I have empire zoysia grass in my yard and I have only found one way to keep it away from my trees and that is to install a 10” deep edging around my trees but then that caused root girdling. I’ve tried the cardboard, weed barriers and even the rubber tree rings and this stuff just grows into and thru them all. I’ve seen some online say they plant ground covers around there trees to keep grass at bay but I’m sure grass type plays a role. Empire zoysia grows underground runners and is really aggressive. Is there some ground cover that will work in my situation?
I’d put a landscaping ring around the tree so you have something to edge against. It’s what I do.
I use the metal 4" high type from the big box stores.
That doesn’t work, I’ve tried those and the grass grows runners underneath them. The ten inch edgers are the only ones I’ve used that it doesn’t grow under.
Hmmm. Guess its just about how many you have to tend to and how often you do maintenance.
You can get something more substantial like a metal 12" fire ring which I also use and bury the 3dge below the grass runner depth.
Only issue there is if you have poor drainage then you might make a slow draining containment.
The 10” rings work fine but cause root gurgling which is what I’m trying to avoid so the 12” depth would be that much worse.
TNHunter has the right idea i think on his food forest… not sure if it will work for you. The things i put pine bark nuggets around still get some tiny weeds but they are easily removed. On my orchards i dont see grasses and weeds as competing though. Even on my brambles the best roots are under the walkways… some folks put mulch on their walkways instead of the ‘rings’ due to the feeder roots far away from the trunk…ymmv though.
I have mine maybe 2-3 inches below grade on the fire rings. I certainly don’t bury it any deeper.
I have several wood chipped beds… and put a 3 inch deep 3-4 ft wide ring of wood chips around each fruit tree.
The first two years for most new trees I put down a wheelbarrow full of compost and woodchips on top.
Each spring… i pull weeds and put on more wood chips and that usually last the season… or late summer or fall some weeds will come back.
As I visit my trees sometimes I yank the weeds.
This fall/winter… I tried adding a nice layer of maple leaves around my fruit trees over the mulch. The leaves over winter smothered outthe weeds and my clean up this spring has gone much better because of that.
Wood chips in the late winter, early spring… and leaves in the fall seems to be a good combination to keep weeds at bay.
Most weeds cant grow where the sun never shines… under mulch and leaves works well for most of mine.
I do have a 90 ft long bed that has lots of wild green onions in it and they are a pain… every spring I spend several hours digging those out… and each spring there are more.
I just did that yesterday. I have not tried covering that bed in maple leaves in the fall yet.
TNHunter
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I have a 3’ ring around all my trees but they are not pavers. I originally used the 6” edging, from big box stores, but my grass grew under it so I found 10” edging online and it is deep enough that my grass cannot grow under it but it causes root girdling so I’m looking for other options.
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Weeds are not my issue, they are easier to control. My empire zoysia is my issue. You should see the underground runners it produces. They look like sword tips and they penetrate anything I’ve tried putting around my trees. Of course not the hard plastic edging I’ve used but I had to use 10” edging because it grew under 6” edging but that caused root girdling, especially my citrus trees because they have a lot of shallow roots.
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@MSchiedow … my daughter lived in Cookeville TN for a few years … and the yard there had Bermuda grass.
I made her a nice gardan bed and she grew tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce…
Even with the bed mulched deep with straw… that stuff just kept on comming… I had to re-dig that bed each spring and pull that stuff out… and it would come right back again.
Sounds like you have something similar but worse.
Good luck to you…
TNHunter
Sorry, I misread. I do understand your need for deep barriers.
The majority of dicot trees prefer to have their surface roots extend to the drip line of the canopy. Consequently, if you are pruning your trees for a 10’ diameter canopy then with deep barriers you also need 10’ tree perimeters.
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Grasses that are invasive can only be controlled by elimination. Your best bet if you want to grow fruit trees is to kill off the empire zoysia grass. Roundup applied several times during the growing season may be your only realistic method. Then reseed your lawn with a grass variety that spreads only by seed such as perennial rye, etc. You will need to cover your vegetation you do not want to kill when you spray the grass. Avoid spraying on a windy day as Glyphosphate will kill anything it touches. If you want to keep the zoysia grass, your tree rings would need to be deep enough and of greater diameter than the future drip line of your trees to prevent interference with tree feeder roots. All zoysia grass roots inside the ring must be dug out.
Dennis
Kent, Wa