On Thu, 14 Jul 2011, "David E. Ross" wrote:

I think the preferred term is "tree well", not "tree pit".

Never heard tree well used around here. It is not lower then the sidewalk.
Often they are slightly higher.

Any ground cover will freeze in the winter. Walking on it then will
leave dead patches the size and shape of shoe prints.

Well, if there is a lot of snow there will be snow banks along the side and
people will have to get out the other side of the car. We could
intentionally pile a lot of snow into the pit to discourage stepping into
it. As long as the honey locust and any plants underneath don't mind wet
feet.

And with global warming we will have less time when it is below freezing at
the times people would be using their cars.

Consider a tree grate.

Thanks for the suggestion, but no. Remember I have nine feet along the
curb. The new large size is to capture more rain water and have less run
into the sewers.

Don http://foraging.com/ e-mail at page bottom.