new planter bed around my tree

rb_in_va said:

Sorry about the huge pics, I can resize them later.

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If anyone else is using windows, this is a handy little tool from microsoft that will resize your images in batch.

Found on the powertoys page. This is the Image Resizer Download. These are the instructions to use the Image Resizer. Very quick and handy utility.

masiman said:

If anyone else is using windows, this is a handy little tool from microsoft that will resize your images in batch.

Found on the powertoys page. This is the Image Resizer Download. These are the instructions to use the Image Resizer. Very quick and handy utility.

Click to expand...

I have resizing software at work, but will check that out for home.

TreeCo said:

My guess is chinkapin. Alleghany chinkapin Fagaceae Castanea pumila (L.) P. Mill

http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=3523

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=24

But I do belive your photo of the fruit is from a sweet gum. Chinkapin fruit looks similar to sweet gum fruit.

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Dan, I would agree with you except for the bark. Maybe it's a hybrid. Chinkachestnut?

masiman said:

If anyone else is using windows, this is a handy little tool from microsoft that will resize your images in batch.

Found on the powertoys page. This is the Image Resizer Download. These are the instructions to use the Image Resizer. Very quick and handy utility.

Click to expand...

That tool is awesome! And so much easier than the tool I use at work!

Pretty much everyone I know in Virginia has fescue. Virginia is very borderline for Bermuda grass I thought. It would tend to get brown in the winter. But it is possible.

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gasman, yes it does turn brown. it goes dormant in the winter, but it greens back up in the spring. yes, it is hardy in Virginia all the way to New Jersey.

RB, I think you've got a Chinese chestnut there.

Dan was really close with the Chinkapin, they're in the same family, so you could have some sort of oddball hybrid as you surmised.

http://forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/a/100_trees_id.htm

Several ways to get a proper ID on yer tree, I have found this site to be very useful and informative.
Agree with ^^^ newspaper/mulch approach, care given not to pile mulch up against the base of tree and not to make the bed so large it starves the tree of water.
My 0.02$ fer the morning
(I'm guessin' a variety of elm too)

Any reason why this tree would attract flies?

rb_in_va said:

Any reason why this tree would attract flies?

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Depends.... Is it covered with vinegar or honey?

Gasman, that's funny. Did 50:1 get ahold of you yet? That tree is a chinese chestnut for sure. And I just found that the flies on it are par tof the pollination process. And man does this tree stink! Luckily we spend most of our time in the backyard.

They sell a product, I admit I know nothing about, that is a mulch with a weed killer built in.

I think he's after a mulch with perfume and baygon in it to get rid of the flies and stink.

Stinkin trees, what next?

Ekka said:

I think he's after a mulch with perfume and baygon in it to get rid of the flies and stink.

Stinkin trees, what next?

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Well now that I know the stink is from the tree I'm ok with it. Last time I mowed the lawn I thought there was a dead squirrel or bird somewhere and I was trying to find it. No problem with the smell, this is a good tree that is resistant to chestnut blight. Plus it gives me good shade.

With a hoe and garden rake you could have all the grass removed in less than an hour. Then put down your mulch. Save the $3+ gas in your vehicle for more important things than driving to the garden shop for grass killer ( and get a little exercise and sunshine). Digging weeds/grass is great therapy.

rb_in_va said:

Well now that I know the stink is from the tree I'm ok with it. Last time I mowed the lawn I thought there was a dead squirrel or bird somewhere and I was trying to find it. No problem with the smell, this is a good tree that is resistant to chestnut blight. Plus it gives me good shade.

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I have not smelled them personally but the female Gingko fruit apparently has a gosh awful smell. At first I thought this was another name for a Gingko.

dude..go down to the Daily Press building and ask them for a few mill end rolls of paper...put down three layers and mulch on top...works like a charm...and the paper is phree. :biggrinbounce2:

9000 blck of warwick...below mercury.

masiman said:

I have not smelled them personally but the female Gingko fruit apparently has a gosh awful smell. At first I thought this was another name for a Gingko.

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My co-worker has a female and a male ginkgo tree. Fortunately his sense of smell is absent.

zopi said:

dude..go down to the Daily Press building and ask them for a few mill end rolls of paper...put down three layers and mulch on top...works like a charm...and the paper is phree. :biggrinbounce2:

9000 blck of warwick...below mercury.

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You live in the area? Don't remember if I asked before.

hey RB.. does your chestnut tree have fertile fruit, are the nuts inside plump or shrived up?

if fertile... do you know location of other chestnut tree?

The question no one asked is.... WHY?

IT appears to be a healthy tree.

A planting bed around the base of the tree will:
1) cut tree roots that the tree would rather have left alone;
2) install potentially infected plant material on top of cut roots;
3) have plants with a higher water requirement than the tree;
4) cause a variety of fungal root rot problems with the tree that may not show up for a few years;
5) raise the soil level of the trunk of the tree;
6) necessitate the removal of tree limbs to put more light on the planting bed.

The best solution would be to make a planting bed somewhere else in the yard. Stay outside the drip line (or edge of the tree's canopy) if the tree means anything to you.

Herbicides beneath the tree will always be a bad idea - even glyphosate will damage a tree.

If you have fescue, it's easily killed with mulch - the only thing you should put beneath your tree - no more than 2 inches and nothing against the trunk.

masiman said:

One method of killing off the grass is Lasagna Gardening. Basically you layer on a bunch of material that will smother the grass but will decompose and even enrichen the soil. Cardboard and newspaper

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RB, my wife recently looked into this for her vegetable garden. She was able to confirm that the Washington Post uses soy based inks, so is safe for use as mulch. It's really helped keep the weeds down in her garden.



That's about ALL it's good for!


Anway, since it's available in your area, I thought I'd mention it.