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Emland · Apr 29, 2007, 05:11 PM

My husband has spent the last 3 weekends building a retaining wall type of flower bed on our sloping lot and backfilled with clean topfill.

We have a very large crêpe myrtle approximately 20 years old that was at the end of the flowerbed which now has approximately 6 -8 inches more dirt around its base.

Our neighbor who has something to say about everybody's yard project came by and made a wisecrack about our tree being dead within a year.

I would hate for this old fart to be right, but is he? Will the extra dirt that we added to the raised bed harm our lovely tree?

Emland · Apr 30, 2007, 06:49 PM

Anyone have a suggestion?

Emland · May 1, 2007, 07:01 AM

Bringing this back to the top in the morning to see if morning folks know!

roadrunner41559 · May 6, 2007, 07:57 PM

I'm not sure about the crêpe myrtle but if it were roses they would die for sure, so the old man may be right. I would try to remove some of the dirt just around the trunk.

agrarian · May 12, 2007, 02:01 PM

Many plants do not like soil too far above the crown of the plant, where the roots start to flare out in the soil. I do not know about crêpe myrtles in particular. If you pull soil back and allow a basin around the plant you may be okay. However, you do not want water to stand for extended periods in contact with the trunk/stem either.