Section II. Landscape vegetation

Trees and bushes

Trees and bushes are the main elements of landscaping any personal plot no matter whatever size it has. Any picture will look only better being decorated with a good frame. And that is the case in the decorative picture of nature. Trees and bushes are the frame against which background the landscaper creates his artistic sketch. Grouping the plants in different combinations, the designer can produce unusual and wonderful pictures, which will give true aesthetic pleasure those who watch all this.

When choosing trees and bushes we should take into account climatic conditions, principles of location and decorative features of plants. Many factors influence the growth and development of decorative plants and their usage in the "green building". But the most important ecological factors are the temperature of the air and the soil, food and water regime, lighting and the composition of the air. Being the product of the definite environment, the plants in their turn influence it greatly. Some important factors of environment may be regulated and corrected by conducting appropriate agrotechnical measures.

The loamy and sandy-loam soils are considered the best in gardening. They have a good structure and enough reserve of the nutrient matters. When choosing trees and bushes for your garden try to take into account not only the purpose of the territory being planted but also the requirements of the plants to the growth conditions. You should have clear view of the planting material you are dealing with. For example you'd better plant the more valuable and nicely blossoming samples somewhere near the house. At the same time, the more hardy local plants will do better in the open areas exposed to strong cold winds.

Planting trees and bushes around the buildings on the territory is carried out according to the definite plan. It is usually done solitarily or by groups of different sizes. They can be dense or loose in structure, harmonious or contrasting in forms and colours. You should be well aware about the appearance of your trees and bushes in the grown-up state as far back as on the stage of landscape projecting. It will allow you to define right intervals between plants and will lead to the demonstration of the highest decorativeness. In negligible planting, the light-requiring samples often drop out and the trees become thin and bare from below.

The trees and bushes that are growing easily usually have very scenic look. In the greening territory, the crowns of the plants create interesting typical forms and the moments of picturesqueness with special vivid effect.

The density of the crown also gives specific vividness to the green plants. The trees with powerful crowns - oak, chestnut, ash, elm and white poplar - have rather dense crowns. The plants with thin branches - birch, willow and rowan - have delicate crowns. The leaf-bearing trees have oval, round, conical, columned, spherical, original picturesque and weeping forms of the crown.

The plants with the conical form of the crown usually used for creating the contrasts and upsetting the monotony of the horizontal lines.

The trees with weeping crown have graceful thin branches falling down like a cascade. Those plants look especially nicely on the banks of reservoirs. Many leaf-bearing samples have weeping crown form. The decorative forms of birch, European beech, elm, yellow acacia, rowan and mulberry have this distinctive feature.

The oval and spherical forms are characterized by perfectly right round, oval and ovoid crown outlines. The most beautiful samples among leaf-bearing trees with spherical crown form are sharp-leaved maple, horse chestnut and white acacia.

The pillow-shaped and outstretched forms can be regarded as dwarf samples. They grow in width mostly and hardly give any increase in height. As an example, we can call red elder and box-tree.

But the whole look of the decorative plants depends not only on the form of crown but also on the attire, which leaves fruits and flowers create.

The plant colouring gives the specific look to the garden area and effective vividness to any planting. In order to use this feature of colouring properly you should know peculiarities of various plants' coloration and features of different colours in all details.

The yellow colour is one of the brightest ones and it is closer to the white color than other ones. It is well stood out against any background especially a dark one. The spatial distance does not influence it a lot. The decorative plants with yellow leaves and flowers look as though they shone or sparkled in the darkness. Though they lose that feature when the sun is shining. When there are plants with yellow colour in the decorative colouring composition it excites warmth and cheerfulness, helps the decorative group with such colour come out ahead optically and be light dominant spot in the whole composition.

The red colours are the most distinguished in any composition of green planting. They possess the strongest tone influence. These colours always stand out against any composition of colours no matter what color and how many colours that composition has. Using the red colour will give the scenery effectiveness and vividness but you should use that colour carefully because underlined predominance of the red in the colouring composition may influence ungracefully and repulsively.

The violet colour relates to the cold colours. The plants with prevailing violet colour are found rather rarely. The violet colour goes well enough with yellow, orange and green colours.

The plants with white colour have neutral influence. This colour harmonizes with any colour and especially with cold colours as though refreshing them. Presence of the white in the composition intensifies the other colours. One more feature of the plants with white color is their ability to create the effect of the light spot in the darkness. This feature may be used when you wish to create special night effects in the green planting.

The green colour is the main shade of the garden area. It is the color of the lawns, trees and bushes. The green is the main colour of nature and plays a great role in creating any colouring composition. Among all colours in nature, the green has the most number of nuances.

The flowers and fruits of decorative plants having been painted in different bright colours play a crucial role in the colouring dynamic of green planting. For the plants that are blossoming in spring the most typical flowering takes place before leaf blooming.

The best seasons for planting trees and bushes are spring and autumn. The period of spring planting begins right after the soil thawed out and stops at the beginning of leaf blooming, in autumn - at the beginning of leaf fall. Most trees and bushes are planted with open root system into beforehand prepared holes. The plants with closed root system (with soil clod in tough or soft containers) can be planted in any season but they require proper care.

You should be careful about the roots before planting in order they do not get dry. So do not stay the plants bared in the sun, in the wind or in the frost. But if it happened then put them into the water for nearly 24 hours. The trees and bushes are usually planted as deep into the ground as they grew in the nursery. Before planting, you'd better remove injured roots.

When planting the hole should be filled with fertile soil mixed with peat, humus or compost. It is better not to fertilize planted trees until they settle in the environment. But what you should really do is to water them richly and to realize the regular soil loosening trying to retain moisture. Some trees and bushes should be tied to the peg. If necessary you can conduct plant cutting which is usually done before planting or right away after it. The sprouts are shortened by one-third of the whole length.

The appearance of trees and bushes depends greatly on the after-planting care for them during many years. The care means watering, fertilizing, removing finished blossoming flowers and inflorescences and maintaining the crown in a good state what can be done by cutting and thinning out.

When visiting shops, gardening centers and nurseries you usually come around large variety of plants. Their assortment is huge but the nicer the plants the more difficult to decide what will be more suitable for your garden. So before you make a choice try to find out enough true information about the trees and bushes.