adding fill dirt around trees.

bierbaugh

hello! I'm in need of advice.Heres my problem ,and i have added pictures.I'm in the process of digging a pond.I need to spread/grade the dirt around about three acres,a lot of forty or so degree slopes and several trees.The front lawn had a steep slope to it ,so I brought the grade up about three to five feet.Well in the process I also brought the grade up around one of my maple trees.I put four inch corrigated pipe around the trunk up about two feet and out about two feet,then fill dirt over the top to grade,total about three to four feet up. That was about three months ago.As fall has arrived The leaves on this maple turned color and died much quicker than the other maple as you will be able to see.I'm affraid I may have killed this maple.I started fill aroud the other maple but after research through your site I stopped went back yesterday and removed all dirt from around any other trees.I am stumped on how to prceed with this project ! How do I bring the grade up around these trees without killing them or costing me a fortune?I'm not a big fan of tree wells.Do i just accept the facts and remove the trees and replant?Also I have a silver maple with a trunk of about four feet and a close friend of mine in the tree business told me I could cover the trunk with dirt because of the trees size it would not be harmed. Is this true? Thanks for any and all advice!Pappy (My trees are in central Ohio United States ). The Dates on my pictures are wrong the correct date is october 13 2008.

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Eric Frei

A few inches at a time perhaps but a few feet is a killer.

Cant you get rid of the soil elsewhere? Give it away as fill?

How big's this pond, an ocean?

Pappy, you know that it's BS, so can you do this to your friend.

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newguy18

Way to much,get rid of that otherwise you'll either kill the tree or at the very least it will be severely stressed.

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old schooler

treeseer

Many certified arborists around columbus; you need one on site.

Your friend is wrong; the older the tree the MORE susceptible it is to damage.

treevet

At first glance the tree in pict. appears to be a Sugar maple. This much more unforgiving than other maples to grade change, backfill. Grab a small twig and snap it and see if any green is under bark, chlorophyll. If tree is alive and is worth it to you, start taking off backfill and put in a retaining wall. We will describe it if you choose to do this. Bobcat is bad tool when you get to roots for obvious reasons.

Early for Sg maple to be changing around here but I am way south of you.

bierbaugh

Thanks for the advice and feedback . I will always give some serious thought before anything is done around my trees. The fill from the pond is massive because I am digging down deep 25ft and not able to damn due to some roads near by that could be in trouble if I had a dam and it breeched.If I keep my pond at normal ground level ,No problem excellent drainage,so I must either spread lots of fill or have it hauled away ,not so easy.It is excellent fill ,some red clay,some blue clay, and lots of topsoil ,plus my willingness to load people I have not had a good response.So I,m trying to spread and fill.I will only add six inches around any of my trees and work my fill differently.I believe the one tree I may have killed is a surgar maple and there is still some life to it (I think) because when I bend a limb it has spring to the break and there is green.I will get some beginner arborist books you've recomended.I will post pics of other trees on my property I am concerned with and chat with you lateragain thanks for all your help, and as us old Marines say Semper Fi (always faithful).Pappy.

Eric Frei

Yes, it did look very nice soil.

Must have nice trees and vegie patch to boot then.

Try not to compact the soil either, or work it when wet.

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bierbaugh

O.K I'm back to backfilling dirt and I'm wondering just how close to my tree trunks can I start bringing the fill up above six inches?And have you ever seen built or heard of earth made tree wells no retaining block, no lumber,just dirt and grass or shrub's?Pappy

bierbaugh

Thanks for all the input! unfortunately my funds are limited and if I was rich I would hire an arborist fulltime to help me out. funds are short.If any arborist in the columbus ,ohio area willing to give free asistance for maybe free fill dirt or possibly bobcat or trackhoe work would be great. O.K can you tell me how far out do I need to keep the back fill six inches or less from my tree trunk, before I start bringing it up 2-3-4 feet. can I build a tree well out of fill dirt,no block, no landscape timber, no pea gravel just dirt grass or shrubs.(Previous post was to much fill around trees 2-4 feet killing my trees)Pappy.

treeseer

Hey Pappy,

Botany 101; time for review:

Trees need roots.

Roots need oxygen.

You seem hellbent on suffocating your trees.

Knotahippie

Those trees might increase your property value.

osb_mail

Hey where at in central ohio ?