Create Planting Beds to Save Time and Your Trees

Reduce maintenance and improve your plants’ health by creating large planting beds around trees and shrubs.

The larger bed eliminates competition from the grass and damage caused by weed whips and mowers that get a little too close to the plants.  And you’ll save time by eliminating the need to hand trim around individual plants.

Start by outlining the bed with a rope or garden hose.  Use gentle curves and create a size and shape that makes mowing around the bed easy.  Once you have the bed designed, use a shovel or edger to create the outline of your new planting space.

Remove the existing grass with a sod cutter or cut the grass very short, smother it with several layers of newspaper, and cover with shredded bark or woodchips.

Create a beautiful garden by filling in voids with additional shrubs, dwarf evergreens, or perennials. Be sure to allow enough space for the plants to reach their full size.

A bit more information: Use annuals to fill the voids between properly spaced trees, shrubs and perennials.  As the permanent plants begin to fill in you will need fewer annuals.  Eventually the plants reach mature size without the need to transplant excess plantings or prune plants down to the available space.

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trees design newspaper shredded-bark

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