The cultivar of the ball tree is a classic in parks and also in private front gardens. The hawthorn is excellent for this for several reasons. In the following we will explain why and how you train it to become a spherical high standard.
A hawthorn also looks pretty as a spherical tree
Why Kugelbaum?
There are good reasons why the spherical tree has become so established in park and garden culture. Small to medium-tall shrubs or trees can be kept to a manageable size and still radiate a homely tree character. They still look extremely well-groomed. Especially where there is little space - for example on the side of the road or in the front yard - a spherical tree can fully demonstrate its advantages.
Which makes the hawthorn the ideal ball tree candidate
The requirements that a tree for a ball tree culture must have are the following:
- Habit in the large shrub to small tree category
- Moderate height gain
- Good cutting tolerance
The hawthorn fulfills all these conditions perfectly. It tolerates pruning extremely well and, thanks to its change-tolerant growth character, can be very easily trained to become a standard and spherical crown.
If you let it grow naturally, it develops a rather sparse, sprawling shrub habit. By regularly cutting off the lower side shoots in the first few years, however, it willingly grows into a dainty small tree.
Spherically cut the crown
You don't really need a lot of expertise to get a spherical crown. As long as you have a good eye for even curves, you can shape the branches of the crown by eye. The densely branched branches ensure a dense ball character, the regular, tapering pruning prevents unsightly thinning at the same time.
You do the topiary every year in early spring or on a frost-free day in late winter. To do this, always shorten the center drive by about 1/3. Select 3-4 leading shoots in the wide crown branches as early as possible, which to a certain extent form the skeleton of the ball. You can always use these as a guide when shortening. Once the leaders are trimmed to the desired length, you can adjust the remaining, smaller branches to accommodate them.
tips
Under a ball tree, a groundcover underplanting is particularly attractive. For example, forget-me-nots fit very nicely under the delicate trunk of a spherical hawthorn, because in May they harmonize wonderfully with their light blue carpet of flowers with the carmine-red flowering crown.