Thread: roots everywhere
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Old 05-05-2005, 09:14 AM
Newt Newt is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2004
Location: Maryland zone 7
Posts: 239
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis
escape wrote:
On Wed, 4 May 2005 07:03:02 -0400, "Dan-o" opined:
The top 5-6 inches of soil in my raised beds contain a thick meshwork of fine roots. The roots are so thick that the soil forms a "crust" and does not allow water to penetrate easily. I have a few shrubs in the raised bed and I'm thinking they must be the source. Anyone else have this problem and any ideas on how to solve this problem? Thanks.

Yes, put a layer of finished compost on top and top that with a few inches of shredded mulch. Do not put the mulch right up to the trunk of the shrubs or you can cause problems with rot or too much moisture near the crown of the plants. Before you mulch, fully saturate the plants in the ground.

Piling all that on the shrubs roots may smother and kill them.

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Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5
Two or three inches of compost or mulch won't hurt your shrubs, but no deeper.

Newt
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When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
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