My mom says grass won’t grow where I had it trimmed. I don’t want to remove the tree but I did have her trimmed. Any thoughts?
by Exciting-Computer-60
My mom says grass won’t grow where I had it trimmed. I don’t want to remove the tree but I did have her trimmed. Any thoughts?
by Exciting-Computer-60
50 Comments
what about this trees makes you believe it doesn’t look good enough?
Your mom is right on the money. You will never grow a decent lawn under a mature spruce because the thick canopy acts like an umbrella and the dense shallow roots suck up every drop of available moisture. Stop fighting nature and turn that entire dead zone into a dedicated landscape bed. Take a spade and cut a deep sweeping curve from your walkway all the way over to the driveway. The new bed needs to extend out to the edge of the widest branches so the space looks intentional instead of looking like you just gave up on mowing.
Right now your tree looks completely unbalanced because limbing it up destroyed the bottom structural layer. You have to anchor that massive canopy back to the ground plane with tough plants that handle dry shade. Plant a massive sweeping drift of large hostas or creeping lilyturf right under the branches. Do not buy three plants and space them out like polka dots. Buy flats of them and plant them tight so they merge into one continuous wave of solid texture to contrast against the rough evergreen needles.
Cover the bare dirt with a thick layer of shredded bark mulch to hold moisture for the new groundcover. From now on just leave the fallen needles right where they drop since they act as a free natural mulch that keeps the soil acidic just the way the spruce likes it. Soak those new plants heavily for the first entire season because they are competing with a 40 year old root system for water. Once they establish you will have a clean layered yard with zero dead grass to look at.
Skirt it. Get limbs away from your roof. Other than that it looks good
this is big, but not a giant evergreen, by comparison to what it can become. To me that’s the issue– you’re still in the window of time where this looks appropriately scaled to the house, but it can easily add 50 feet or so, which then gets into a scary for the house situation, particularly when you consider it was likely planted poorly
if it’s a non-native Norway spruce (I can’t tell from pics) you might consider removing it as part of a comprehensive landscaping re-do. Big pill to swallow, but imo the sooner you get better and more appropriate plants, the better
It looks great! Be more critical of why you want to change it, rather than make it look better with no logical reasoning as to why. Also, it is not giant.
It’s a beautiful tree. Throw some hostas or some other shade tolerant plants around the perimeter or something.
This is a beautiful tree. I wouldn’t touch it.
Tend to the ground under the tree with hostas and mulch as mentioned earlier. That answer is spot on!
Later on, get a certified arborist to weigh in on your tree maintenance.
Put lights on it
Yes, she’s right. Grass won’t grow because of the fallen pine needles. Personally I would trim it a bit higher so you can improve your view out those windows. However, it’s pretty nice right now, if you don’t care about the view
50 Cyprus trees around it
Everything looks quite healthy to me, I would not change anything at this time. I wouldn’t even bother with a border for the grass.
Shade garden, hastas and stuff, go to a nursery and talk to them or just google shade pants for your region. Made a simple border of some kind and you’re in.
It’s a great tree. The problem is that it has outgrown the house. Remove the house.
Cut off the bottom 10 feet of branches. Leave the rest alone
One thing to keep in mind is that spruce trees grow very wide and shallow roots. When planted in a restricted area like this, the tree is in danger of falling as the roots cannot extend as far as they need to to support the height as the tree grows. It’s likely ok for now, but the taller it grows the more dangerous it will become.
It’s such a beautiful tree, if I were you I would plant fake grass to make it look real! that’s it.
I personally would cut it down now while it’s still handleable. It is too close to the house.
I would trim it higher so you can walk underneath. Make that area of the yard usable/walkable. But I know nothing about if that would kill the tree or not. Maybe someone else could shed light on tha
Loons pretty good to me. Majestic.
Yeah, stand on the porch with your shirt off, hands on your hips.
I would call 711 and see where your water and gas lines are located. Eventually one day this tree will go down via wind and it will take a large amount of Earth underneath it with it.
You could put a large ring around it & lightly dress with mulch..
