Hello everyone. I did a web search but really couldn't find a good answer so I thought I'd join up here for some knowledge about our King Crimson Maple care. We have just re landscaped our yard and put a border using landscape bricks about 8inches high squared around our trees. We have the slow growing King Maples which are about 15 feet tall as of now. We have had them for around 15yrs...So ya, real slow growth. Anyways we need to fill in the area but we wanted to know if filling up on the Trunk roughly 8 inches high would hurt our trees. We want to fill in and put in a ground cover within the borders. Can anyone tell me if we will be okay doing this? Thank you very much.
New Member...Question on landscaping around my King Crimson Maple
- Thread starter neo4te
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...but it is a VERY bad idea to fill that in. When you look at a trunk of a tree, you should see a flare at the base where it enters the ground. If it looks like a post stuck in the ground, it us unhealthy/fatal to the tree. it might take 15-20 years...but if it is buried too deep (especially Norway maple...), it has a rather low probability of making it to 40.
There are a couple of problems:
1) when trunk tissue is wet all of the time it can start to rot. It us supposed to dry out. This happens, but not all the time.
2) What happens more frequently is that roots grow up into that soil/mulch/compost/whatever is piled there. Those roots grow tangential to the tree's trunk or sometimes around the trunk. As the trunk gets bigger, it grows into those roots and chokes itself. It is a problem called "stem girdling roots".
I know you just spent time/money doing the bricks, but my recommendation would be to remove those. If you want those as a border, do just one course - maybe even set that into the ground an inch or two. Fill that area with mulch. Pull the mulch away from the trunk of the trees. Then plant whatever you want in that mulch bed.
(As an aside, many trees are coming deep from the nurseries...then get planted deeper by contractors who don't know or care about long-term tree health. I wouldn't be surprised if the tree is already deep...hopefully now...but unfortunately that is a reality we deal with all the time. Post a picture of two of where the trunk enters the ground).
There are a couple of problems:
1) when trunk tissue is wet all of the time it can start to rot. It us supposed to dry out. This happens, but not all the time.
2) What happens more frequently is that roots grow up into that soil/mulch/compost/whatever is piled there. Those roots grow tangential to the tree's trunk or sometimes around the trunk. As the trunk gets bigger, it grows into those roots and chokes itself. It is a problem called "stem girdling roots".
I know you just spent time/money doing the bricks, but my recommendation would be to remove those. If you want those as a border, do just one course - maybe even set that into the ground an inch or two. Fill that area with mulch. Pull the mulch away from the trunk of the trees. Then plant whatever you want in that mulch bed.
(As an aside, many trees are coming deep from the nurseries...then get planted deeper by contractors who don't know or care about long-term tree health. I wouldn't be surprised if the tree is already deep...hopefully now...but unfortunately that is a reality we deal with all the time. Post a picture of two of where the trunk enters the ground).
Thank you for the response. I will try and get some photos posted asap. We really want to have the borders up so maybe putting inner borders around the trunk is an answer. This way it will keep the trunk clear from whatever we use to fill it in with. Is that possible?
better...but still not ideal. That will prevent the 2 problems I described above (until the trunks get really big...which will happen if you keep trees healthy). However, you also have to realize that tree roots need oxygen and they need to get rid of CO2. The majority (+/-90%) are in the top 18" of soil because that is all the further they can go down an successfully exchange gases with the environment. So to put 8" of soil on top of that you are temporarily stunting root development...until they find their way up into that fill you put in. Then you'll have an odd looking (not that you'll see - it will be under ground) root system that correct inside and outside of the planter, and up into the planter for that span. That will probably also create some shallow/surface roots on either side of the walls.
If you insist on having the build up what you describe is the way to do it, but still not something I recommend for the health of the trees. Please just don't put landscape fabric around the trees too...that is a whole 'nother thread.
If you insist on having the build up what you describe is the way to do it, but still not something I recommend for the health of the trees. Please just don't put landscape fabric around the trees too...that is a whole 'nother thread.
Jason Douglas
ArboristSite Guru
Cant add much cuz I got here late but he's 100% right on.
