What exactly is a raised bed? Which forum should I post this in?I got a lot of tree roots running through my soil. How would you remove them? Someone told me I do raised beds on top of them, will it kill the roots or make them grow more vigirous?
Sylvia
Raised Beds
Never more than 2" per year on tree roots!! Know from experience that you can kiss those trees bye-bye if you put more than that. One woman I know decided that she needed to raise her whole yard as all the neighbor's yards were draining into hers. Bye-Bye live oaks. If anyone knows differently pls let us know.
Ann
I use a lot of raised beds - 4foot by about 16 foot is a good size. Just do nto cover the whole area of the trees roots and you will be fine - but one raised bed here and one there is more then ok. There are several ways to build them - here goes..
1. Out of cedar boards nailed together
2. Cover area with cardboard and pile dirt on top
3. Blocks or bricks
4. land scape beams - DO Not use if you have veggies
The dirt must be 6in at least but I tend to enjoy good thigns at about 1-2 foot deep.
Anything else? On the left you can see my first bed - this is one old photo from the first year here but everything now is in raised beds.. No trees here yet but I have helped add a few to some lots in Ellis Co that did and the general rule is dont cover all the root area just 1/4 or so.
Sylvia, I am going to say the same thing that Ann and Mitch have said, raiseing the soil level around tree roots will certainly kill a tree, but if you cover a small area, you may get away with it.
I would put those beds as far away from the tree as possible, and remember that the roots go out as far as the branches, or even farther.
Think about it for a while, it is a lot of work, and you are not in shape to tackle that big of a task.
Take care of yourself first.
Josephine.
Good point Josephine - these are hard work to build - not fun and back breaking labor... really think about it.
Thanks guys, but I am not going to build any beds... most likely I would have to hire someone ... o. Anyway there are roots everywhere. we discovered there was a bg tree in the center of the back yard which was removed, there are roots left from that tree.
... farther back in the right hand corner there are huge roots coming from a tree outside the fence. ...I feel this tree is insignificent because there so many out there..
thanks for the info on the raised beds, maybe I can find some one to saw the roots out the ground. :)
Sylvia@work
Sylvia, I remember Mary (Maggiemoo) talking about building raised beds because of tree roots. But her trees had been cut down. So there wasn't any concern about killing them by covering the roots. But it was the only way she could have flower beds. What kind of trees are they? Some are easier to plant around than others. It also depends on what you're planting. I have toad lilies, oxalis, leucojum and coral bells planted under my pecan tree. I have split leaved philodendron and Oregon grape under my live oak.
Marylee I am thinking the roots in the middle of the is from a tree cut down because there is a big dip in the ground. The same thing was done to tree out front, but they left the stump. I will need to take a pic of the other tree, I have no idea of what it is. the is not that big, but its amazing how large that trunk is. ...maybe its a different tree???? When I move more pots I will see more.