I'm just thinking purely aesthetics... someone else can give you the 101 reasons not to ring trees. It's a beautiful tree that doesn't need a 5' necklace; especially if that ring is going to be edged with white painted Jack-o-lantern rocks or those ditzy scallops. :-)

Google The Renegade Gardener and read his treatise, with pictures, on tree rings.

Concentrate on "decorating" what planting strip you have against the house - some enhancement there will take your mind off tarting up the magnolia.

No valid reason not to enlarge an open area around the base of the tree but increasing the soil level more than an inch or two at the very most can/will lead to all sorts of problems.

Much like the previous poster, I don't think that a defined square, regardless of how it may be edged/defined or not, is the best solution aesthetically. It would be much more visually pleasing to have a looser, more organic form to an enlarged planting area but that is more of a design issue, not a tree issue :-)

Just say NO to adding to the soil level -- there's a very good reason all the sources say not to!

Mee three. Edging on sale at HD isn't going to give that yard what it needs. A thoughtful plan - using some curves - that doesn't look like it was inspired by a walk-thru at HD will give that yard what it needs.

Dan

agree ...

increase the depth of the foundation bed [distance from the house] .. and play over there ...

if you wish to increase the ring around the tree.. spray the grass with roundup.. and add some mulch.. and then go plant by the foundation ...

BTW .. what does this mean: square ring around the base

i havent had enough coffee to wrap my head around a square ring ... lol ...

good luck

ken

It would be bad both for the tree and asthestics.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Astonishing Truth Behind Tree Circles

Ken, boxers box in a ring.....and it's square!

A tree ring would be fine as long as you dont mound up mulch agaist the trunk of the tree.

Tree rings belong inside trees...
{{gwi:341133}}

A tree ring would be fine as long as you dont mound up mulch agaist the trunk of the tree.

No.

Dan

Ok, so I've read and read the comments on "no tree rings". Here's my senario. I have a large Ash close to the house, about five feet out. Span is at least 20 ft. I wanted to "ring it" 2ft out from the trunk and plant my hostas there. They are currently in a hr sunlight spot and not growing well after 3 years. There is a rather steep slope away from the trunk and I would HAVE to build up with peat moss and soil and was going to use this space to plant the hostas instead of digging. So now, tell me why I shouldn't do this.

Well that is easy alaMel! You shouldn't put a ring around that tree because an ash tree has no business being 5 feet from anyone's house!

I would recommend removing that tree and planting something else (smaller) around that spot if you want something there.

I'm unable to follow the logic of that last post.

Here are some reasons not to put a raised flowerbed around a tree:

1. Building up soil, peat moss, compost, or mulch around the base of the tree holds moisture up against the bark and initiates rot. The area becomes a magnet for pests and disease. This can lead to the decline and death of the tree. (While we're on the subject, piling up cut grass around the base of a tree is a horrible idea too. I'm seeing that more and more these days.)
2. Adding more than a couple of inches of soil, peat moss, compost, or mulch over the top of tree roots can cause them to not get enough oxygen and die.
3. The bed and the material used to create the bed can redirect developing roots and cause girdling roots.
4. Tree roots will likely develop in the bed and either make the area unsuitable for plants or require even more soil to be added, increasing the above problems.
5. Many plants don't do well in bed surrounding trees anyway. The tree and the plants fight for nutrients and moisture and the tree can produce significant shade near its trunk.

Don't know where alaMel is, but the ever-widening spread of the emerald ash borer might make a distance-from house planting error into a future garden/landscape space opportunity.

Ash trees - both true ash (Fraxinus sp.) and mountain ash (Sorbus sp) - tend to produce open and rather lacy canopies that allow both filtered sunlight and rainfall so I don't see major issues in underplanting. And with consideration of the caveat concerning tornadoes - if that is appropriate to the area - I don't necessarily have issues with planting close to a residence or other structure. In my line of work, I see it all the time and 95 times out of 100, it is a non-issue, if not an ideal situation. One needs to be cognizant of the eventual canopy spread and mature height and prune to reduce conflict but the majority of tree roots are not aggressive enough to disturb a structurally sound foundation.

The primary issue is with elevating the soil level around the base of the tree and/or throughout the root zone. More than an inch or two at the most can smother the fine feeder roots that are located just below the soil surface and provide the bulk of the tree's water and nutrient intake. You can sometimes get away with increasing the level in a small section but avoid any circumferential increase.

A 2' wide planting area beneath the tree is going to be inadequate for anything other than a few annuals or a groundcover. And planting that close to the base of the tree is going to be very difficult just by nature of the larger roots that will be present at that distance, soil increase or not (and understanding that you must keep the soil level properly away from the trunk itself).

An ash tree that is only 5' tall must be relatively newly planted and without a significant root spread yet so I'd think you may have some room to work with :-) Adding soil now - before the majority of the feeder roots are present - may be quite doable and done without harm to the tree. But I'd pull out the planting area to a more workable depth.

And with that small/new of a tree, I might very well consider relocating it to a more suitable location :-)

That may be true for you, but I witnessed the central leader of a 3 leader 50 foot tall ash come crashing down in wind gusts only around 50-60 mph last summer during a storm. Would have been very bad if had fallen on the manufactured home nearby. Thank goodness the wind didn't knock it 45* over to the left, or my neighbors might be in bad to worse shape.

I believe I read that the ash is 5' from the house with alaMel's guesstimate of a 20' span so far... probably capable of a fair amount of gutter filling and house slapping in a breeze.

I do agree that a closely planted large tree, barring an act of nature and with a willingness to clear gutters and do some pruning, creates less havoc than too closely planted shrubs - restricting air flow, trapping moisture that rots wood siding and window trims, allowing for mold on stucco, etc.

Weren't we talking tree rings?

We were, but a little hijacking isn't always an altogether unpleasant diversion in threads.

What more can be said... your five good reasons for not ringing trees should give anyone contemplating doing it some pause for thought.

Everyone has officially terrified me from making a tree ring around the tree. However, would it be OK if I planted some annual impatiens into the dirt that is already there without adding any new soil or mulch? Or will that stress it out as well?

Nope, that's fine -- although the impatiens might not like the competition for moisture.

I would plant the impatiens in a few shallow pots and set the pots under the tree. I did that one year (when our house was for sale), and it looked really nice.

I am, per force, required to install annual and perennial plantings around many trees (in tree pits) in our downtown. It's no fun, and all the soccer moms cannot, and never will, apparently, understand why these common plants they're seeing are struggling so badly. The tree pits were not engineered properly. They are actually vaults, with four-foot footings down below grade, ie "frost footings". Those trees are forced to make all of their roots in this little area-right where I'm expected to make amazing display beds. When we dig in the spring, there is literally no soil, just a mass of fine (and not so fine) tree roots.

But here's the thing: Through constant attention to water/fertility/all the other factors which go into making bedding plants pop, we have been able to achieve great things. And part of this is my constant seeking out of new plant ideas. But even something like Sunpatiens-just as good in the shade, BTW-can be coaxed to perform well. Just takes more inputs, because the tree has such a headstart, and greedily gobbles up all the water and nutrients. Your situation will not be quite so grim-your tree's not boxed in down to four feet below grade! Just be aware, every hole you dig, every shovel full of compost or whatever you use, will be almost immediately colonized by tree roots.

+oM