Re: problem tree roots

Amen to that Marge, I have a raised bed that I try to rogue out every
spring, just to put in a few annuals.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt@hort.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 8:22 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] problem tree roots


> Well, Theresa, if the tree liked that extra soil on the first go then
> it's likely it is going to behave more like a maple and not mind it
> this time.  Good your mix is light - I have found light mixes don't
> bother trees much because they are so open that they don't cut out
> the air to the tree roots.  What you don't want to do to any tree is
> add a foot of nice stolid clay over their roots:-)
>
> One other trick that can make a difference if you have to raise grade
> on an existing large tree is to put down several inches of 3/4"
> gravel first.  This helps keep air and water flowing for the existing
> roots.  But, some trees will resent it and some won't.  Looks like
> yours is grateful:-)
>
> If you can plant this fall, your plants will get a head start on the
> tree roots.  I have gone into the bed under the maple many times and
> lifted, divided and topped it up - removing large chunks and wads of
> maple feeder roots in the process.  Maple seems quite happy and goes
> about replacing feeder roots and occupying new soil with a vengeance.
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@hort.net
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> ----------
> > From: Theresa <tchessie@comcast.net>
> >
> > Thanks Marge.
> > This is a revamp of an earlier, smaller project.  2 years ago, I
> built the
> > raised bed around the tree with small blocks.  It's on a slope so
> one side
> > as minimal additional soil, while the other side was about 12
> inches deep.
> > The tree actually loved it- grew more and looked better than ever.
> So now
> > the wall (with larger blocks) is going all around the front yard (2
> side- we
> > live on a corner)  So that same tree will now be all little deeper
> in soil
> > on the one side, and will eventually fill the entire area with
> feeder roots
> > I'm sure (just like it had for the bed around it).  It is actually
> a very
> > large tree (it's easily twice as tall as the house and quite broad)
> and has
> > many large surface roots all around it.  The one large one we cut
> off has
> > about 10 more like it that I know of.  The other few roots we cut
> were
> > relatively small.
> >
> > My hope is that if I get as many of the plant in ASAP, then they
> will have
> > the winter rains to help get their roots setting and growing.
> Also, I do
> > plant on overfilling the beds, in hopes that they won't sink too
> low, since
> > I'm not sure that I'll ever get the plants dug and lifted in the
> future.
> > Thanks for the reminder about the "sinkage factor".  The soil I'm
> filling
> > with is a lovely mix of compost, sand and top soil- so not too
> heavy and
> > definitely prone to sinking.
>
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