I live in Georgia and have 2 Maple trees shading my patio. They are 25 feet apart. Their shade is such that grass will no longer grow in the area between them; so I want to convert that area into a garden with a flagstone path through it. It will need to be stepped down with three steps of 7in. One of the maples is Japanese about 20 ft in diameter and thee other is a red maple about 30 ft in diameter. Will excavating for the steps harm the trees? There will be three cuts of 9 inches each and 3-4 feet apart.
