Need some ideas and you guys are full of them. Acer rubrum (50') occupies a prominant position in front of our home, inside the circular driveway. It derives lots of moisture from a drainage gulley. The area has native highbush blueberries, Royal ferns, and is a pleasant place to sit and hang out but I presently have to mow it or weedwack it periodically (a pain). I'd like to come up with a sitting area involving pavers/flagsones; no mortar. I would like to get mosses and other groundcover plants established in between the pavers. I'm not looking for a perfectly level, "formal" surface, more something I don't have to "tend" that will be a reasonably level sitting area and allow snow removed from the driveway and rainwater to filter down through it to the roots of the tree. Have any of you done this sort of thing before?
Patio under a tree
- Thread starter Bobbin
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I didn't think I'd be able to find these shots so readily, but this will give you better "visual" about the area in question. These were taken in 2008, the trunk of the tree that is "leaning" has been cut down (and is seasoning nicely!).
The area that is "dirt" is the area I'd like to repurpose into a casual patio/sitting area that will require no weekly/monthly "tending".
The area that is "dirt" is the area I'd like to repurpose into a casual patio/sitting area that will require no weekly/monthly "tending".
gpcollen1
Minister of Fire
I would definitely do some irregular flagstone and not pavers. If you are not looking for perfection, excavate a few inches down and put a nice layer of stone dust down and water it in - or let the rain do it. Place flagstone on top and set it with more stone dust. Fill the gaps in the stones with soil. Gaps can be larger if you like. Plant moss or chop it up and spread it in the gaps. It will grow.
You can sometimes find decent flat stones at your local stone place or Garden Center on sale this time of year. It does not look like you need too much. Heck, if you get a good price just have them deliver a pallet. Someplace specializing in stone often has piles where you can pick the pieces you want.
You can sometimes find decent flat stones at your local stone place or Garden Center on sale this time of year. It does not look like you need too much. Heck, if you get a good price just have them deliver a pallet. Someplace specializing in stone often has piles where you can pick the pieces you want.
We are going to do a similar thing under our apricot trees. But I found they have shallow roots. Now we have to figure out how to get a nice base established before laying bricks (we have a lot of them) or stone. CTW has is correct, but I would add that you need to be selective about the size of the fines in the crushed stone bed and it needs to be compacted if you want a nice level surface that doesn't settle.
Thanks for the insights. Acer rubrum is noted for having relatively shallow roots, too. I have been unsure how much of the "topsoil" to excavate and how much of the stonedust/crushed stone I can safely add to bring the area up to a finished grade that will provide a decent patio and yet not overwhelm the tree's ability to take in nutrients and oxygen. Maybe I'm over thinking the project, but I'd hate to lose the tree because I didn't put enough thought into the project on the front end.
Expect to be doing that to the rest of your Red Maple soon if you do that. They have shallow roots and the pavers will help to cut off the roots taking in and releasing O2. Paving it will probably encourage people driving and parking on it too. Younger trees are better at dealing with disturbances like this than older trees.
Matt
Matt
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