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How can I bring this dry ground (under a tree) back to life?
franksebem
Posts: 40
Hi all
We moved into a house a couple of months back that had been left empty for a long period. In that period there was a tree in the garden that had completely overgrown and in high winds looked very dangerous. The tree also blocked out 50% of the garden light too. The Tree was bigger than the house and sometimes leans towards the house in heavy winds. With safety in mind and the fact that we want to reclaim our garden light we took the decision to cut the tree down. I am aware that some people will criticise me for cutting the tree down but in mitigation, we have planted 6 more (for privacy). So, on to the subject matter...One can see that the tree is in the far right of the Garden. You can also see that the left of the garden, the grass grows fine. Taking into account that the tree was huge there is a large patch under the tree that is bone dry. In fact, on warm days if the wind gets up dirt dust blows everywhere. I'm not certain why this patch under the tree is so dry. Is it because rain couldn't get to the ground (because the tree was so huge)? or is it the fact that the tree was so large it drank all the rain water (leaving none for the grass)?. Turn back the clock for 6 weeks and under that tree was nothing but a horrible lawn of moss. I sprinkled some evergreen thingy on it and now six weeks later I am left with this horrible patch of dry ground. It's so dry it is even cracked (look at the pictures). So, in the next few days, the remainder of the tree will be cut down and I will be left with this arid dry patch. What do I have to do to get this ground back suitable for growing grass on it? I don't want to waste water by hosing it repeatedly so I had a Eureka idea of diverting the rainwater from my drain pipe onto this bit of land to completely saturate it. Is this a good idea? Simply, all I want to do is grow nothing more spectacular than grass seed.
Thanks in advance all.
We moved into a house a couple of months back that had been left empty for a long period. In that period there was a tree in the garden that had completely overgrown and in high winds looked very dangerous. The tree also blocked out 50% of the garden light too. The Tree was bigger than the house and sometimes leans towards the house in heavy winds. With safety in mind and the fact that we want to reclaim our garden light we took the decision to cut the tree down. I am aware that some people will criticise me for cutting the tree down but in mitigation, we have planted 6 more (for privacy). So, on to the subject matter...One can see that the tree is in the far right of the Garden. You can also see that the left of the garden, the grass grows fine. Taking into account that the tree was huge there is a large patch under the tree that is bone dry. In fact, on warm days if the wind gets up dirt dust blows everywhere. I'm not certain why this patch under the tree is so dry. Is it because rain couldn't get to the ground (because the tree was so huge)? or is it the fact that the tree was so large it drank all the rain water (leaving none for the grass)?. Turn back the clock for 6 weeks and under that tree was nothing but a horrible lawn of moss. I sprinkled some evergreen thingy on it and now six weeks later I am left with this horrible patch of dry ground. It's so dry it is even cracked (look at the pictures). So, in the next few days, the remainder of the tree will be cut down and I will be left with this arid dry patch. What do I have to do to get this ground back suitable for growing grass on it? I don't want to waste water by hosing it repeatedly so I had a Eureka idea of diverting the rainwater from my drain pipe onto this bit of land to completely saturate it. Is this a good idea? Simply, all I want to do is grow nothing more spectacular than grass seed.
Thanks in advance all.
0
Posts
Thank you for your answer. Much appreciated... I will remove the stump to ground level but it is too big a job to remove the roots. They literally go under next doors fence. I was planning on just leaving the roots in. Assuming I dig over the area with Manure etc would this be sufficient (If I left the roots in the ground)?
Apocryphal story - my parents 1940’s house has a mainly lawned garden. After a bad drought year, the ground level dropped to reveal old tree stumps that had obviously just been taken back to ground level and turfed over. Incredibly, they started sprouting - we couldn’t believe it!! They had to get the entire lawn dug up and relaid.
My preferred method would be to remove the trunk to ground level and then use a stump grinder to remove the stump plus as much surrounding root as possible. This method requires heavy duty equipment and IMO is best left to the professionals.
Failing this you can apply stump killer to the (ground level) stump which (hopefully) will kill the remains of the tree and the stump and roots will eventually rot.
My suggestion is to go with the stump grinder and leave the whole area for a bit so the remaining roots have a chance to soften and rot. In autumn you could lay the 6" of well rotted manure suggested by Bob. Some of it will work into the soil over winter courtesy of worms etc.
Then next spring the whole area will probably be ready to rotavate / dig, compact and sow grass seed.
Unless it is cool and wet where you are - now is not the best time of year to be sowing grass seed or laying turf. Autumn and spring is the time for those jobs.