Young trees develop better when the ground around the trunk is not overgrown.Then they do not have to compete with grass or other plants for water and food.Besides, the tree frame makes it easier to care for the lawn and protects the trunk from being injured when cutting the grass with a trimmer.
1. Old paving stones are perfect for the border around the tree. The circle should be regular and the gaps as small as possible, because then the grass will not grow into them.
2. Place the cubes on the lawn at a distance of about one meter from the trunk.This way we mark the shape and size of the border and we can check how much material we will need.
3. Then, with the spade, we cut the lawn along the outer edge of the cubes, but only deep enough to separate the turf.
4. We carefully remove the turf, taking care not to damage the shallow roots.
5. We place the cubes around the tree so that they do not interfere with the removal of grass, and are at hand at the same time.At the edge of the wheel, compact the soil with a hand compactor.
6. Put a 3-5 cm thick layer of sand under the ankles and carefully tamp them with the rubber end of a paving hammer so that they are flush with the lawn surface.In order to be able to drive heavy equipment around the perimeter, it is worth strengthening them by sprinkling a 10-15 cm layer of crushed stone.The substructure can be omitted if a light mower with low ground pressure is used for mowing the lawn .
7. Rhizomatous weeds, such as couch grass Elymus, ground elder Aegopodium podagraria or field bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, whose stolons are mostly located under the turf, are removed with a small spatula and a cutter.Otherwise, these nuisance weeds would overgrow the mulch layer.
8. Horn chips (60-100 g / m2) compensate for the loss of nitrogen due to the breakdown of the cortex litter by soil organisms.
9. Spread a layer of 8-10 cm thick mulch on the surface of the circle around the trunk. This material not only inhibits the growth of weeds, but also helps to maintain optimal soil moisture and prevents its crusting during heavy rain.
10. Use a manual brush to fill the joints with fine sand so that the cubes do not wobble and that unwanted plants cannot appear between them.