P.S.-Don’t put too much mulch down though, it can smother the roots.
Put a star on the top.
Now you got a big Christmas tree!
I would clean up the branches around the bottom to give you room to get around it. Plus they are acidic. Its why the grass around it is dead. They will throw off the PH. You could put something around the base with a border because nothing is going to grow there
If it doesn’t provide shade for you in the summer, then I would remove it because it kind of looks too big for your house and it’s only going to get harder to remove as it gets bigger.
Bro this tree is gorgeous, let her cook. Who cares what your parents think.
If it actually bothers you at all then maybe get a local chip drop and give her some mulch (but do not cover any of her roots at all).
You could plant native shade loving plants and ground cover around it too. Let that grass get overtaken by natives. You’ll need to consult a garden store or arborist to find ones specific for that soil and that like pine trees.
You could hang a bird feeder, bat house, and or mason bee house. Just do NOT nail or screw anything into her trunk.
You could make a little gnome or fairy house underneath. Something for the tree spirits.
Don’t do lights. Or do a few solar lanterns that will turn off after you go to bed maybe.
You could do a light stone border, cut some stumps and make a little seating area underneath, or use her fallen branches to make a border of small wood blocks. Just don’t dig and risk damaging her roots.
The house is starting to encroach on the tree so tearing it down might improve the look of the tree.
I’d trim up the lower branches (to where that gap is), then I’d make a defined bed underneath, rather than trying to make grass grow. The shade and acidity from the tree is going to limit what will grow underneath. Hostas would be a good option. If you want some color, bleeding hearts may do well there depending on what zone you’re in. Impatiens are always an easy shade/acid loving option too.
fuck that grass this tree is awesome
Christmas lights wrapped around it
People crack me up.
Hey y’all. I bought this house with this tree I hate, what can I do about it?
Why does your mom need grass to grow directly under the drip line? It’s a beautiful tree. The more you limb it up, the more light and weeds you’ll get and the more maintenance will be required. Can’t say I’ve ever seen hostas look like they belong under a conifer but that’s a style choice. If it were my property, unless I had in-ground irrigation already installed I’d throw down some pine needles once a year to keep it looking “tidy” and call it a day.
Add some great horned owls 🦉
Get rid of all the grass and landscape around it with flowering shrubs and flowers and perennials.
What I would do is take the grass out and plant a bunch of colorful perennials and native grasses. Think of creating different nice focal points in the yard and the backdrop is your gorgeous tree.
The pine needles dropping for 40yrs has named the soil directly under VERY acidic, it will be very had to grown under the tree. I would give it a light trim, and define the border under the tree with some kind of edging, and maybe a boulder and landscaping lights.
That tree is a beauty. Why is the grass more important. Grass can go to hell.
if the concern is the area surrounding the trunk, id gently rake the needles/cones beneath it so some light can get through and then try some shady plants.. or just see if the grass grows
She is gorgeous! Congrats on the new home! Honestly I would mulch around under the tree (keep 3-4 inches from the trunk – will keep rot away; also you don’t need much because these trees self mulch but to make it look nicer I would add brown hardwood mulch or cedar) and maybe plant some hostas under there – I believe they will thrive and are pretty hardy! There are other plants that are pretty low maintenance that you could plant I’m sure but I could see hostas loving that space. I would plant them on the outermost layer. I wouldn’t worry about any stone or brick to border by the way, it will look way better without it- you don’t want to risk the trees health plus saves you money.
Make a fairy village under it.
That will be so fun to decorate for the holidays
Cut it down.
Decorate it and put some giant presents underneath.
It looks great.
Grass is never going to grow well under a pine.
It’s all personal opinion but I’m not a big fan of trees that tower over the house. Regardless of what type of tree it is.
That’s a beautiful tree. Your mom is right the grass won’t grow. So kill it. Put some mulch or something nice under it that complements the tree.
I would add an uplight and call it beautiful. Someday it’s going to become too big for that spot but for now it’s good.
I’d remove some of the lower branches but I like to look out and off my porch but that’s just me
Use the 1 cut pruning method. Why hide your house?