Have you tried a drip line?

Try using a soaker hose or tree ring similar to THIS. Your trees will appreciate it and there is NO visual impact, negative or otherwise!!

I would fill in with the same type of rocks you are already using if needed. That tree soaker hose looks great. I didn't realize they had such a thing gardengal. With a quick connect on it, easy to use. Mulch would also help. NOT a mulch volcano, just a nice layer of shredded or pine straw. They are going to need water much more often, and longer, than you think. Especially the ones by the big tree.

All three of your trees root ball/crowns have red flags for me. I am seeing one Dogwood and two Stewartia. I have to wonder if water is the issue. To me that is not much of a slope to begin with and you live in the wet PNW. At seven years, they should have long since put out healthy root systems.

The first tree has a wad of moss at the crown, exposed roots and looks planted too high. I can practically make out the size of the pot it came in. The second, the Dogwood, has some strange looking brown paper bag at the crown and a ring of moss at what may be a graft union. What's up with that? The third looks to be planted inside a wire cage.

I think all three of these trees were not planted correctly and this is the result. There has been a failure to properly establish themselves. Building short retaining walls around them will not help that.

Do you use new root growth inhibiting Preen on a regular basis too?

Thank you so much for your detailed post. You are exactly right. Two Stewartia and a Dogwood. It was the third tree is what originally worried me and is why I called my arborist. It’s twine and he said it should not inhibit root development and doesn’t think it has.

He told my husband he might consider investigating the Dogwood roots (digging) but wants to wait until the fall.

I don’t use any kind of Preen. I’m not familiar with that. It sounds like you think I need a second opinion? Thanks again

First, it is nearly impossible to plant a tree "too high". And when in doubt, one should always err to the root crown or flare being at a minimum at or slightly above grade. Except for the first tree, I don't see that evident at all. In fact, the last tree looks to be telephone poled or planted too deeply....no root flare evident at all!! Nor do I see any indication of a wire cage. Planting too deeply is far more likely to be a concern for proper establishment and even failure than is planting high. I'd remove some soil to expose the root flare, not add more!

I am also a bit mystified by the assumption that this is a PNW location....did I miss something that stated the OP's location? If it is, the PNW is not nearly as wet as they would have you believe :-) In fact, most locations receive less annual rainfall than the national average and a good third less than what you see in NC!

first ... absolutely gorgeous house ... id insist on more pix of the interior.. but i suspect i cant get away with that for garden purposes.. lol ...

second ... no matter what hubby uses... unless the viewer is standing on the wall ... it cant be seen from the street .. right??? ... soooo .. quit standing on the wall .. lol ... and looking at it ...

below are two pics of how i did it.. at planting .. so the tree was planted on a flat surface ... the wall is not structural ... just enough to hold the soil ... but i would be leery of digging into the roots... so maybe just some surface rocks to hold some mulch would be good enough ..

and finally ... i THINK i see 2 of the trees in the first pic.. and frankly.. they dont look all that bad ... dont get too carried away.. fixing what might not be broke ...

im on pure beach sand.. and NEVER water a tree after the second year .. so.. except for some mulch .. im thinking water might not be an issue ...especially in the pnw ... [she linked the the PNW forum.. my only clue]

ken

here are the pix

Gardengal, It is the house and the existing big tree. They make me think of Pacific Northwest. I think I watched too much "Grimm" a few years ago. No, I don't believe the OP stated the location.

Thanks Everyone!!! I did originally tag to “Pacific Northwest” and after Christopher’s concern about my arborist’s suggestions, I re-tagged to “Tree.” I feel better after everyone’s comments. I love what you did Ken. I think I will suggest to my husband we go with something similar and start small.

And Gardengal, you’re right about the rainfall here. Most of the time we get a mist and the once a year (at most) sound of thunder is a major event.

😁

Ken, in re interior shots of that beautiful house: One might justify it by making sure some of the gardens show through the windows! :-)

Gardengal, you need some new glasses. Your picture looking and word reading are sub-optimal. I only accused the first Stewartia of being planted too high. It is unusual, but it can be done to the detriment of the tree. Put it in a shallow hole and throw some mulch on top. It is easy as can be. No one will ever notice. People expect their trees to have mulch volcanoes.

It is really easy to do on a slope where half to three quarters of the downhill side of a root ball can be left exposed if not planted correctly. That does not make tree walls the best solution to the problem either.

Seven year old twine? That is some of the most rigid looking seven year old twine I have ever seen. What is it made of? Hemp? If the twine looks like that after seven years, I'd sure like to know what the burlap around the root ball it should have been holding together still looks like. They did not bother to remove the twine? What else is in there. Twine!!!!!

Kim it wouldn't hurt to get a second onsite opinion from a skilled plant person. I'm sticking with my failure to establish from poor planting diagnosis.

I still want to know what in the heck is going on with the Dogwood. Can you take a closeup of that at soil level?

The dogwood is a grafted combination with a highly visible demarcation between scion and stock

If your question is on pic three it’s planted way too deep.

Agree with Christopher. The planting seems wrong. I'd dig around the base a bit and see what I find.

From a visual standpoint it would be better to have shrubs under the cedar anyway, instead of trees poking up into it from underneath. Trees that are likely to struggle with being within the canopy of a conifer of some size.

Also the ivy should be removed, instead of being allowed to hide the attractive bark of the cedar. And being left to try and grow all through the tree over time.

Thanks again everyone! I'll attach a picture of the Dogwood at the soil and just for Ken, a few interior shots I took this AM. The house was built in 1906 but redone (or remodeled or rebuilt...not sure what to call it) before we bought it in 2013. They basically redid the whole first floor to open it up, finished the basement and added a second floor. They kept the façade

so that it fits into our neighborhood which is why we love it so much. Kim

That is not a happy graft union and I see the Dogwood is the other tree encircled by that "all natural, 100% virgin engineered" (inside joke) TWINE. Maybe twine is a regional term for wire cage?

Embothrium has offered you a design out on the trees. At this point the real question is probably are they salvageable?

Japanese Blood Grass is not a xeric plant that is going to grow well in conditions too dry for Stewartia or a Dogwood. I think I saw an evergreen azalea too. The one with those nice blue side of purple flowers whose cultivar name I do not know. This is not a water issue.