Try the ground cover. If it doesn't work out to your satisfaction, you can always cut down the tree. Once you cut down the tree and decide that wasn't such a good idea, it will take thirty years to get a tree that size again.

How about just fill the area with bark, decomposed granite or other mulchy type ground cover? I think you'd be sorry to lose the tree.

You will be horrified by the difference in temperature if you remove the tree. What is your general location? If you live in a climate with an extremely short summer season, it might be worth considering the removal of a tree.

If the bare soil is a problem, then a nice layer of mulch...wood chips, pine bark, pine straw, etc. solves the problem. It's also the single, most helpful thing we can do for any tree, as long as it's applied in a generous swath and not piled up on the trunk.

I love the suggestions of mulch instead of ground cover.

I live in Texas so it is very hot for a considerable part of the year, I think trying the mulch and keeping the tree is a great idea.

Shade all the way!! And I would mulch also. If you want color you could put any kind of lawn ornament/decoration under the tree. They could even be seasonal, maybe one of those flag holder things that have banners hanging on them, ugh, not thinking of the correct terms right now. You can change out the flag/banner for different seasons. Or make it really easy and don't put anything but mulch.

Here in CA many people are removing lawn and replacing with mulch, maybe adding some drought tolerant plants. Some are installing spirals of drip watering hoses around trees. It's amazing to see this transformation in our neighborhoods. I think it looks nice. Mulch might need to be replaced occasionally. Should not be too many weeds.

I checked out pictures of vinca minor, looks pretty.

Depending on how dense the shade is, a third option might be to keep the trees, ad seed the area beneath them with a more shade tolerant grass seed.

In Texas, she won't have the options of a seed grown, shade tolerant grass species. Warm-season grass species are not going to thrive in shade, even those that are advertised as tolerant.

Keep the trees! We are nuts about our old sycamore and our Century elm, spending lots to keep both trimmed and to treat the elm against disease.

Keep the tree. If you don't like the brown area under the tree because of the way the house looks as a result, how about a bench under the tree with planters that have hostas in them. Hostas are great shade loving plants.

I've tried hostas, they do not do well for me. I like the idea of vinca minor, may wait until fall, it is too hot to plant now.

Why in the world would anyone even contemplate cutting down a tree(especially in HOT Texas) because the grass doesn't grow, that way of thinking makes absolutely NO sense to me whatsoever! Keep a tree, who cares about the grass? I sure don't!

hostas do well in pots, I understand -- see over at the Hosta Forum. Many people there grow them in pots -- watering would be essential in your climate!

I have vinca minor growing under a cedar tree under an overhang. You just have to watch out and keep track of the trailing stems. They root at nodes and can become invasive.

I know there are people who prefer having a "living in the woods" vibe but I'm not one of them. As a result of taking out a bunch of trees, some too close to the house, the resulting light and air and panorama views from our hillside location have provided a big payoff. Also, in this area, having trees too close to the house is a fire danger. But alas, having a lawn is not currently an option for us.

My vote would be to take out the tree and enjoy the brighter yard.

Keep the trees. Around here, people will "lace" their trees, cutting out some of the branches so that some light gets through to the soil below. Not sure if you would want to do that in hot Texas.

Our front yard is all sun, no shade but in the back yard we have one tree and it is getting big and does provide lots of shade if you can walk under it. But the middle of the back yard is sunny. After sitting at my daughter in laws house yesterday where she had tons of trees in both the front yard and back, I thought to myself how pleasant it was seeing the birds and butterflies flying around. The mosquitos not so much. Sadly she moved yesterday.

Call an arborist. They can trim some of the tree without harming it to allow more light to hit the soil. It's worth a call.

I have a large tree in the front yard of my garden home. Thankfully, I'm not responsible for the upkeep of the front yard. The tree offers much needed shade here in Central Alabama. The homeowners association has scratched their chins trying to find some grass that would grow under the tree, to no avail. The mulched area keeps getting larger and larger, and what little grass there is has bald spots and has pretty wispy-looking grass, but I do love that tree! I keep holding my breath when we get a bad storm. Will it fall on me? I have pine trees on two sides of my house also.

