Fighting a maple tree

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Kurtis
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So I've got my garden on a corner lot in the city. The picture is facing due north. This maple tree is to the east of the garden and it's obviously been getting bigger every year. My greenhouse is movable (annually) between two terraces. It's currently up on the eastern terrace and in October I'll move it just to the left (west) away from the maple. I'm not sure how to handle this maple tree. It doesn't affect too much light, since by mid/late morning the sun is past it. But the roots are killing me. In the winter I dug a narrow trench just outside the east entrance to the greenhouse and chopped through a lot of roots and reached subsoil. But still, this year the tomatoes in the greenhouse that are closer to the maple are suffering. In previous years I've spent lots of time digging up roots and overturning soil, but that doesn't work with the whole no-till method...

Any thoughts here? I might try a deeper trench after I move the greenhouse. Not sure what else to do other than the annual digging of roots.
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jack oostenbrink
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Kurtis, you are fighting a bit of a losing battle because if you trench and cut the roots or the tree you are root pruning the tree which promotes an abundance of feeder roots in the very place where you are trying to combat the roots. I the nursery industry root pruning is done to promote a dense and well rooted root ball. The new roots that form will quickly reach up into the fertile and moist soil of your vegetable garden. I would recommend a root barrier at the surface of the soil and then a raised bed on top to prevent feeder roots from moving up into the garden beds. It's a bit of an expense to start but it competing with a tree of that size would quickly deplete the moisture and fertility of your space. Ive also had very good success with tomatoes in 10 gallon containers this year, so that may be another option if it is just for the tomatoes.
Kurtis
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Ah, sigh, I wish it weren't so! :)
Thanks Jack. I had no idea about root pruning and its effects. Do you think even digging the trench deeper and putting some sheet of metal as a vertical barrier in the trench is just a losing battle?

If I do the root barrier with raised bed, what kind of soil depth do you recommend, seeing as it's different than a raised bed with no barrier? And what kind of barrier do you recommend? I'm assume landscape cloth wouldn't be sufficient for long term?
jack oostenbrink
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Kurtis wrote: Tue 23-Aug-2022, 22:03 Ah, sigh, I wish it weren't so! :)
Thanks Jack. I had no idea about root pruning and its effects. Do you think even digging the trench deeper and putting some sheet of metal as a vertical barrier in the trench is just a losing battle?

No, I think this will work at least for a few years
Kurtis wrote: Tue 23-Aug-2022, 22:03 If I do the root barrier with raised bed, what kind of soil depth do you recommend, seeing as it's different than a raised bed with no barrier? And what kind of barrier do you recommend? I'm assume landscape cloth wouldn't be sufficient for long term?
Id suggest a minumum of 12" but would prefer to see 18-24". High quality landscape fabric should be sufficient.
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