Raised Beds Near Trees = Bad Situation

Here I am sharing an old mistake and how I deal with it each year. Raised beds near any tree can be a recipe for disaster as roots are opportunistic and will eventually overtake the nice rich soil in a garden bed. Laying down a weed barrier is ineffective in my experience. Here I show you an example of what not to do, and how I combat the issue of invasive roots each year. I share how to avoid the mistake and plan a good raised bed garden solution that will avoid the problem of tree roots invading your garden and choking out water and food from your tender seasonal vegetables.
This video from another youtube channel shows a great way of building an elevated platform to root-proof an open-bottom raised bed with the use of cinder blocks and concrete board: • Easy DIY Tree Root Pro...

[@marilynm8812]

I feel for you. I am having a problem with a giant pine tree roots entering my beds as well as shading. I love the shade it provides for part of the yard. I wish I had a larger yard.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! It's a huge pain to battle tree roots. Consider relocating your raised garden to an existing patio. I ended up taking apart my raised bed recently and standing up new raised beds on my nearby flagstone patio.

[@humzilla707]

I did a year long trial run of steel raised beds in a bad spot. When I removed them I found the neighbors landscape trees had already found their way in from 50 feet away.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Yikes! I'm not surprised after my experiences. All 9 of my raised beds were infiltrated with roots. I'm finding planting seasonal vegetables in nursery containers is a good alternative to raised beds. They are mobile and simply placing them on a paver prevents the invading root issues.

[@hibiscus-dreams]

Humzilla, I discovered the same in last 2 yrs. We're currently in a residential sub/urban neighborhood. I've been able to rehab small portions of landscaping but the largest portion (

[@gregsandifer9967]

Thank you. I was just about to build a raised bed in between two trees.😮

[@hibiscus-dreams]

I can relate - we had raised garden beds from Sam's in an area we thought was just dirt/ soil. About a yr or 2 ago I finally pulled up both bed sets. There are tree roots everywhere that have invaded from neighboring trees. This winter I'm cover cropping that section with cool season seeds hoping they will loosen it up. I agree. Trees do not compete with other plantings. Previously had 2 hydrangeas under a tree & they really struggled. Relocated them 3yrs ago when we took the tree down. That change made all the difference for the hydrangeas Btw- love your sunjoe! I have their chipper...

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Totally agree; the strong survive in the garden! That too is why I decided to cut down some mulberry trees. The roots were taking over the whole garden. Raised beds look nice but they sure can bring headaches. I've been growing more vegetables simply in nursery pots and sticking them on stepping stones. No root issues that way and it's cheap to get started. While they dry out faster than a raised bed, as long as your irrigation is automated, one can just water more frequently.

[@LG-gw6xw]

Oh wow that’s way more roots than I would have expected.

[@glendaross692]

I can empathize with you. Last year I removed a 4x8 raised bed because of issues with fig tree roots. I got tired of fighting them🤷🏼‍♀️

[@orangetuono38]

Arrggghhh! This spring I put in a 4'x20' L raised bed near a Tangelo, Olive and Italian Cypress. Arrrghhh! On a more positive note, my 1st year Bekkaa Red has quadrupled in size/mass and my wife is still snacking on them as they ripen. Keep the AWESOME videos coming! You are upleveling Phoenix area garden knowledge more than anyone else in the valley. We salute you!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks for the kind words! How do you like those RLBV figs? Still in my top 3. The invasion of roots happened to every bed including my aluminum ones installed recently. I tried to salvage my Vego beds (given their cost) by creating a root barrier bottom by putting a layer of DG down, then rolled aluminum sheets on top with some flanged sides and filled in about 2" of DG. If roots get through that, I'll have to go the route of a cinder block base and cement board.