The one thing I would think about if you get a ground cover: I've been told that it is a great place for snakes to hang out. I imagine in Texas there might be a few. I sure see them often around my house.

I like snakes and reptiles and respect the great job they do along with frogs and toads, eating insects. However, you make a good point, I would probably avoid walking on the ground cover 'patch'.

The intended ground cover area is not large and is bisected by a concrete walk, I could put another walk over to the swing.

We put in artificial grass in our front yard...5-6 years ago. Lawn service kept getting more expensive and we were traveling south for most of the winter, so it made sense to us. No regrets. It was expensive, but I love it...it is a good surface to walk on with my walker; backyard grass is lumpy...brown patches today, and not pretty at all. Our front 'grass' always looks good! The tree in the middle of it is a pain... crab apple...that sheds leaves, seeds that try to take root, but it IS very pleasant shade, so we put up with it.

The only snakes that I've found in my ground covers here in Texas are Earth Snakes,

Virginia striatula. I've held them and not been bitten and they are very small

I think for their sake as well as mine, it would be best for me not to step on any critters hidden under the foliage.

I vote for shade. To many options on what to plant in shade... to get rid of a tree.

I AM a tree hugger! I love trees and will literally cry when I see someone having a tree cut down. I mean, if it's rotten or too close to the house...well sure, it needs to come out. But to cut down a tree for no good reason, makes me fighting mad! We will lose this planet soon due to deforestation...it's not if it's when! I believe it's sooner rather than later.

"makes me fighting mad!"

Which of course, will influence no one.

You CAN be a good influence and save trees, and I hope you do, because it is a good cause.

When you put down mulch under the tree, be sure to leave a buffer next to the trunk so the buggies don't start boring and so that the roots "breathe" a bit.

Yeah, don't put down a mulch volcano as they were saying on Victory Garden one episode. It will kill a tree.

I love to eat mulberries, but not a fan of all the birds or their mulberry excrement. I'd save the tree if you like it and it is in an ok place. Depending on how the tree is situated near the house, you could do some really nice landscaping. You don't have to grow flowers. You could have fun with rocks and lawn ornaments. Or you could make a little patio area.

Deforestation is concerning but I don't think the term or the problem refers to tree work in a residential neighborhood

Another reason to "lace" a tree is to help some wind go through it, opposed to it blowing down because of too much resistance.

The term is crown thinning, and requires a professional touch. Leaving stubs or 'lion tailing' are two very detrimental pruning practices that can permanently damage a tree, leading to dangerous results.

Lucille, if you truly value your tree, please think about protecting that root/soil system under it. I wouldn't do a lot of planting or creating walkways over the roots. Healthy roots=happy tree.

Rhizo

I was contemplating a bark mulch path area and some mulch under the tree and two patches of ground cover. When I look at most trees whether in suburban yards or in the forest, most have some sort of ground cover ranging from grass to random wild plants, and seem none the worse for it?

I'm grateful that no one has criticized my tree. It was already there, much smaller, when I purchased the home; there are those who consider mulberry trees invasive and dislike them.

I myself love eating the mulberries in the spring.

What part of Texas are you in? I'd be happy to give you a bunch of vinca minor this autumn.

I'm in northern Ellis County, just south of Dallas County.

do you have any "natural ground cover"? check at the nursery...snidely? sounds as if you're on the west coast...and under the current drought...I can't imagine what our old house in san diego looks like now...the lawn was hard to keep in the 80's...

Sylvia thank you for your kind offer, I live near Houston. I may check out the local garden club, they may have trimmings as well.

I do have 'something' that has made a flat patch of cover about 2 feet in diameter, I don't know what it is, near one of the roses, it looks almost like a flat version of a bamboo, I've just been keeping an eye on it.

