The soil under and around the tree is often neglected, resulting in bare dirt, bare tree roots and a few willing plants that are not necessarily welcome. Find out ways to arrange a forgotten place that will make the tree and its shades much more attractive.

Finding a solution is not a universal scenario. There are fears of damaging the roots of the tree, dealing with dry soil, watering (too large or too small), shade, limited space (these roots!) and the dappled light. Keep in mind that any landscape design does not require plants: a hard landscape in the form of a floor covering, gravel or mulch can be a suitable solution.

The traditional method of landscaping under or around a tree was to cover it with brick, stone or rubber. If you wanted to get creative, you would plant impatient plants, begonias and maybe a few shade-tolerant bulbs-until the site is overgrown with weeds, snails and slugs or it starts to look horrible. The results are often unexpected: you don’t expect something to be planted in these spaces, but once it happens, you realize that it is an unused property just waiting to be decorated.

Get inspired by these clever and beautiful ways to create a landscape under and around a tree.

01.Tree With Hanging Chair

This 80-year-old massive coral tree (Erythrine) in Orange County, California was leaved before the current owners bought the property. To preserve its beauty, the tree requires quarterly processing and lacing by the forester. Easy-to-care ferns are planted under it. The real attraction of the courtyard designed by Halo Interior Design is the hanging chair that draws attention to these sculptural branches. Uneven slate paving stones and grass lie under the chair and branches.

Coral trees are mainly found in Southern California and Hawaii, and they are admired for their beautiful colors ranging from greenish white to yellow and bright shades of orange and red.

02.A Soothing Cohesive Garden

The bright green Japanese maple Koto-No-Ito is surrounded by a maze of boxwood hedges, hoihera and Korean grass that cannot be mowed. Designed by Zeta Landscape Architecture, this garden in Oakland, California, has been created for 15 years. The goal: to create five separate gardens on the territory of the house, United by a common taste and materials that complement the architecture of the house. The low wall was built from the new celadon-colored haweli limestone from the Rhodes architectural stone.

Japanese maples are valued for their small and medium sizes, which makes them perfect for creating raised flower beds, large containers and patios. Their leaves are interesting all year round and can be of different colors such as orange, scarlet, yellow and bright green.

Heihers (coral bells) are compact perennials with rounded leaves with serrated edges. Grown due to their bright foliage, heucher are striking in rockeries, in front of shrubs, in the form of curbs and in containers. The colors include light and medium green, dark red, orange and variegated varieties.

03.Shaft With Bridge

What do you do with a mature tree in your garden with widely spread branches? Instead of leaving the site under the bare tree, Landscape designer Tim Davis builds a terrace around it. This gives the owners of this property in Floriate, Australia, more space to enjoy their yard and offers a stunning demonstration of the architectural branches of the tree.

Is it useful for the Tree?

According to the experts at Austin Tree, building a patio or deck around the tree can really help. Among the advantages of wooden flooring:

• Reduced compaction of the soil in the root zone of the tree. Perennial compaction due to foot traffic can become stressful. The floor provides a buffer or completely eliminates the seal.
• Raised wooden terraces eliminate pedestrian traffic on the ground under the trees.
• The small gaps between the boards allow water and oxygen to easily penetrate into the soil and roots.
• The leaves will still be able to slide through the slots in the boards, bringing nutrients back into the soil.

04.A tree grows in Brooklyn

In a corner of a paved courtyard in Brooklyn, a mature plum provides shade and seasonal colors. Flo’s Gardens have designed a raised stone flowerbed with a tree that is not sufficiently planted with shade-tolerant hostas and a fireworks plant ‘St. Elmo Fire.”

Deciduous flowering Plum trees create stunning flower arrangements in winter or spring. Some also give an autumnal color, such as a deep smoky Magenta.

05.Oaks and Nettles

A border of sandstone cobblestones serves as a planer for these coastal oaks in a house near Santa Barbara, California. Created by landscape designer Donna Lynn, the space was planted with dead silver-spotted nettles (Lamium maculatum) and bordered by a sprawling rose bush (Ajuga reptans).

Despite the name, the dead nettle is very alive. Native to Europe and Western Asia, these vigorous gardeners have leaves with jagged edges and produce white, pink or yellow inflorescences.

06.Under the tree

In this garden designed by Succulent Designs LA, the thermophilic South African aloe (Aloe bainesii) is surrounded by large stones, stones and gravel, as well as golden barrel cacti. Aloe and other succulents create a natural and beautiful setting. This multi-branched tree with a massive trunk looks great in Mediterranean gardens. Although tree aloe grows quickly and is drought-resistant, it loves water and well-drained soils, as well as compost.

07.Tree in the yard

The silk thread tree (Chorisia speciosa) is planted with foxtail ferns and an uncut herbaceous ground cover. A low concrete bench created by EPT Design serves as a retaining wall for this tree. Its rectangular shape is repeated in long cobblestones that extend over a sea of river stones. The plants behind the ferns are the tropical Canna; on the right, the drought-tolerant agave attenuata.

08.Ownership of the Vineyard

The olive trees of the Californian vineyard are not planted enough with sesleria “Greenley”, Olea “Little Ollie”, fruity vestringia “Smokey” and Artemisia “David’s Choice”. Designed by Carson Douglas Landscape Architecture, this driveway has been covered with local mahogany mulch. The sandstone rocks of Santa Barbara give a textured interest.

Olea europaea olive trees are native to the Mediterranean and grow well in California and parts of southern Arizona. They were introduced to the mission gardens hundreds of years ago and have been appreciated for the oil that gives fruit. These slow-growing plants are most attractive when grown in deep, rich soil. If you are concerned about the sometimes sloppy harvest of fruits, olive trees can be thinned out every year, which also shows their striking branch pattern.

09.Rustic garden

The rustic border of the Corten Steel Planter maintains a raised bed that includes this central Olive tree with several trunks as well as various native stones and stones. Other plants include sedge and sedum spectabile ‘autumnal Joy’. with local herbs. Designed by Carson Douglas Landscape Architecture, this hotel is located in Alpina, California, in the hinterland, near San Diego.

10.Shady trees

The flower beds of this tree-lined alley are enlivened by lime-green hostas and white flowering shrubs. In the landscaping of Dover, Pennsylvania, shade lovers such as hostas and rhododendrons always do well under the treetops, especially if they are pruned and maintained.

11.London backyard garden

A small open roof terrace in the new part of Swiss Cottage in central London has received a modern touch thanks to the landscaping by John Davis. Inspired by the New York High Line, Davis imagined these spaces in the form of gardens in the sky that create secluded and luxurious relaxation areas. Trees are planted on the basalt terraces, including Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) and Osmanthus burkwudi. The Osmanthus is pruned and shaped in the shape of an umbrella to give it a neat and well-groomed appearance.

12.Trees in the patio

A mature tree in a corner of this quiet yard in Sherman Oaks, California, has become part of a tile-lined patio. Designed by SCA-LARC, this space is also used for a portable barbecue and protects the space from moisture or leaved. All this is connected by stone cobblestone paths that line the boundaries of the garden and direct the flow of transport throughout the courtyard.

13.Wooden bridge

The construction of a terrace with two winding oaks has given this house near Oakland, California, more privacy. Instead of removing the oak trees, ODS Architecture created a seamless interaction inside and out and added more living space.