Woodie
"Cap'n Bullcrap'n"
Hello all,
I have a red maple (October Glory) that is roughly 15 ft. high. It's time to expand the mulched zone underneath the canopy. There is currently lawn grass growing in that area.
My question is...how best to do this, and when? If I dig the grass up with a shovel, I'm whacking all of the feeder roots. If I poison the grass, I'm risking killing the feeder roots along with the lawn. If I do it in the wrong season, I'm probably doing something bad, but I don't know what that is!
I think the best approach will probably be to hit the grass with a fairly weak (and lightly applied) glyphosate. Then mow the grass all the way down to the top of the soil and pile the mulch on top. This way I won't disturb any of the tree's existing root structure. I'm planning on doing that this week.
What say you all? Is there a better approach...one that's safer for the tree? Thanks in advance.
I have a red maple (October Glory) that is roughly 15 ft. high. It's time to expand the mulched zone underneath the canopy. There is currently lawn grass growing in that area.
My question is...how best to do this, and when? If I dig the grass up with a shovel, I'm whacking all of the feeder roots. If I poison the grass, I'm risking killing the feeder roots along with the lawn. If I do it in the wrong season, I'm probably doing something bad, but I don't know what that is!
I think the best approach will probably be to hit the grass with a fairly weak (and lightly applied) glyphosate. Then mow the grass all the way down to the top of the soil and pile the mulch on top. This way I won't disturb any of the tree's existing root structure. I'm planning on doing that this week.
What say you all? Is there a better approach...one that's safer for the tree? Thanks in advance.