I think a lot of gravel and a little bark mulch would be more appropriate.

i was under the impression that rotting wood sucks/leeches nitrogen from the soil .... which may be a negative to a green plant that needs nitro ... it also needs water to breakdown the wood... you might be creating a dry zone at root level.. which you may never be able to water ...

what book?

if i were to try it.. i would try it on a spare tree ... one which you don't have a lot invested.. money or emotionally ...

ken

I think it's someone's "bright idea", that may have seemed like a good one. I have trouble with the idea of "herding" roots into the 'log avenues! One good thing it could do would be to increase the organic matter in the soil and thus increase the fungi and the other microscopic creatures that break down OM. It would also, in those areas, eventually, improve the soil. So it's not a BAD idea, but a bit combersome, slow to take effect, and more than a bit hard to do. Besides, what are you supposed to do about the soil subsidence along the lines of the logs? In the woods, they wouldn't matter, but on a lawn?

But, on thinking more about it, if you had them, and could deal with any future low places, a few half-rotted chunks of wood in the outside edges of the hole - at the bottom would be less effective, as most of the tree feeder-roots will grow out the sides of the root ball, not the bottom - might well help with the future health of the tree, and its roots.

The normal mode is for organic debris to fall on the ground, where aerobic decay organisms can attack it in a well-aerated environment. Most tree roots occur in this same shallow zone near the surface, under humid conditions some roots may be found immediately below the surface litter or even come out of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Fact Sheet

The addition of gravel to a clay soil would be about the worst thing you could do, by the way. ;-(

I've got clay soil and I love it. So do the all of the plants.

It was said:
"The addition of gravel to a clay soil would be about the worst thing you could do"

Actually, not so. Gravel can be quite helpful.

Around here most of the soil is a clay with shrink/swell properties.

One way to increase drainage, then is to mix in at least a 2 inch depth of a crushed gravel called 1/4-10. This provides a mechanical fix, in that the clay swells, then shrinks away from the gravel, the cycle repeating over and over with rainfall/irrigation.

BUT it's important to know that compost -- at least 2 inches -- is also mixed into the soil, this to provide "food" for the organisms which will eventually provide humus which, in turn, improves soil structure.

As is usual, follow-up with a mulch of additional compost.

Ken, the book is "Trees" The American Garden Guides, ISBN 0-679-75862-3; page 194 under viewpoint. Got it from the library.
I appreciate all the opinions about it. Without more detail from the person who made the statement, it's hard to tell how the logs were placed. Just curious.

Col: Yes, like a wagon wheel. I've done that before, pretend it is "drainage tile". As the logs rot, they make the soil more porous.

I did that with a peach tree many years ago and it solved the heavy clay problem for me. I placed four logs, evenly spaced around the tree. It worked pretty well.

However, now I just do the same with drainage tile and put pea gravel underneath the tile.

The drain tile is faster acting is the reason why I use that now.

This idea has some basis in reality. In forests, it has long been observed that tree roots will sometimes follow the paths of old, rotted out root systems. This would seem to be a way to mimick that. A bit cumbersome for many situations, but if you want to do it, I see no harm.

+oM

Thank you guys, I think I will try it.

I buried some logs awhile back to fill in some low spots on my property. It worked well and grass quickly covered the area again, so I don't know if they have rotted yet or not. The strangest thing though, the logs were Tallow, and one of them actually rooted and sent up sprouts. If your logs are from anything aggressive like Tallow or Ailanthus, make sure they have dried out before you bury them.

Another thing that grows in (or on) claylike soils (it's vulnerable to dryness) is Armillaria. I see that quite often around here, would never bury wood near a new tree for that reason alone.

Buried wood is also a good nesting site for termites. For years we had winged dampwood termites emerging from out lawn each summer, near the patio. Apparently some wood was buried under it.