Depending on how large this tree gets I may have to move the roses I planted near the picket fence.

I am grateful for the tree and for the other one, a large oak. Was chatting with my son this morning and his electric bill was over $200, he lives in a large old house he rents in Houston; so I was giving hime some ideas on how to save energy. My electric bill this month was around $70, I'm sure the trees helped.

Blast the lawns, they aren't needed, people waste water huge amounts watering them and not using them.

Trees so many are so good to birds, and all kinds of things, why people just chop down trees is beyond me. And brush too, grrrr, don't like noise of birds they complain but they love the loud music and vehicles. And also people need to think when they do have to take a tree down as its unsafe or rotten, just cut it down a bit, leave it for the birds like woodpeckers for bugs,etc. Lots animals use trees for many reasons. I wish people that hated wildlife go and live in buildings with nothing but noise all around them like they say they love.

"And also people need to think when they do have to take a tree down as its unsafe or rotten, just cut it down a bit,"

When a tree is unsafe or rotten, it should be trimmed, no matter how much, so that it is no longer unsafe. I agree that might not mean the entire tree has to go, but a token trim is not always enough. One might be liable for a tree falling and causing harm, that one knows is unsafe.

Save the tree. It could be the tree is starving the grass of water and nutrients. Maybe a hardy grass, or an attractive mulch.

Lucille, you've got a good head on your shoulders. If you can, get that mulch down as soon as you can. Your tree will benefit enormously over the summer.

I once had a friend who cut down every tree in her yard because she didn't like the "mess" it created. Made me sick at heart.

Keep the tree and try some of the suggestions above. If the flower, impatient, will grow at our location, try surrounding the tree with a bed of these. If plantings do not work, surround the tree with wood chips (mulch). Make sure that any wood product does not contain walnut bark or wood. Walnuts produce an enzyme that prohibits germination of competing woody plants and can kill fruit bearing trees.

This is the Houston Texas area it's HOT here every bit of shade is a blessing! I cry when one of my trees is cut down and only because they have died are they cut. We lost several to the horrible drought a few years ago. I would never cut a tree if it's serving a purpose, grass is not a must have. On the news recently they were showing how many people are going with artificial grass now because of the heat and water concerns. I have several ground covers here that work very well under the big trees. Go to the local plant store a real nursery, and ask their opinions on good ground cover for your area and the shade, that will give you the best type for your specific needs. Look into Asiatic Jasmine I have it growing like crazy under my trees and I have never watered it. You can even go with a more succulent and cactus garden that is very drought tolerant. They are beautiful and many more business parks and shopping centers are going that direction. Using mulch and stone in those areas. Create an area of large planters there, you can water them or set up drip irrigation to each planter. It doesn't have to be grass there's a lot of good options. The berries are feeding the birds and you! Those that don't live here and have not experienced the summers here don't know how extremely beneficial the trees are. I can't imagine how much my electric bill would be without the trees we have here. I do know that my Dallas house had one large tree in the back yard not near the house, and my bill was over $700 in the summer months, here my house is much bigger has more glass but has large trees all around it and my bill is in the $100 - 200 range most of the summer. Both houses had two zoned AC units.

No way would be giving up trees. Some idiot bought a house on our street and before even moving in had a crew come cut down the trees! We are talking huge oaks, this once was a large Plantation. We were all just sick about it. If you want a home with no trees buy one in a subdivision that has no trees don't come to a well established neighborhood with 100 yr old trees and massacre them. Now the idiots are complaining about how hot it is here well duh!

The oaks form a tunnel you drive through when you turn on the street and you can actually see the temperature guage on the car dropping as you drive down the street. It was one of the things we noticed and loved about our area. It reminded me of Oak Alley.

That's a beautiful area of Asiatic jasmine in a shady location under trees. It can be mowed to height and trimmed with a weed eater.

I'd leave the tree. Mulberries attract a number of birds. In particular when they are migrating through in the spring, indigo buntings love them. I planted a mulberry tree just for them.