The previous homeowner covered a huge area of the yard with tarps and a bad landscaping feature. I’m removing it all now and just pulled up the tarps and the adjacent tree has all these roots at grade. I wanna plant grass here, but the ground so compact that it needs to be tilled a little bit, but I can’t do that with all the roots. If I cut all these roots back at the grass line how likely am I to kill this tree?
by Jdlindberg89
6 Comments
You might be better off top dressing with some compost and seeding that.
The tree is definitely not going to enjoy it. You can’t top-dress and plant something that breaks up the soil?
don’t till it. those are very superficial roots, and lawn under maples is hard in the best of conditions. consider growing something else for better results
Cover with 50/50 compost and Topsoil combo maybe 6″. Do not compact. Avoid machinery on top of it until it naturally settles.
.but protect those roots from the sun until you are ready for the process. .
Don’t top dress too much as that’s bad for the tree also. I’d be inclined to work compost into the soil between the larger (roots damaging some of the small ones won’t do any harm) and plant some tolerant plants. The likes of male ferns (Dryopteris species) or Mahonia aquifolium or Cyclamen hederifolium & C. coum or Geranium macrorrhizum. These are recommendations for U.K. I don’t know where you are so they might not be suitable but I’m sure an online local search would turn up alternatives.
Some arborist offer [air trenching services](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbQFsIs5HA&t=149s), where they come out and with a special tool excavate around the root system. Maybe you would be a good candidate for this since the roots are not covered by sod. Be forewarned, I suspect this may be a pricey option.
>**Air trenching** (or air-spading) is a non-invasive, high-precision excavation method using compressed air to remove soil around tree roots without damaging them, often used for identifying root locations before construction, treating girdling roots, and reducing soil compaction. This technique allows for safe utility installation under trees and improves root health.