Roundup and a whole bunch of other weed killers, including the supposed long term ones are not nearly as nasty as some think. I have a crushed granite driveway parking lot and last summer I put five different kinds of weed/grass killers on it to kill weeds. Not one single one came even close to killing all the weeds, including areas that were repeated ly resprayed. They can be annoying on a lawn when one gets careles and over-spray gives a temporary brown spot, but unless one uses agricultural/commercial grade spray, I believe they are over-rated. The only thing I ever used on the drive-way that lasted a full year was old gasoline that had become to much like varnish. As I wrote in another thread, IF you can get help and have access to a rental store. Rent a sod-cutter and cut the sod off and either haul it away or have them dig a pit deep enough so that a covering of dirt can be put over the stacked sod, even if three fourths are above grade, as it will turn into a dirt mound quite quickly.

Your probably going to have a wait few years to use your trimmer or herbicide around your trees. That's what I was planning on doing right after I planted my trees. After the spring growth, when the time finally came to take care of the weeds, I saw I was wrong. There just not room to do either with out doing some kind of damage. Your seedlings are in such a weak state right now and that will last the first year. Don't expect to see much growth the first year, but hang on, because the second year the trees will grow fast. Just do what I did and mark their location somehow so you can keep your eye on them the first year or two. Good luck and keep us informed on their growth. I am having about 200 more trees (loblolly pine) planted this winter. 100 professionally and 100 or so myself. We had some problems with the timber company next to our property this past summer. They destroyed our fence in two places. They drove a dozer through the gaps and did something. And the heat from their fires scorched a bunch of our large oaks. (we had already lost about 50 large oaks do the drought of 2010). The worse part about it (my opinion) is that they didn't even tell us, I had to find out about it by walking the edges our property. About 10 calls later to different agencies (county, state and the feds) this was the deal we came up with. treenutt

if the goo is labeled for this as a proper use.. knock yourself out ... dont take any guilt trip over such ... IMHO .. a few inches of dirt is NOT going to kill nor harm this tree ... crikey.. 95% of its roots are probably way beyond the spot you are working .. but that said.. ITS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY ... to buy the dirt ... as i swear.. within minutes.. the maple will have grown feeder roots into it.. to re-establish its dominance... you are not going to fool this bat turd with a little paper or card board ... if you want to TRY ... just dig out small holes.. in native soil .. bare root your plants.. insert.. and water the devil out of them until they have a chance to compete with the monster ... ALWAYS broadcast water.. and NEVER fert just the babe ... else guess where the tree will grow new feeder roots .. which will choke out your plants ... the idea is that you are trying to fool the tree.. into not knowing you are trying to plant other stuff under it ... and with the experience of growing 1650 hosts under trees ... i kinda have some experience with such ... since i have the generic RU ... i would spray now... wait a few weeks.. to see what i missed ... [mostly because the grass isnt even greening yet in MI] ... then respray.. and just cover with 3 or 4 inches of good bark chunks ... the extra inch.. so that when it settles .. i will have the requisite 2 to 3 ... you can.. immediately.. plant in the dead grass .. [do try not to walk thru your killer.. get your shoes all wet with such.. and then walk across lawn you want to keep.. been there done that ... and with a garden tractor .. weeks later.. wondering what the heck all those lines in the lawn were.. lol] and anything that pokes thru i would spot spray with a windex type hand spraying during the growing season ... again .. the added soil.. is a waste of time and money.. and will only stimulate the tree to attacking whatever you plant in it ... ken

Yes Bitter Blue is St. Augustine. If you are a native you know the deal, there's no cheap or easy way to go. As stated before, Bahia doesn't like the shade at all, I know because the lawn next to the woods here is almost gone - (we have Bahia.) I stopped being particular about a perfect lawn years ago, especially since when you mow it and it's green no-one can tell that you have weeds and 3 different kinds of grass. Life is too short and that's why we live in the country and not in a deed restricted place. I still think a landscaped area around the shade tree with pretty flowers and bushes is the best thing, then the rest in whatever grass you think you can afford to plant and maintain.