It might be easier to push an edging shovel into the ground around the outside of the bed each spring to get rid of most of the roots.

First..take your shovel to the grinder and sharpen it...

This is completely a hosta topic...

And this is why all hosta peeps hate maples...

I too created a raised bed long ago... With the same result after a year or two...maples are aggressive...

Pix tomorrow

Ken

Or stirfry them with some butter and garlic.....

Pieter

tsugajunkie - I might very well do that.

Pieter - I'd have to be pretty hungry.

My dog loves those grubs! Tasty little protein snack, she says…

grubs are probably Japanese beetles ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Japanese+beetle+grubs&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images

i think i recall.. a few.. say 10. per sq foot is not really a problem.. but when you get hundreds.. that is usually the summer you will be complaining .... seems i know that from my old lawn warrior days....

and here is the neighbor putting in a new septic field next to a silver maple .. it amazing how little soil the grass grows in.. and not surprising the lawn browns out in july and august... usually not enough useful water ....

my dog had bad enough gas from eating rabbit poop.. i didnt give him grubs for dessert.. lol ... i put them on the black top.. and birds appears in minutes....

ken

I can sympathize with you old dirt! I am very familiar with the maple roots you have in your wheelbarrow. My husband added two raised beds to our backyard in the last few years. For one smaller one (maybe 10 feet by 3.5 feet), I had left over spinout fabric. I put that underneath the bed. Then we made a much bigger raised bed with no landscape fabric underneath. The tree roots are invading there. I know that because some of my hosta were left in spinout bags when I added them to this raised bed. So when I dig between two spinout bags, I find roots! It didn't take long before the tree roots invaded.

As for the smaller raised bed, I think the spinout fabric bought me some time. I know with the spinout bags, the tree roots usually pushed their way through the seams within a few years. The fabric I placed under the smaller raised bed has no seams. Maybe that will buy me a couple more years? We'll see.

Ken, your picture is a good reminder of why some of our plants just don't grow very well under certain trees or near trees. Most people don't realize how far those tree roots extend beyond the tree canopy.

Old dirt, you mentioned a maple and a pine tree. Do you have any other trees nearby?

newhostalady - I have a small forest of pines, black cherry and maples within 50' of most of my hostas. It has been a struggle for years but I don't have much choice.

I bough a root slayer spade today and I thnk it will help at least as deep as it can go. There will still be the large roots deeper that send up feeders. Lots of work trying to cut around all the beds.

Ken, those pictures really help. I understand and accept why I have to grow my hostas in pots, and why I have to rotate and lift pots so often. Thanks, Old Dirt and Ken.

The root slayer sounds like a great tool, old dirt. Maybe I should get one too! I hope it will help control those nasty roots!

I am wondering whether I should lift some of my plants in the raised bed and put down some landscape fabric. If I could get some strong fabric, I think it would be worth it.

I love my root slayer!! Get one, definitely!

debra