is for hedges. Of these, you can create whole works of art. Combining willows with various ornamental plants, they achieve interesting solutions in landscape design. It is good to plant a low tree near the pond, lay out the stones in the foreground and decorate them with ground-covering flowers. You can also use the willow in a single planting and to strengthen the slopes. In this case, it is recommended to plant globular willows, reaching a height of three meters. They have leaves with a grayish hue, curving branches with a light bark.

Selecting a landing site

An interesting moment is the flowering of the tree, which occurs in April. And in early June the fruits are ripening. They have a sweet taste and a bluish color. As far as the willows are beautiful, they are so undemanding in care. They like an open sunny place. In the droughty period, they should be well watered, and at regular times, to ensure that the soil is always moist. The willow is growing, for the joy of the owners, quickly. If the planted young tree begins to dry up, continue to water it. From the root, new shoots begin to grow. Instead of a single-stem plant, a globular shrub can be grown. On small garden plots, it is better to plant low (up to 7 m) globular willows, such as the Bullata variety.

Landing

The tree grows in the sun, and in a small penumbra. It is tolerated with different types of soil, but it is better when clay is included in the composition of the earth, so that moisture is permanently preserved. Planting of a spherical willow is carried out to a depth of 70 cm, beforehand it is necessary to make a drainage about 25 cm thick from sand or gravel. The distance between several plants should be up to 2 meters. The willow grows globular (photo on the left) quickly, and the transplant is bad. If suddenly there is such a need, implement it better until the age of 3 years.

Crown formation

Care is reduced to loosening the soil on a bayonet shovel, mulching peat or mown grass, cutting dry branches. The crown is formed by removing the long lower shoots. You can update the old tree by cutting the trunk to the stump.