Lawn in the garden under the trees

When sowing a lawn in the garden, first of all, they think about beauty: neatly trimmed trees against the backdrop of green grass delight and calm. But this method of maintaining soil in the garden has its pros and cons.

Lawn in the garden, what are the advantages

1. The quality of the fruits improves: they are tastier, richer in vitamins and microelements, more intensely colored, practically not damaged,
2. The soil moisture in the garden increases and, therefore, the microclimate improves.This is good for the trees, and people can breathe easier in such a garden.
3. In spring and after rains, the soil in a turfed garden dries out faster and, therefore, you can start pruning and other tree care work earlier.
4. The soil under the lawn in the garden is not dug up or loosened. Under the protection of the grass, it remains air- and moisture-permeable. The lawn thereby makes it easier to care for the garden and protects the soil from water and wind erosion.
5. In winter, lawn grass holds snow in the root zone, and the turf insulates the roots, thereby protecting them from freezing. In summer, the grass protects the soil and, therefore, the roots from overheating.
6. In a lawn garden, humus accumulates faster in the top layer of soil (due to dying roots, leaves and stems of lawn grasses). In soil “covered by a lawn,” microbiological processes occur more intensely. Grasses with deep roots pull nutrients from the lower horizons to the upper ones, thereby improving the nutrition of fruit trees. In soil that is not dug up, earthworms, the main creators of its fertility, feel at ease.

Lawn under trees - disadvantages

1. Grass included in lawn mixtures competes with fruit trees for food and water.
2. Perennial grassing promotes the development of a superficial root system in fruit trees, which can be damaged by frost and drought.
3. In the first years of life, fruit trees in a grassed area grow slower than trees whose soil is kept fallow. They begin to bear fruit later.
4. Meadowing promotes more intensive reproduction of pests and diseases in the garden: the soil is not dug up in the fall, and the winter stages of pests are well preserved in it. In summer, it is more difficult to find worm carrion in the grass.Therefore, pest control for grassed gardens is especially important. Early spring spraying should not be skipped.
5. The fungal infection persists in the grass, fallen and unharvested leaves. Mice can live in the turf of an irregularly mowed lawn.

It would seem that everything is simple: the advantages of planting a garden are more than the disadvantages, and you can safely sow grass between the trees.

But agronomists do not advise “hiding” the roots of trees under four years old under the lawn. It is difficult for young trees to compete with grasses for moisture and nutrition. Having matured, having “sent roots” into the deeper layers of the soil, the trees no longer react painfully to the proximity of grass.

Mealing is not recommended for trees on a dwarf rootstock and for berry gardens, since their root system remains superficial throughout their life, they themselves need intensive nutrition, and lawn grasses will interfere with the plants’ full development.

It is recommended to keep the trunk circles of dwarf trees and berry plants under black fallow and mulch with cut grass and compost. Continuous grassing is also contraindicated in gardens with irregular irrigation, since the grass in the tree trunks additionally dries out the soil. In such areas it is better to keep the soil under black fallow and mulch it.

You can often find recommendations to keep the rows of the garden under turf, and the trunk circles (or strips) under black fallow, and mulch them with grass cut between the rows.

From all of the above, we conclude that only a mature orchard with trees on vigorous rootstocks can be completely sown with lawn grasses.The choice in favor of a lawn is often made by summer residents, for whom the garden is, first of all, a place of relaxation, and secondly, a source of harvest and additional income.

Caring for a garden growing on a lawn

Grass sown in the garden makes its own adjustments to the agricultural practices of fruit trees. The question arises of how to water and fertilize such a garden so as not to lose the decorative appearance of the lawn and maintain the health and productivity of fruit trees.

1. Lawn grass in a lawn garden must be mowed regularly. This is done not only for the decorative appearance of the lawn, but also for the health of the garden. Regularly mowed grass does not develop roots as intensively, competing with trees for water and nutrition. In addition, small grass cuttings do not need to be removed from the lawn: as they rot, they will improve the structure of the soil and replenish its fertility.

You just need to make sure that the mowed grass is evenly distributed over the lawn, so that you don’t end up with the principle of “where it’s thick and where it’s empty.” Bald spots can form under “piles” of mown grass in the lawn.

In gardens where tree trunk circles or strips are kept under black fallow, mown grass is used to mulch them. Under no circumstances should grass clippings be thrown away. Otherwise, the soil will quickly become depleted.

2. For the same purpose (to reduce competition from grasses), the lawn in the garden is superficially fertilized with mineral water and organic matter. It is better to apply compost or humus in early spring, spreading it evenly over the lawn in a thin layer. A fan rake is then passed over the lawn to release the composted grass leaves.

How to feed trees

The trees are fed locally - fertilizer is applied to holes dug around the perimeter of the crown. How to make them without damaging the lawn?

In the designated place, carefully remove a piece of turf, dig a hole on the bayonet of a shovel (preferably two) and pour complete mineral fertilizer into it. Cover with earth, compact and return the cut piece of turf to its place. The soil from the holes can be removed onto a piece of cardboard or tin so as not to damage the lawn.

You can make holes for local application of fertilizers with a fork by sticking them into the soil and rocking them from side to side, then pour in the fertilizer. The amount of fertilizer is calculated taking into account the number of holes dug. If the approximate crown perimeter area is 5 square meters. m, the rate of application of complex fertilizers is 2 tbsp. spoons per square meter, 10 holes are dug along the perimeter of the crown, then pour a tbsp into each of them. spoon of fertilizer.

After fertilizing the trees, watering is carried out.

3. When watering a grassed garden, it is important to take into account the moisture needs of not only the grass, but also the trees. Therefore, in the first half of the growing season, watering should be more abundant; in the second, when the trees should prepare for overwintering, they should be watered more moderately and superficially in order to provide the grass with moisture, but not to over-moisten the tree roots.