My blue spruce has killed my lawn

I never thought my fir tree would get this tall and wide...in my lifetime.

I have a large ring of colored stone under the tree, but it's grown wider than the ring.

So the needles have killed the lawn.

No way I'm cutting or pruning this tree back. Wife would prune me...painfully.

So....is there a variety of grass that will survive even if the needles fall.

I've always sucked the needles up with the mover, but can't get them all.

It's not a big area, so I guess resodding isn't a killer. But hate to have to do it each spring.

Reply to
FireBrick
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Is it a fir? Or, is it a Picea pungens?

Did you not expect the tree to grow? =)

Is it losing an unusual amount of needles, compared to its history?

As well, she should. =)

Why not just mulch the tree out to the dripline? That's really best for the tree, anyway.

Are you sure the tree doesn't have some sort of pest?

It's bigger than a "large ring of colored stone"!

I thought the tree was the killer? This is all so confusing.

And, most likely you will. ;)

The lower branches of P. pungens drag the ground. Why would you want to try and grow grass there? =) You hacked off the lower branches, didn't you.

Reply to
Eggs Zachtly

unfortunately, I can't 'mulch' the tree out to the fall line. and the other days high winds blew the needles much father than the drip line. Much farther indeed. It's a very dense tree and the needles and twigs build up. When the wind blows, they tend to cover a lot of ground.

So I'll ask again...."Is there a variety of grass seed/sod that is resistant to fir tree needles. The tree is 30' plus, and we did have to have the bottom professionally trimmed so that we and our neighbors could walk.

So...again, besides stone, mulch, that would not be appropriate, is there a variety of real grass that will survive.

Please and thank you

Reply to
FireBrick

What part of the world are you in? Why can't you mulch the tree? Is there a reason why the tree is dropping so many needles and debris? It would be very hard, if not impossible to get grass to grow under such a tree. Mulch or rock is a great groundcover. Why not utilize it? If I knew what part of the world you were in, I could maybe suggest a few shade and acid tolerant groundcovers to consider.

Reply to
do_see

Why is that? It's best for the tree, the soil, and the sod that won't grow there.

And, I'll ask again.... "is it a Abies or a Picea"?

Then the "professionals" should be removed from the workforce. They probably "top" trees, too.

Do you think that if the tree were allowed to grow as it /should/ (branched to the ground), that the winds would be able to spread the debris from underneath it? I'll give you a hint: Not nearly as much as it does since you had the *cough* professionals f*ck it up. It was /your/ choice to f*ck the tree up, now you've got to deal with the consequences. Like Newton said, "For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.".

Geez, you're a dense SOB. How the f*ck would it "not be appropriate"? It's

*most* appropriate. You're wanting to have two different plants compete for air, water, and nutrients. Which do *you* think would win that battle, a 30' tree (with highly acidic debris), or 3" grass (which doesn't tolerate highly acidic soils, well)?

No. Now bugger off.

Reply to
Eggs Zachtly

Because of the placement of the tree, it was necessary to remove many of the bottom branches so that people could walk on the public sidewalk. And the sidewalk to the front of the house. Unfortunate, but that was the way it had to go. We live in the Chicago area.

Now ground covers are an option as you mentioned. If we ran the decorative gravel all the way, we would have no grass at all and the gravel would extend to the public sidewalk. As my street is close to the public school, even small sized decorative gravel would end up being kicked and strewn about.

I inherited this, and I'm looking for the most practical, and attractive way to correct it.

As to why the tree shed needles, not sure other than inside branches always seem to be outgrown, break and the twigs fall off with their needles. I always say fir trees like this in the area. the smaller, older branches near the trunk eventual give way to the fuller and growing branches at the ends of each limb.

Thank you for you polite suggestions. I agree that 'ground covers' are probably the best alternative.

I will place the other rude troll on the block list.

Reply to
FireBrick

First, to toppost is rude. Second, In this case I would have the tree removed and replaced with a more appropriate tree for the location.

Reply to
do_see

why?

Reply to
brent

I'm not sure what 'toppost' means. I thought it meant using a date far in advance, which I did not do. Nor do I use foul language and act or reply rudely to others.

And the tree will remain. I don't remove trees just because they are inconvenient. I 'try' to find appropriate alternatives to problems.

Reply to
FireBrick

FireBrick said: [Top-posting fixed /again/ ]

[...]

It means putting the your reply in front of what you're replying to.

No, you're just dense about taking proper advice.

It's not because it's 'inconvenient', dumbass. It's an inappropriate species for the location.

No, you ask and ask until someone gives you the answer you want to hear. You were given the most 'appropriate alternatives' (re: mulch to the dripline, or remove the tree and plant a more appropriate species for the location).

You're quite the clueless twit, aren't you.

Reply to
EggsZachtly

no expert here but fwiw and given the your criteria

you have to constantly keep the needles off the ground aerate the soil lay or plant grass feed often

if the shade underneath is very dense, chances are nothing much will actually do well.

if roots are close to the surface, not much will grow

hope it helps

Reply to
Bosco

Don't forget about the acid in the soil. These things won't help. And you hurt the tree if you lower the acidity in the soil inside the drip line. Remove the tree and replace it with a more suitable tree for that spot or just live with what you have. Sheesh. End of thread for me.

Reply to
do_see

[...]

No. Much better to post replies inline, snipping content not relevant to your reply. /All/ bottom-posted is just as bad as all top-posted.

Reply to
Eggs Zachtly

I'm thinking grass, no, but some kind of ground cover, yes.

Reply to
z

If you use google, where the whole thread is sitting in front of you at once, topposting works better. If you use a newsreader, where you get one post every X days, then you might forget what's what, if you ever knew, and it's easier to scroll down, although if you've gotten used to long chain emails you learn to go in reverse.

The bigendians vs. the littleendians. Or the Sneeches if you prefer. Or the Purple Drazi vs the Green Drazi.

Reply to
z

Then you get accused of Fisking.

Reply to
z

that's what I thought we were talking about. between the acid, the shade, and the mulching, grass no likee. there must be some low ph loving ground cover. Hell, I've got creeping charlie creeping all over my lawn, I bet it'd grow there.

I would definitely imagine that whatever will grow there will not grow quickly, however, under those conditions, so don't count on just sprinkling a few seeds and letting it take over.

Reply to
z

I love top posting.

I don't have to 'page down' to see the answer.

In my journeys thru pine forrests I usually see only very tall grass surviving the pine needles. Often the ground is bare of any vegetation other than fallen needles.

Reply to
Duff

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