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Garden Gate:  Urban homesteading...gardening around tree roots  |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 31 2006 : 07:56:36 AM
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Since my yard is surrounded by big trees, there are large roots close to the surface in approximately half the yard. I'm wondering how to grow things above these roots. I really can't dig up the soil at all where these roots are (I tried last year)so I'm hoping that I can build up instead.
Can I just dump a lot of dirt on top of the roots to cover them up? Should I build raised beds? How deep do I have to build up the soil in order to grow perennials and small shrubs? Most plans I've seen for raised beds assume that you can dig down at least a foot or so into the existing soil.
If any of you have experience with this situation, I'd really love any input you can give me.
Amie |
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LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2006 : 4:21:09 PM
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Last year I planted around an oak tree we have in the back.I built up the area with manure then loam.It was about a foot deep.I grew a mix between annuals and perennials.I have some of the perennials starting to come up again.It has been cold here until a few days ago.I tried this as an experiment and I also did the same thing around an old tree stump we have.They both worked great.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2006 : 4:54:48 PM
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Thanks, Alicia. That sounds a lot like what I'm thinking about trying under the big maple at our fenceline. I think I will need to make a bed of some sort to contain the soil, so it doesn't spill through the chain link fence into the neighbors' yard.
This is a weird spot because it is mostly shady from the tree, yet it is our only southern exposure. Stuff seems to get a lot of sun and grow well right at the fence line, and then nothing but a spreading groundcover weed grows in the yard (I think it's called veronica or ground ivy). I'm hoping to try planting some rasberries and other shrubs along the fence line in my built up soil, and then replace the ground ivy with woodland shade plants.
-Amie |
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Mari-dahlia
True Blue Farmgirl
269 Posts
Marianne
Hoosick Falls
New York
USA
269 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2006 : 7:32:39 PM
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Amie,
It depends on the kind of tree it is. Maples as well as many other trees have invasive roots. No matter how much you build up the soil and even with raised beds, the roots within one year will consume the top 12 inches. The tree wants its root system to stay on the top 12 inches of soil.
I have struggled for years with this exact problem and have converted to the potted or self contained planter boxes. It works great even with veggies and bushes etc. You can even grow things would'nt be able to normally and if you have room you can put them in your cellar or barn for the winter and grow warm weather plants.
The roots also take up all of the water and most shad plants perfer it on the damp side so the roots kill tham that way also.
Good luck. |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9094 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9094 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2006 : 06:37:52 AM
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Amie
I also have lots of large trees, the only thing I can get to grow around them is ground cover, like ivy or pachysandra, the pachysandra grows the fastest.Lots of water because of tree roots. When first planted put some top soil and peet down, once they take hold you won't have to do that again.
NANCY JO |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2006 : 10:35:07 AM
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Hi Amie...
My Dad had the same problem, every year he tried to add extra soil etc. Eventually the roots came right up to the surface. He built a circle planter, using Lannon Stone around the circumferance of the tree. He made it extra wide. It was about 3 feet high, then filled it with soil, in it he could plant impatiens. It looked wonderful.
Hope this helps!
Carla...
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2006 : 06:14:39 AM
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Wow, thanks for the warning. I'll have to give more thought to containers.
I really want to plant some shrubby or vining things back there, including an evergreen. I'm hoping to form a pretty solid screen without putting up a fence, because the fence would block my southern light. I was thinking about hops vines, evergreen witch hazel, and blackberries for the parly sunny spots, and bittersweet for the more shady area. I've never seen any of these mentioned as candidates for containers, so I'll have to do some more research. |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2006 : 3:55:08 PM
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Be careful about adding too much soil on top of a tree's root area -- maples and oaks will die if their roots are smothered with raised beds. I've seen it here: planting beds built up around a beautiful tree and then in three years the tree is dead.
I think you could do hops in a container -- what about doing two containers and building an archway between them for the hops to scramble across -- they'd probably hang down like a curtain between as well -- hops are such fast growers.
If you want to do perennial plants or shrubs in containers, do some research about how to winter them over -- with some additional insulation around or in the pots, you may achieve success. Here in Chicago we either line the inside of the pots with styro before planting (adding a wall of insulation) or group the pots together next to a building and constructing some insulation walls around them for winter protection.
Good luck! |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2006 : 7:06:24 PM
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Hops in containers with a trellis in between is exactly the plan I decided on yesterday! And I think that in the fall, I'll try building a small raised bed about 3 feet away from the tree for blackberries. I have my compost heap there now, and it hasn't harmed the tree. I'm moving my composting into a small sealed container (trash can) over the summer, because I found out our neighborhood has a rat problem.
Just as an aside...I'm finding that the micro environment over here is totally different from the yard where I grew up, and that's just a few blocks away. The street I live on now was one side of the loop of a harness racing track in the 1890's. This may be crazy, but I think that's why the soil is such hard packed clay. Doesn't explain the rats, though.
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2006 : 8:55:05 PM
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Gee.... I wish my Dad were still here I would ask him what he did. He put the raised bed around an old maple tree close to 30+ years ago, the tree is huge as ever and doing fine. This was an old established tree.. Maybe that is why it is doing fine.
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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Garden Gate: Urban homesteading...gardening around tree roots |
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Urban homesteading...gardening around tree roots
