Topsoil around a deciduous tree

3 years ago

I recently had a load of topsoil delivered to me and it partially covered the base of two trees, an oak and a maple. A friend told me that I should shovel all the soil in contact with the bark, down to the root "swell", and I was wondering if that is necessary (it's a lot of work). I assume the trees are dormant now (it's early November) and I plan to move most of the soil in the spring. Zone 4a.

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Comments (6)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
3 years ago
Yes, keep it away from the base of the tree. How deep is the layer of topsoil you put down and over how large of an area? Anything over 3 inches is not good.

tj
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
Dormant or not, a layer of soil of any depth more than an inch or so over the top of the root zone (not just at the base of the tree) will deprive them of oxygen, effectively smothering the roots. And therefore killing the tree. While you may not see the effects immediately, do not hesitate or delay very long in removing that excess soil!!
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UpperBayGardener (zone 7)
2 years ago
Yep. I watched as the 'professional landscapers' (yes, no kidding, Maryland licensed!) of a bone-headed (for ignoring my advice LOL) neighbor of mine graded dirt, up to maybe 4 inches, over about 2/3 of the root zone of a norway maple. (junk tree, but, important to him I guess) To make it level with a new patio that was about 30' feet away. Totally unnecessary anyhow, they could have just made a little 'ramp' of soil near that corner of the patio. I honestly wonder if he just didn't like the ugly root crown of the tree and told the landscaper to level it up. Or maybe he intended to play croquet under this the tree? Who knows! There's no accounting for idiocy.

I warned him it was a bad practice and he assured me the 'best landscaper in the county' knew what he was doing.

Sure enough, by 3 years huge parts of the canopy were dying out, and he had to have it removed within 5-6 years.
mtvhike
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Here is a picture of my topsoil storage pile:
UpperBayGardener (zone 7)
2 years ago
This is not an expert opinion (some of mine are...) but rather just a wild guess at things. As long as you got the pile completely removed by mid to late spring, the tree would be ok. But will see what others think.

It's not the most valuable tree in the world, to say the least. If it did die it's easily removed. So at least you aren't dealing with one near a structure.
KR Nuttle
2 years ago
From the picture it looks like the pile of dirt is on less that about 30% of the root area around each tree. This happens many times during the construction projects, and if you remove it by spring the tree will be unharmed.

As others have said if you leave it there permanently the trees will suffer.