Serious erosion problem, clay & new pond

to make a long story short....
we just put in the new pond and need to know what I can do with this big tree root.
I had been planning on mainly hostas, but know I need other things to help with the erosion problem
What can I use to help?

The people that lived here before us didn't have anything back here, grass would not even survive b/c the clay is so compacted. Nothing has been back here for probably 8+ years. When we get a hard rain, the slope creates a small stream and washes downward.

What can I do?

another angle

For starters I would try mulching the area and see if that helps--it won't 100% stop the erosion but it should help. If the soil is really that badly compacted I think you're going to have to try and amend it in order for anything to do well there, but with the tree roots I'm not sure how easy that'll be. Here's a site that has a search feature where you can find groundcovers based on your conditions, might try that for some ideas of things you could put in there. http://www.stepables.com/store/scripts/prodSearch-plants.asp

Is removing the tree an option ?

It's too close to your fence, for starters. The longer it remains there, the worse the root problem will become.

It's really difficult to garden around a big established tree like that if nothing has been there previously.

If you have the tree removed, stump, roots and all, you'll be able to break up the soil and add ammendments to it to reduce the clay content and thus improve drainage.

Judging from the size of the trunk of that tree w/o seeing the top growth, you've no doubt got a huge network of roots taking over the surrounding area which is going to make it really difficult to dig in.

Hard to make any more suggestions w/o knowing if removing the tree is an option or not.

You could try building raised beds, but if the soil is compacted, it's not going to solve anything. You'll just be adding well drained soil (hopefully) on top of compacted soil. It still isn't going to drain if what's under it is compacted.

Dale - no we can't afford to take these trees down.
There is 5 of them - huge and are about 4 times (or more) the height of my house. White oaks I believe. Dh got an estimate last year to remove them and it was upwards of 25 thousand dollars. Just not an option.
I know they are too close to the fence but nothing I can do about that at this point.
They were planted there over 30 years ago.

I'm in agreement with ecrane, mulch the area heavily and place a few benches back there. You could place a few large pots of shade lovers here and there.

We didn't have any trees to deal with but we definitely had clay that wouldn't grow good grass--lot's of weeds though :-{ We were still trying to build our house and didn't have time/money to work on the yard so finally, in desperation, we just spread annual rye grass over the entire yard to keep it from eroding until we could finish the house. It had a side benefit we didn't realize. We left it there through the entire winter and disked it in the following spring. We never realized that, when given time to fully mature, rye grass gets quite a massive root system on it. The roots helped break up the clay and disking it in gave us some "green manure" to help put some organics into the soil. If you want some type of ground cover, breaking up the clay first with rye grass might help (you will probably still have to till it first). However, if you want grass there and nothing else will grow, you might want to look into perennial rye grass.

2racingboys - before you mulch, see if you can get your hands on some spent (used) coffee grounds from a local coffee shop. Mine here save them for me. If you can, put down a 1" layer under the mulch - it will attract earthworms, which will loosen up the soil without harming the trees. Next fall, you could put down a layer of shredded leaves, which will compost nicely, adding to the breakup of your clay. This process will take time, but you risk killing the tree if you just add multiple inches of new soil on top of the roots - an inch or so shouldn't matter, but more will be problematic.. Also, a lot of digging or tilling will also damage the feeder roots, which lie close to the surface of the soil. Those trees are beautiful, & likely have many years of life ahead. Good luck! Samantha

I have a large tree with roots showing also. I am going to put in a rock patio and creepers underneath. since the area is already compacted I will just fill between the rocks with gravel and creepers.

One of the best books for addressing erosion control is "Rainwater Harvesting for drylands and beyond". It is written to help gardeners in desert regions (but a great deal of the advice - shows how one can reduce erosion, runoff, with simple and/or more complex methods.) For example to cut down on erosion - you might want to dig - (tiny - not gargantuum backbreaking) small berms on the contour of the path of the erosion (much like a farmer plows his field on a contour) - then place a ground cover to anchor the soil along those min-mole-hill berms....It's been a long time since I've dealt with too much water and clay! But if my memory serves me right - English Ivy , might hold it's own there - and it would wind it's way up the tree nicely. Pachysandra might also work. You could ALSO place bulbs, or small shrubs, or perennials that would grow up from underneath the ground cover - to give some heighth to the garden. Or place a few large rocks or empty pots for a focal point or structure. Since the area is under a tree and near a pond - Astilbe may grow well for you there.....

2Rboys, I'm no expert by any means but common sense tells me that before trying to plant anything there I would have some top soil brought in. Maybe you can haul it yourself. Maybe then put landscape timbers around to stop erosion then find plants that love shade in your area and plant away.If topsoil is deep enough don't think the roots will be an issue and am thinking the new soil will also help the tree.

more stepping stones or flat rocks on the slope would look nice and also help with erosion. If I went that route I would also use the rock for around the tree as opposed to landscape timers. Like the idea of a few potted plants sitting around too.

we layed down some sod over clay in our back yard. First, we put a three inch layer of compost and top soil underneath. its doing quite well after a 4 months. No tilling necessary. Bit pricey though $$$!

Try loading it up with hostas, day lillies, and ferns.. the more vegitation you can put in that ground the better! or you could do a small garden wall that ties into your pond. This could then be filled with dirt and some plantings. Use some cool natural stone and build a small garden wall! Looks great and will solve the issue.
Hope that helps!

I would get some boulders, soil, and filler stones and build a rock retaining wall all the way up to where the root is exposed. After that you can lay down some new sod and it will look beautiful! Just IMO ;).

www.SeaSideSeawalls.com

JD

I have soil like this - compacted clay, with tree roots. Mine are tulip poplars. You can't really dig into it. Mulch will wash downhill. Ivy is low maintenance and will make it evergreen, but it is invasive so unless you want it everywhere.

I would try liriope - evergreen looks like tall grass. Break up the surface of the clay in a small area, mix in some compost and topsoil on top. You want to do this in pockets maybe one to three feet across, and leave some areas so as not to disturb the surface tree roots. Place the pockets to slow the flow of water downhill. Use more rock to edge the downhill side of each pocket and keep the soil in place. Maybe they are more lumps than pockets.

Liriope comes in spreading or clumping kinds.

I would be careful about putting much soil over those roots. Roots need air as much as they need water and if you damage them the tree will die. The rule of thumb is 4inches of anything over them. Good luck!

I have trees on a slope. This makes for dry shade. Any good soil without planting will wash off. I found that wild ginger in my zone 4b-5a can handle these conditions beautifully. The draw back is that you can't walk on it. Another plant to my surprise did well in this situation was Pulmonaria Ms Moon. I have other cultivars, but they don't come close to Ms Moon's vigor. For a more walkable on ground cover that
grows in my dry shade vinca is an option, but I personally don't like too much of it.

I planted plugs that I mulched around. Next year I added some more to fill the gaps. I don't remove leaves in the fall which helps during spring rains. Once the plants are out they just cover the leaves completely. For a more tailored look, you can mulch paths.