tree roots in the garden bed

[habitat_gardener]

The house I moved to last year was all weeds, except for one raised bed that the owner had built but not used much a year or so before. Since last year, we've sheet-mulched the whole yard, front and back, and built a greenhouse and 2 more raised beds. Those two new beds are now fully planted with tomato and basil plants.

I was getting ready to plant that original raised bed last week. But when I started to dig a hole, it was full of roots. I investigated and found the roots were coming up from the bottom of the bed. Then I looked about 10 feet over and saw the source: a cherry plum tree (probably planted by the birds)!

So I've started digging through the whole bed to remove the worst of the roots. In addition, I'm going to dig a root moat, about a foot deep, between the plum tree and the raised bed, and fill it with very coarse mulch (the 6-inch pieces that didn't quite get chipped). I'm also going to put some cardboard or newspaper at the bottom of the raised bed (it has hardware cloth on the bottom, but it'd be too difficult to remove it to dig out roots). Then I'll add some more soil and compost to the bed and plant.

Am I wasting my time?

I may get around to installing a better root barrier by the fall (sheet metal? Or removing the tree?), but I need to plant the rest of my plants somewhere in the next week or so.

Oh, and meanwhile, I've had my eye on the hackberry tree that's about 20 feet from the 2 new raised beds. Hmm...

What with the front- yard hugelkultur bed and the proposed root moats in the back, the neighbors will probably be wondering just how many bodies are buried here!

[kurt]

Every 5 yrs or so we root prune our mangoes,lychees at the canopy drip line.At about 10-15 foot out from center the roots are usually 4-6 inches round.When we open the ground back up for the prune we notice the cut ends shoot out like a explosion thousands of hair like roots.If you build a trench of mulched material that is just a easy food/water source for the roots.They will look for the easiest path to garner food and water.What you don't see is the fine almost transparent web like roots that will suck any water avaliable.A root prune regimen should slow down any problems if you want the beds and the trees at the same time.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by kurt

Every 5 yrs or so we root prune our mangoes,lychees at the canopy drip line.At about 10-15 foot out from center the roots are usually 4-6 inches round.When we open the ground back up for the prune we notice the cut ends shoot out like a explosion thousands of hair like roots.If you build a trench of mulched material that is just a easy food/water source for the roots.They will look for the easiest path to garner food and water.What you don't see is the fine almost transparent web like roots that will suck any water avaliable.A root prune regimen should slow down any problems if you want the beds and the trees at the same time.

Root pruning makes sense! I was thinking the roots would be easier to get at in a mulched bed than in the soil, especially since the mulched areas won't get any water until the next rainy season (October). And I was also thinking I'd have to do it every year. Every 5 years sounds more doable. The garden bed is now full of those hairlike roots, plus thicker roots coming up from the bottom.

How far down do you prune roots? A foot?

[pauldavid]

Whenever I find roots, I trace them back to the outside of the bed and chop them into with an axe after that I chop and dig the ones out of the bed. Good luck, sounds like you have a lot of work ahead!

[Gardeneer]

I would dig a trench between the bed(s) and the tree and chop/ cut off all the roots. The remains of the roots should eventually die , when disconnected from the mother tree.
Some trees are more aggressive than others but it will take many years for the roots grow past the trench.

[kurt]

Dependent on variety 1 and two foot.At our trees we also incorporated a trench(drip line perimeter)with loose gravel for optimal watering(soaker hoses infused with ferts at blooming/fruit development,all hooked up to a pumped well on timers.We do not have a farm but we do have some locals that will "buy the tree"each season,pick fruit then sell themselves.As long as the trees help with the taxes.maintenance etc.of property is fine with us.

[beefsteak]

The area I put my raised beds was full of Staghorn Sumac, they are no more.

[ddsack]

We have a row of Blue Spruce that were planted on the far north side of our garden years ago - at the time they were tiny and we never thought they would grow so big so fast (well, 40 years is not so fast!) Cutting them down is not an option, so every spring and fall I pull fine roots from the end 1/4 of the beds closest to the trees. They grow back fast.