# Is topsoil the best solution?



## Cgar626 (4 mo ago)

Hello, I am a first-time homeowner and I'm trying to wrap my head around the notion of lawn care. So to take care of the weeds, I made the "brilliant" decision to till the soil around the bush. But in doing that, I encountered a bunch of roots that made it impossible for me to neatly rake the tilled soil.

Am I correct to assume that the solution would be to cover with topsoil and create a solid foundation over the roots?


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Oh my. You were destroying the bush's roots. Or the tree's. Looks like a tree to me. You can kill a tree by adding too much soil on top of the root system. The roots need air. So no soil. You may use a little mulch but don't pile it on. Hopefully the bush/tree will generate some new roots. Consult a local nursery and see what kind of fertilizer might be good for the bush/tree. Probably something low in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus and potassium.


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## MacLawn (Oct 26, 2021)

That tree/bush looks like its a mess
Do you like them? 
Personally I would yank those trees bushes, pull all the roots and plant some nice bushes and plants. Like a bank of rose bushes.


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## Cgar626 (4 mo ago)

It looks nice when the soil is not messed up. I just spent $8,000 for new sod, so extra landscaping to remove it isn't in the cards right now. I think if I can fix the ground beneath it, it will look good.


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## e_dawg (5 mo ago)

Don't think grass will ever grow well at / around the base of trees, especially evergreens.

Not only do the roots continually try to rise to the surface in search of air and leave you with a gradually thinner layer of soil for your lawn's root zone, but evergreens drop needles, which do their best to kill grass.

If you keep adding soil in an attempt to maintain 6" of soil depth for a nice healthy root zone above the tree roots for your lawn, you will suffocate the trees' roots.

If you must have the tree and lawn co-exist, you might be able to maintain 1-2 inches of soil for the lawn to survive without suffocating the tree roots, but the lawn there will be weaker, susceptible to heat/drought/weed stress, and thin out over time. You'd also want to rake up any needles regularly.


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## dksmc (8 mo ago)

I have a large cedar in our front yard that dominates the space, creating shade as well as the root issues. Overall I don't have that much trouble having a nice lawn around and under it. One thing we did years ago was cut the lower branches so there is about a 5 foot gap from the ground to the first branches now. Not sure if that was right or wrong, but it's done. Even right under the tree grass grows fairly well, but where the roots are closer to the surface it begins to die off. I'll see in the spring how it looks.

Also I find that the needles are usually an issue in the spring after winter, but I don't notice many during the growing months here. I do rake them up in the spring.


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## JML (Jul 26, 2021)

For clarity- that tree is a Blue Spruce and will eventually grow well over the height of your house. Now is the time to decide if you like it’s location and want to move it because it will grow tall and relatively wide. The roots stay pretty close to the surface and may end up surfacing in the lawn. You can cover the roots with some compost/topsoil, but no need to fertilize.


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