Tree roots

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elsie Oct 30, 2002

I have a small raised bed for tomatoes. Tree roots keep coming up through the garden. It's almost impossible to work the soil because of the roots. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do? I can't move the garden because everything else is in shade.

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poppysue Westbrook, ME(Zone 5a) Oct 30, 2002

I'm afraid there's not a lot you can do... aside from cutting down the tree. The more you work the soil - the more the tree roots love it.

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golddog Western, PA(Zone 6a) Oct 31, 2002

I have put down landscape fabric that lets the water pass through. It is good here for 2 or 3 years and then the roots wriggle through.

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golddog Western, PA(Zone 6a) Nov 02, 2002

Elsie, if the raised bed isn't too large, maybe you could actually raise it above the ground on bricks or cement blocks. This would require a wood bottom with holes for drainage. Something like a long, narrow planter. Just a thought. I am doing this in the back yard more and more (annuals, vegetables) to avoid the roots.

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elsie Nov 02, 2002

Golddog that sounds like a solution. I hadn't thought of that. thanks

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Wingnut Spicewood, TX(Zone 8b) Nov 02, 2002

I have the same problem with a tree that keeps sending up new trees from the roots, but I don't want to get rid of the tree. I would like to put a flowerbed near it, but can't without doing something like this or it will be filled with little treelets. So I've thought I might try digging a two-foot deep trench around that spot, then inserting 2' wide flashing vertically and filling the trench back in, making an underground barrier. I'm going to try this one of these days to see if the tree roots keep coming up under it. If so, I'll try three feet ~ if still, I think I'll plant a flowerbed somewhere else. ;) I sure wish you had that option.

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golddog Western, PA(Zone 6a) Nov 02, 2002

I have resorted to pots and garden structures (small fences to define an area, water fountain, bird bath, trellis w/ an above ground planting box (trough) to grow annual vines, seating, birdhouses, etc). Plus designs w/ various stone and brick. These designs are in garden magazines if we look.:)

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lupinelover Grove City, OH(Zone 6a) Nov 08, 2002

There is another trick you might try: roots avoid copper. Can you get copper solution to lay in the bottom of a trench around your raised bed? The roots will not grow through this. Just make sure you don't get it too close to any veggie plants. I don't know if it might cause trouble eating plants that have absorbed much copper. This technique has been successfully used to keep invasive plants inside boundaries in various test gardens around the country.

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