Massive Treeroots + Plastic Waste
simplegarden
Posts: 9
Hello all,
I recently started gardening for the first time this year- we moved into this house around three years ago, but never really started gardening until now.
The garden had been covered by weed suppressing sheets, but also large plastic bags, upon unearthing them, we found out that it had all broken down into billions of pieces- so lots and lots of plastic waste. (This garden has not been used for 20+ years).
When we tried to clear up the rubbish that had accumulated during that time, we found massive tree roots that spanned the entire garden area (the roots themselves were growing tiny plants! I had thought those weeds last year looked a lot like mini-trees..). The neighbouring garden has a massive tree that just borders our back garden through the hedge.
In short- I have read up on what I can do right now (container gardening, dig trenches around the tree roots, etc.) but what I am really concerned about is the fact that I cannot cultivate the soil in the garden at all.
Any comments/insights/experiences would be really helpful, I would really like to have a nice veggie patch in the back, but this seems impossible now.
I recently started gardening for the first time this year- we moved into this house around three years ago, but never really started gardening until now.
The garden had been covered by weed suppressing sheets, but also large plastic bags, upon unearthing them, we found out that it had all broken down into billions of pieces- so lots and lots of plastic waste. (This garden has not been used for 20+ years).
When we tried to clear up the rubbish that had accumulated during that time, we found massive tree roots that spanned the entire garden area (the roots themselves were growing tiny plants! I had thought those weeds last year looked a lot like mini-trees..). The neighbouring garden has a massive tree that just borders our back garden through the hedge.
In short- I have read up on what I can do right now (container gardening, dig trenches around the tree roots, etc.) but what I am really concerned about is the fact that I cannot cultivate the soil in the garden at all.
Any comments/insights/experiences would be really helpful, I would really like to have a nice veggie patch in the back, but this seems impossible now.
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Posts
Will have to keep at it with the clearing up- slow and steady wins the race!
You're right that if you just make a raised bed on top of the tree roots, you'll just be feeding the tree. I know - that's how I ended up with a 2' high raised bed in which I couldn't grow any crops but I grew a huge mesh of walnut tree roots😬
If you identify the tree (you can try posting some photos on here for help) you can research whether you can safely remove those roots which are nearer the surface which might help to keep your garden tidier.
If you want to grow veg / have beds you might have to go down the very expensive route of lots of hard core & paving most of the garden and then building substantial raised beds on the paving.
Meanwhile keep digging out / cutting off the suckers as they appear.
Are you friends with your neighbours? Are they particularly attached to this tree? Might save you all a headache and a great deal of expense if they allowed you to pay for it to be cut down....
That won't be an option if it's a fine old oak tree or has a Preservation Order or the neighbours love it - but they might be worried about having such a large tree in their garden anyway.
Firstly, thank you for your comments/suggestions, unfortunately I cannot seem to identify the tree, but I am posting some pictures here to see if anyone else can.
It is a beautiful and magnificent tree- I personally wouldn't want to cut it down, and I don't really see my neighbour being okay with it either at this stage, good point though, because that is most definitely a permanent solution.
At this stage trying to garden on a low budget due to uncertain times, etc. but I will definitely keep the paving option in mind for the future!
Oh- is that ivy? Because the branches are so high, I couldn't really make out the difference in the leaves.
I think you might be right, I haven't actually seen it produce any cherries in the three years I have been here, but maybe that's because there isn't another tree nearby?
You are quite accurate with the roots- they are quite literally everywhere, have even gone under the patio and loosened all the tiles (also tried to grow another tree through the tiles, before we cut it down).
Because it is quite literally on the border of our garden, I can't really see us managing to cut off all the sprawling roots, let alone keep them at bay for any veggie growing!
I have been looking very closely at wild cherry trees, and I do think you have identified it correctly. Sorry to hear about your cherry-struggles, I will take heed for my own (future) attempts with that particular plant.
Depending how large an area we're talking about it might be possible to remove quite a lot of roots which are just below the surface - either with saws and pick axes or with the assistance of a hired mini digger. Perhaps you could tackle a realtively small part of the garden and see how it goes?
We removed quite a lot of (neighbour's) silver birch root which was lifting our path without (unfortunately😬) any ill effect on the tree.
That tree is not a particularly valuable specimen. It's been there for donkey's years so some surface root removal probably won't do it any harm at all. I'd be more concerned that while ever it's there, it's going to compromise what you can do with your garden.
Also- I know that I cannot do much with the plastic pieces beyond just try and remove them slowly but surely, but I am really concerned about growing any veg in the soil direct because of chemical absorption by the edible plants. Do you think this is a real concern, or that the plastic content in the soil (for now) is harmless when it comes to growing veggies there?