[@orangetuono38]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Red Bekaa's branches were loaded with delicious little flavor bombs. Deepest flavor of any fig we've had before and not so sugary, which we prefer. I too spent a small fortune - welded up steel posts, composite boards, sanded pressure treated kneeling rails, and 5 yards of compost + the 1.5 tons of crushed granite I had to remove. Great Wall of China project if you will. When motivated, I'll try to put in a barrier using the pressure washer as a trencher. You did save me from next on the list blunder bed! LOL

[@IRONWEED_]

Thanks for sharing the ups and downs. Gardening is definitely a never-ending saga. 05:17 I've read elsewhere that metal containers are not recommended for hot climates because the metal gets so hot that the plant material near the metal of the container is literally cooked. Individual pots planted in the substrate of the larger metal container were recommended as insulation. I'm also curious if drilling holes a few inches up on the side of the stock container, instead of on the bottom, would be viable? There would still be some drainage, but the soil below the side drainage holes would temporarily hold moisture that would wick to the rest of the container?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

You are welcome! I hope my mistakes help others. I've tested the metal bed soil temps during summer and can confirm it does not make it hotter except at the very edge. Angela at Growing in the Garden had similar results. Your idea of drilling holes toward the bottom sides is a great option. Thanks for sharing!

[@daveaz9962]

Thanks, I planned on putting my blackberries into a raised bed with just a hardware cloth barrier. Will definitely place my garden box on top of some pavers.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

You are welcome! Yes, my blackberries and blueberries that I put in open-bottom raised Birdie beds had the same issue where nearby tree roots invaded the beds. It was such a mess getting the weed barrier and hardware cloth out of the tangled mess. I ended up re-planting the berry plants in 20-gallon nursery pots and placing them on a flagstone patio. ZenHydro sells them for around $12. 15-gallon containers could also work for blackberries.

[@daveaz9962]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Whew! So glad you are always 3 steps ahead of me and I can sit back and learn from your experiences! 😊

[@hibiscus-dreams]

@EnlightenmentGarden You mentioned raised "Birdie" beds. Are those the type we've seen via Epic Gardening?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@hibiscus-dreams Yes; I've purchased the metal beds from Epic Gardening and also from Vego. Both bed styles are open on the bottom. For now, I've just disassembled the beds. I was thinking I could maybe build a platform out of cinder blocks, cap with large patio pavers, and then put the open bottom bed on top and put weed fabric on the inside of the bed to keep the soil from falling out. I'm just concerned that might generate too much radiant heat in the summer to work out. For now, containers were far simpler.

[@daveaz9962]

@@EnlightenmentGarden I was thinking of offsetting two layers of large pavers and setting my garden beds on top of them. I’d still use hardware cloth for the bottom of each garden bed. Hopefully that will be enough to keep my tree roots from invading my garden boxes.

[@sheri023]

I guess next year we will see a stock tank up on bricks next to the east wall? Some summers I grow squash in 32 gal. rubber trash cans Kratky style (with net cups in water with special mineral blend.) but I don't think you can grow beets that way. I grow chard in 10 gal buckets in water too. Thanks for the info about keeping veggies away from trees, Natasha.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

You are welcome! Stock tanks are expensive. For now, I've broken down all of my metal raised beds, cleaned up the mess left behind, and have mostly moved to grow seasonal vegetables in nursery containers. Pulling/digging the tree roots out of my long brick garden bed each year is back-breaking work but I got the job done and the beet seeds are sown. I may eventually change things out there but not for right now.

[@hibiscus-dreams]

@EnlightenmentGarden You may have mentioned in prior video - what type of beets did u sow? Red or golden?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@hibiscus-dreams I've tried quite a few varieties over the years and Crosby's Egyptian flat beet (red) is my favorite and all I plant now. I love pickled beets!

[@sheri023]

@@EnlightenmentGarden that's great, you put a lot of work into that project--so many roots! Good luck with the beets!

[@MrSpeed396]

Hello, this is off topic but i live in Vail AZ and was wondering if you sell cutting or small fig trees. Thanks Keith

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Hi! I'll be selling fig cuttings sometime in early January and will announce here when sales open. For rooted trees, One Green World is a great online option with lots of variety.

[@slporter722]

Do you or have you had a grub problem specifically with your roses? Im suspecting that is what is killing my roses. If so how does one control grubs?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

With my hens, there are not many grubs in my garden as they find them to be a favorite treat. My biggest issue with my roses is thrips and cane borers. For grubs, perhaps try beneficial nematodes for an organic approach or spray with Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt)

[@slporter722]

@@EnlightenmentGarden Thank you…