Now that summer is waning (-: I'm starting to plan for next year. Part
of the parkway in front of my house has a big Norway maple in the center
and two other weird shaped trees at the end. The parkway area is about
20' x 4' square (in the city a parkway is the land between the sidewalk
and the street). Because of the mature trees, nothing has ever grown
here, not even weeds and the roots are very dense due to the age of the
tree. The city tree butchers came by last year and took down a limb from
the norway maple (that I did not want them to) which now allows for more
light in this area.

What I was thinking is putting in a raised bed, perhaps 12" in height, to
have some fresh soil to perhaps plant some semi-sun tolerant herbs and
other things. I heard it's not a good idea to put a raised bed right
next to a tree because it does something to the roots and can kill the
tree. Does anyone know how far from the trees I should keep the raised
bed from affecting the tree's roots? I was hoping 2' on each side of
the trees but I'm not sure about this.