A ball tree attracts attention with its crown. But its lower area is not particularly spectacular. In order to enhance its appearance and at the same time keep weeds away, preserve moisture in the soil and protect it from frost, underplanting makes sense.
Which plants are suitable for planting under a ball tree?
Depending on what type of ball tree it is,small, shade-tolerantandshallow-rooted perennials and ground cover are suitable for underplanting , grasses, trees and ferns. The following are ideal:
- Golden strawberry and cranesbill
- Fairy flower and foam blossom
- Hydrangeas and privet
- Sedges and Japanese mountain grass
- Peacock orb fern and worm fern
Plant the ball tree with ground cover plants
The ground cover that you choose to plant under your ball tree should spread outflatlyin the soil so as not to get too close to the roots of the tree. It is also advisable to preferdrought and shade-tolerant ground cover plants. The ball tree sucks a lot of water from the ground and casts shadows on its root area with its crown. These specimens fit wonderfully at the foot of a spherical tree such as the hawthorn or the spherical maple:
- Golden strawberry
- Small Periwinkle
- Storksbill
- Ivy
- woman's coat
Planting a ball tree with perennials
It becomes really intoxicating at the foot of the ball tree when it is planted withflower-richperennials. However, do not plant themdirectlyon the tree disc There you could damage the roots of the ball tree when preparing the soil. Maintain a distance of at least 40 cm from the trunk. Preferably you should limit yourself to shade perennials. Since the crown of the ball tree is usually relatively small and is located on a standard trunk, direct sunlight still penetrates to the ground at times. These perennials fit:
- Elf Flower
- Foam Blossom
- Star Umbel
- Forest Aster
- Comfrey
- Funkia
Planting a ball tree with grasses
Among the grasses, those that spreadnotwith unrulyrunners are predestined for underplanting ball trees,andshady ones Site conditions tolerated. Grasses that have unusual colors such as love grass or Japanese gold ribbon grass look wonderful. Here is a selection of the most tried and tested grasses for underplanting:
- Japanese mountain grass
- Japan sedge
- Japan gold ribbon grass
- Mountain sedge
- Love grass
- Feather grass
- Pipegrass
Planting a ball tree with trees
Shallow-rooted treesmake the trunk area of the ball tree more attractive. However, they should be able to withstandroot pressureof the ball tree. At the same time, it is important that they are not too invasive and do not even want to push him away. Last but not least, they should be able to deal with drought and nutrient competition. The following trees have proven to be suitable:
- hydrangeas
- Privet
- Cherry Laurel
- Mahony
Planting a ball tree with ferns
Ferns provide anatural flair around the tree disk of the ball treeand they have the advantage that they areadapted to growth near treesare. Since not all ferns can tolerate drought, you should ideally focus on drought-tolerant ferns. They fit:
- Spotted Fern
- worm fern
- Lady fern
- Peacock Orb Fern
- Red Veil Fern
Tip
Consider the root system of the corresponding spherical tree
Not all ball trees are the same. They differ in terms of their shape on the surface, but also in terms of their roots. Therefore, before planting under planting, consider which root system the corresponding ball tree produces. The globe locust, for example, has deep roots, while the globe maple, as a heart-rooted plant, also creates many fine roots close to the surface of the earth.
