# Dogwood Bed



## KeenEye (Nov 4, 2019)

I have a mature dogwood in the middle of my lawn. As you can see from the picture, the lawn goes right up to the tree.

I'm thinking of creating a bed around the tree. Will remove the grass, use a live edge and add mulch. Depending on the size, I'm thinking of adding annual flowers.

My question: how big of a bed should I create? Is it just my preference? I was thinking (without checking yet) of 4 feet away from the tree.

Thoughts?

Northern NJ, zone 6b/7a

Thanks!
Ed


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## Grizzly Adam (May 5, 2017)

The red marks are where the tree takes a turn towards growing upward, everything within is what my eye tells me is the core of the tree. I drew the bed line based on that.


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

It is completely personal preference. For me, it would depend on overall lawn size and layout as well as the landscape design for the rest of the lawn.


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## KeenEye (Nov 4, 2019)

Grizzly and Bernstem,

Thanks for the reply's. I never really looked at the tree and the upward growth. I think I'll take both responses into consideration. I'll be as wide as the upward growth and probably decide on the ultimate size once I get it started and see how it looks as I progress.

I'll come back this summer with an update.

Thanks!!
Ed


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Making garden beds around trees can be tricky. You never want to pile soil up around the tree as that can change the microbiology around the tree and possibly kill it. The best thing would be to put down no more than 2-3 inches of mulch around the tree with brown contractor paper under it. The paper will suppress weed and grass growth and eventually decompose and make organic matter. You can then plant some perennials provided you don't hit too many roots when you dig.


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