I was looking back through this group to see if I could find an answer
to my questions but I could not. So here goes. I bought a new house
last year that was build where an old shopping center was. I am in
the back corner of the subdivision and the builder left all the old
redwood trees that lines the old shopping center. I love them, but
want to clean up the look of my backyard. The trees range from 6" -
18" in diameter and 20 - 60+' tall and run the entire length of my
back and side fence, one about every 4-8'. What I would like to do is
build a 18-24" retaining wall about 2' infront of them and backfill
that with soil so I could plant some flowers and other shade loving
plants. I have always heard that backfilling soil like this against
the tree trunk can kill the trees. Is this true? If so, could I
build some sort of box around the trunk and fill with gravel to keep
the soil away and still build my raised bed?

Thanks!

I would think it would kill the trees. Ingrid

(Chris) wrote:

I was looking back through this group to see if I could find an answer
to my questions but I could not. So here goes. I bought a new house
last year that was build where an old shopping center was. I am in
the back corner of the subdivision and the builder left all the old
redwood trees that lines the old shopping center. I love them, but
want to clean up the look of my backyard. The trees range from 6" -
18" in diameter and 20 - 60+' tall and run the entire length of my
back and side fence, one about every 4-8'. What I would like to do is
build a 18-24" retaining wall about 2' infront of them and backfill
that with soil so I could plant some flowers and other shade loving
plants. I have always heard that backfilling soil like this against
the tree trunk can kill the trees. Is this true? If so, could I
build some sort of box around the trunk and fill with gravel to keep
the soil away and still build my raised bed?

Thanks!



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Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Backfilling with 18-24" of soil would surely damage your trees. Why don't
you just try planting things that will thrive in the exisiting soil under
the trees. I've got a little island of redwoods where ferns, trillium,
vanilla leaf, Soloman's seal, ginger, hosta, violas, lamium, epimedium,
Vancouveria, huckleberry, vine maple and other shade tolerant plants are
growing. It's my own little forest.


(Chris) wrote:

I was looking back through this group to see if I could find an answer
to my questions but I could not. So here goes. I bought a new house
last year that was build where an old shopping center was. I am in
the back corner of the subdivision and the builder left all the old
redwood trees that lines the old shopping center. I love them, but
want to clean up the look of my backyard. The trees range from 6" -
18" in diameter and 20 - 60+' tall and run the entire length of my
back and side fence, one about every 4-8'. What I would like to do is
build a 18-24" retaining wall about 2' infront of them and backfill
that with soil so I could plant some flowers and other shade loving
plants. I have always heard that backfilling soil like this against
the tree trunk can kill the trees. Is this true? If so, could I
build some sort of box around the trunk and fill with gravel to keep
the soil away and still build my raised bed?

On 5 May 2003 14:57:45 -0700, (Chris)
wrote:

I have always heard that backfilling soil like this against
the tree trunk can kill the trees. Is this true? If so, could I
build some sort of box around the trunk and fill with gravel to keep
the soil away and still build my raised bed?

This would kill most trees, but is OK with Coast Redwoods. You will
probably have lots of suckers to deal with though.

The problem is that I need to build some sort of dividing area between
the patio and the wall on the other side of the trees. A 18-24" wall
would be perfect and then I could also cap it with some sort of stone
so it doubles as another area to sit on. My backyard is small as it
is a new house so I need to take advantage of as much space as
possible. If I build some sort of box around the trunks to keep the
dirt away from the trunks and keep it clean, should it be ok?

Thanks,
Chris


"NewsUser" wrote in message ...
Backfilling with 18-24" of soil would surely damage your trees. Why don't
you just try planting things that will thrive in the exisiting soil under
the trees. I've got a little island of redwoods where ferns, trillium,
vanilla leaf, Soloman's seal, ginger, hosta, violas, lamium, epimedium,
Vancouveria, huckleberry, vine maple and other shade tolerant plants are
growing. It's my own little forest.