Patchy area

[bossboy]

Hello all,
There used to be a tree in this area, I had it cut down and the stump ground out.
i removed the grinding, replaced with top soil and reseeded, in total this was about 5 years ago now.
the grass grows, looks good, then slowly thins out revealing bare patches etc.
i continue to rake over and reseed when conditions are right, but this always happens, i have also tried turves, but again this happens.
i welcome anyone’s thoughts on this please.

 

[dirty hands]

What kind of tree was taken out?

 

[bossboy]

Hello,
it was a conifer, around 25 feet high

 

[dirty hands]

The soil is probably still acidic and damaged from the tree.
The more you can dig out the better.

 

[Meadowlark]

...i welcome anyone’s thoughts on this please.

Azaleas love acidic soil. I would build a little mound of dirt there and plant one or more. Problem solved and beauty added.

 

[dirty hands]

Yes buikding it up might work too.

The soil is probably really damaged though and if you build on top you still might have a problem when those roots reach deep enough.

Its not just acidity but that old root ball wont absorb water and all the soil is probably nutrient dead. Confers are soil killers and leave something behind that keeps killing vegetation i cant think of what its called but its like black walnut trees. They kill everything close to it.

Im not sure how deep you would have to go to dig it out enough so you can grow something there.

You could just try to apply lime and see if that helps if you are not in a hurry.

 

[bossboy]

Yes buikding it up might work too.

The soil is probably really damaged though and if you build on top you still might have a problem when those roots reach deep enough.

Its not just acidity but that old root ball wont absorb water and all the soil is probably nutrient dead. Confers are soil killers and leave something behind that keeps killing vegetation i cant think of what its called but its like black walnut trees. They kill everything close to it.

Im not sure how deep you would have to go to dig it out enough so you can grow something there.

You could just try to apply lime and see if that helps if you are not in a hurry.

Many thanks for your info

 

[bossboy]

Azaleas love acidic soil. I would build a little mound of dirt there and plant one or more. Problem solved and beauty added.

Good idea, thanks

 

[dirty hands]

Im not sure how much you would have to dig out but I did a little research. What I found was for grass to dig 3 to 6inches and replace with a good topsoil. But it goes on to say 6 to 12 inches may be required removing old roots and any remnants of the conifer. Replace with topsoil and add nitrogen fertilizer to replace nutrients.
I would go at least a foot since you are still having trouble there.

The azalea has shallow roots that only go a foot or so.

 

[oneeye]

Hello all,
There used to be a tree in this area, I had it cut down and the stump ground out.
i removed the grinding, replaced with top soil and reseeded, in total this was about 5 years ago now.
the grass grows, looks good, then slowly thins out revealing bare patches etc.
i continue to rake over and reseed when conditions are right, but this always happens, i have also tried turves, but again this happens.
i welcome anyone’s thoughts on this please.View attachment 114083

A lot of contractors will grind 3 ro 6 inches deep and then say it was deep enough for a lawn. It can take tree roots 10 to 20 years to rot, depending on the type of tree it is. In order to wood to decompose, it has ot have lots and lots of nitrogen to rot and return into its carbon state. Wood will suck all the nitrogen out of the soil for years after the tree is felled.

You still have a lot of wood below the ground you can't see, that's taking all of the grass's nitrogen and starving the grass. The grass in the photo is starved for nitrogen. Remove as much of the wood as possible and feed the soil with a lot of nitrogen to speed up the rotting process. I would not even worry about growing grass for a while but I would feed that area with a lot of nitrogen 3 times a year.

 

[oneeye]

Talking about wood decomposing in the ground. I know you have heard the term Hügelkultur method. The only way Hügelkultur can work is if the wood is amended and has a lot of nitrogen added with the wood. If you don't add a lot of nitrogen, it will take a very long time to decompose. Dead tree roots below the ground have a very minimal amount of nitrogen to decompose and thats why it can take along time for tree roots to disappear.

I have 2 Hügelkultur plots that I have put out of my mind for about 15 years now. As soon as it dries out from all this rain, I'm going to dig them up and check the state of the contents. I used some big log cuts and medium to small, all fresh wood from different tree removal jobs. I used a couple of 40 lb or 18 kilos bags of poultry mix, and an alfalfa meal fertilizer mix over the wood. I had two big mounds above the ground then but its level now. I will check back after I find out whats there.

 

[Meadowlark]

Talking about wood decomposing in the ground. I know you have heard the term Hügelkultur method. The only way Hügelkultur can work is if the wood is amended and has a lot of nitrogen added with the wood.

I have about 25 large Hügelkultur containers that are several years in veggie production. I have heard about the nitrogen sequestration problem but never actually experienced it. Hence, my feeling is that is way overrated. I do replenish the top layer of soil in the containers following a crop harvest, but I also do that with in ground planting. Nitrogen is just not a problem.

Recently, I filled in a micro pond via Hügelkultur. It has a very rich layer of composted cow manure in it on top of the decayed wood...and I do not expect to see a nitrogen problem...but time will tell.