Tree root competition
old_dirt 6a
2 months ago
Not 100% hosta subject but with all the concerns regarding tree root competition, I thought I'd share this.
Last year i put in a raised bed in a semi sunny location to raise some vegetables. The bed is 4'x10'x8' deep. I put a heavy layer of cardboard in the bottom to surpress weeds and filled it with a top soil and compost mix. This year while adding a couple inches of compost, i discovered all the tree roots and tried to get rid of them all. There is a med/lrg maple about 20' from it and a large white pine about 40' from it
The picture below is the roots taken from only half of the bed, a 4'x5' area. Unbelievable the amount of roots in one year, not to mention the 100's (literally) of the little white grubs.
No wonder I have problems with my hostas, they are located nearby with many more trees and closer to the beds.
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no spray report for a garden in north alabama
Comments (22)It is still June, so not so bad, it is going to be much worse later. From the list of repeat blooming roses that I don't spray these are the winners so far. Knock out - healthy Darlow's Enigma - healthy Home Run -healthy Puerto Rico -15 % leaf loss Ducher -15% leaf loss Arethusa -10 % leaf loss Earth Song -15% leaf loss Quitness - 10% leaf loss New Dawn - less then 10% Awakening -less then 10% Lyda -20% Belinda's Dream -30% Perle d'Or -30% Cecille Brunner -30% Marie Pavie- 40% Illusion -10% Quadra - 5-10% White Cup- 15% Carefree Sunshine -less then 10% In my sister's no spray garden close to me Dublin Bay- 10% Dortmund -10-15% Knock out -healthy Colette -30% McCartney Rose - 20% I also have plenty of healthy once bloomers and species that I never spray, too many to list now. If anybody interested, I can always share with them. I do spray my Austins, Bourbons and moderns. They would be 100% bald by now w/o spray. I see it in my sisters organic garden. Good culture, plenty of sun and defoliated roses :( I am trying to get rid of roses that require spraying, but it is so difficult to part with some of them (Lady Hillingdon, Yolande de Aragon, Deuil de Dr Reynaud, Abraham Darby, etc). They all are huge and beautiful. I am givivng away more and more of these to good homes. Olga...See MoreAmistad Salvia
Comments (31)VW: I seldom log in to my Houzz account, but I had to to say that I love your painting! Thanks for sharing. Also, I know this is an old thread, but I found it, so others might as we; so while I'm here--I stored my large pots, two of which had Salvia Black & Blue and two which had Amistad, amongst other plants, in an unheated shed over the winter 2019 to 2020. I put them in there in the early part of November and didn't do a thing to them until taking the containers out of the shed in mid May 2020. All four of the Salvias had begun to put out new growth and now have been blooming since the end of June. Also successfully overwintering in those and various other containers in the shed: dusty miller, wallflower, Victoria Blue salvia, and two different nemesias: 'Blue Bird' and a darker purple/blue one the name of which I can't recall. I'm in SE Pennsylvania, zip code listed as Zone 6b, but maps suggest our property straddles 6b and 7a....See MoreHosta in pots under trees?
Comments (6)Newhostalady is right, to my sad experience. I had two Francee hostas in wooden barrels for years, not knowing what was going on where i couldn't see. I put a new hosta in a new barrel three years ago, and the contrast led me to replace the older barrels. It took me two days, a saw and a hatchet to pry the Francees out of their barrels thanks to maple tree roots. The wooden barrel bottoms had rotted completely away, and it was a mess inside. For the new barrels, I got enough curved patio pavers to make a stone ring under each one, with a big hole in the middle. Every spring since then, DH and I have tilted the barrels to make sure the space is clear. The empty air is not something the tree roots want to grow in. I don't think we need to check next spring. It's working! And the hostas didn't bat an eye at being cut out of the roots/barrels. I'll get photos next spring....See MoreJune 2019 project...
Comments (23)Jasmine isn't hardy here so I don't know much about it other than it sounds like something I'd like :-) We do grow honeysuckle vines - mainly 'Serotina' now. Be sure to post pictures of the arbour as it fills in over the years :-) Your suburbia is wilder than ours if you have both deer and bears(!) Coyotes are the main problem here. We have the 6' fence limit here too - I think that's common. The coyotes could go over it if they tried but the additional height is a bit flimsy - it was a 'quick-and dirty' solution a couple of years ago that we've not got around to replacing.... We look to see if any of the fence top is down before we put the dog out because that might indicate there is a coyote in the yard. So far that has never happened. Also, I hope any coyote would react like a friend's dog did - the dog had started to pop over the fence to play with a neighbour's dog! The day we increased the height of the fence, she tried to go over the fence to play with a dog next door - she aimed for the top of the chainlink fence as usual and *smack* into the new wire topping! She bounced off and tried again - same result! She shook herself, looked disgusted at the fence, walked away and never tried it again! Hopefully any coyote would have the same experience! If I was doing a 6' chainlink fence, I'd do the same thing - i.e. put a bar and 4' and then the bar at the 6' top - the 1/3 / 2/3 proportions look good and might help with discouraging jumping in by wildlife - or jumping out by the resident dog(s)! So, are some of the plantings by the fence destined to grow tall to discourage deer jumping in? Which direction is the bed facing - i.e. I assume, if needed, you've factored in the shade cast by tall plantings along the fence when siting a veggie garden..... ? I used to want an acre or so of garden - now our 1/4 acre is looking too big :-) *sigh* aging...!...See Moreold_dirt 6a
2 months ago
indianagardengirl
2 months ago
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agogrubs are probably Japanese beetles ....
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Japanese+beetle+grubs&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images
i think i recall.. a few.. say 10. per sq foot is not really a problem.. but when you get hundreds.. that is usually the summer you will be complaining .... seems i know that from my old lawn warrior days....
and here is the neighbor putting in a new septic field next to a silver maple .. it amazing how little soil the grass grows in.. and not surprising the lawn browns out in july and august... usually not enough useful water ....
my dog had bad enough gas from eating rabbit poop.. i didnt give him grubs for dessert.. lol ... i put them on the black top.. and birds appears in minutes....
ken
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agoold_dirt 6a thanked newhostalady Z6 ON, Canadaold_dirt 6a
2 months agonewhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
2 months ago
djacob Z5b SE WI
2 months ago
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