is it ok to put rocks and stones around base of trees?

bobbyss · 28-06-2020 03:15PM #1

I am digging up the garden and getting rid of lawn but in doing so I have come across a huge amount of stones and rocks. I had planted a tree in the lawn a few years ago and I am finding nothing but rocks and stones around it and it is no wonder it has not grown at all really. The builders must have simply dumped everything there.

So now I have a big pile of rocks and stones and they look unsightly. I was wondering could I spread them around a row of about ten trees I have and in so doing the pile would be eliminated. The soil it would be covering always has had weeds in it so I figure with so many stones and rocks this would suppress them. There are a LOT of stones. It would not just be one layer but many. I presume the rain still will get through to the soil through the rocks and stones?

looksee · 28-06-2020 07:30PM

Not really, not because the trees would be upset by the rocks, they wouldn't, but rocks will not keep weeds down, the weeds will grow round and through them and be impossible to strim/ pull out.

bobbyss · 28-06-2020 07:44PM

looksee wrote: »

Not really, not because the trees would be upset by the rocks, they wouldn't, but rocks will not keep weeds down, the weeds will grow round and through them and be impossible to strim/ pull out.

The rocks and stones would be at least two feet in depth? Is there any depth that weeds would not grow out of? No sunlight getting though at all?

magicbastarder · 28-06-2020 08:00PM

you're going to bury the trunks of the trees under two foot of stones?

Lumen · 28-06-2020 09:07PM

It doesn't seem like a very natural situation for a tree to be in. I can't think of any specific reason why it's a bad idea in our climate, maybe weird humidity around the bark?

Eventually leaf fall and weed growth will build up a layer of soily stuff and the tree will suffer.

A skip bag seems like a safer idea.

bobbyss · 28-06-2020 09:07PM

magicbastarder wrote: »

you're going to bury the trunks of the trees under two foot of stones?

I have got piles and piles of rocks and stones. I have trees planted in about an about an area the size of a quarter of a tennis court.

The area is all soil and I am constantly pulling weeds from there. My idea is to cover the whole area with layers of stones and rocks. All the area. My thinking is that piles of stones and rocks covering all this would deal with weeds?

phormium · 28-06-2020 09:43PM

If you really want to go ahead and do it I'd put a layer of old carpet under them, guarantee no weeds will come through but I don't think burying the barks by 2 feet is such a good plan either.

Jim_Hodge · 28-06-2020 09:50PM

bobbyss wrote: »

I have got piles and piles of rocks and stones. I have trees planted in about an about an area the size of a quarter of a tennis court.

The area is all soil and I am constantly pulling weeds from there. My idea is to cover the whole area with layers of stones and rocks. All the area. My thinking is that piles of stones and rocks covering all this would deal with weeds?

Guaranteed it will be a mess of weeds, tree seedlings etc within two years.

CJhaughey · 28-06-2020 09:53PM

The root systems of trees grow in a way that allows them to breathe, they seek a level that suits them, covering the root system in a heavy layer of rocks won't do the trees any good at all.
If you need to get rid of the rocks , buy or make some gabions and use the rocks to fill them and make them into a feature or a table or something.
Rocks in a lawn are a pain and gabions are a good way of making use of them without having to dispose of them or transport them any distance.

Covering an area in rocks and stones will not stop weed growth, nature is too resilient for that.
Covering it in weed matting and rocks and stones may slow their growth but they will return as the rocks and stones find their level and sink into the ground.

looksee · 28-06-2020 10:08PM

I wasn't really thinking of something so impenetrable, its possibly an idea to make a pile/tumulus of the rocks a bit away from the trees, then do a sort of artistic layer on top and sides and try and get some pockets of things like hardy geranium and aubretia take over rather than weeds. I'm not wholly convinced mind

macraignil · 30-06-2020 11:57AM

I had loads of stone in the garden here and found the easiest thing to do was to line it up to make edging for raised beds. Not sure if it would suit your plans for your garden but stone can make a very nice building material for structures in the garden and looks even better over time when it gets some moss and lichens starting to grow on it. It can be a great habitat for wildlife but I would make sure to dig out any perennial weeds in an area I was going to put it. Most of the stone edging I put in is now overgrown but I posted this video at a time of year when a lot of plants in my garden are dying back after the summer so the stone is a bit more visible than it would be over the rest of the year. There was a tradition in gardening of making a rockery where alpine plants can be planted in the gaps in the stones and one of these or a dry stone wall type feature would be what I would suggest could be the best use for your stone.

Trees I have read can be sensitive to changes in soil level close to their trunk and when the type of bark that is adapted to be exposed to air becomes buried in damp soil diseases can develop in the tree. Further away from the trunk I don't think the change in level caused by the stone would be too critical but I'd be careful not to change the level of the soil immediately at the tree trunk.

bobbyss · 30-06-2020 12:09PM

macraignil wrote: »

I had loads of stone in the garden here and found the easiest thing to do was to line it up to make edging for raised beds. Not sure if it would suit your plans for your garden but stone can make a very nice building material for structures in the garden and looks even better over time when it gets some moss and lichens starting to grow on it. It can be a great habitat for wildlife but I would make sure to dig out any perennial weeds in an area I was going to put it. Most of the stone edging I put in is now overgrown but I posted this video at a time of year when a lot of plants in my garden are dying back after the summer so the stone is a bit more visible than it would be over the rest of the year. There was a tradition in gardening of making a rockery where alpine plants can be planted in the gaps in the stones and one of these or a dry stone wall type feature would be what I would suggest could be the best use for your stone.

Trees I have read can be sensitive to changes in soil level close to their trunk and when the type of bark that is adapted to be exposed to air becomes buried in damp soil diseases can develop in the tree. Further away from the trunk I don't think the change in level caused by the stone would be too critical but I'd be careful not to change the level of the soil immediately at the tree trunk.

That's interesting thanks a lot. I don't have any plans to put rocks or stones around or anywhere near the trunks. Rain would still get through the stones. You would wonder in cities when you see trees covered by paths how they continue to exist at all. Think of O'Connell Street in Dublin. All cement at their base and not a blade of grass.

macraignil · 30-06-2020 01:51PM

bobbyss wrote: »

That's interesting thanks a lot. I don't have any plans to put rocks or stones around or anywhere near the trunks. Rain would still get through the stones. You would wonder in cities when you see trees covered by paths how they continue to exist at all. Think of O'Connell Street in Dublin. All cement at their base and not a blade of grass.

There is stone in almost every area of soil so trees can grow with stones without a problem. The trees in city streets are mostly planted small and grow to fit into their surroundings so they have plenty of time for the roots to spread out under the concrete street surfaces. I think the problem is just in changing levels and if you are not building up directly against the trunks I don't think there would be a problem.

I dump barrow loads of used horse bedding in the general area of some trees I have planted as the soil is very thin in that area and it helps keep the weeds down and they seem to grow away fine but I am careful to avoid it being in contact with the tree trunks. Once I forgot to move the material away from the trunk of a lilac tree as I had intended and it had started to sprout new stems from the base when I eventually got around to the job of pulling the material back from the trunk. I was able to rub off the new buds before my tree became a shrub but it just demonstrates how changing the soil levels can cause a reaction in the tree. Some trees might cope with changes better than others.

is it ok to put rocks and stones around base of trees?

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