Ring around the oak tree

[barrentine]

I live in central Georgia.I have 3 sawtooth oak trees about 10 years old in my front yard.The trees are beautiful and growing good.there is a circle around the trees at about 20 to 25 feet from the base of tree where there is no grass.Does these trees eat up the nutrition and water in the soil to cause this.what can i do to help my lawn without harming the trees.thanks

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I've got a couple oaks in the front yard... they are about 20 or 25 years old.
anyway, same thing with the circle of poor grass underneath... wider than the canopy of the tree.
I mow about 3 acres of lawn, so I don't really care to make the grass grow faster by using lawn fertilizer, but I did spread lawn fertilizer on the area under the oaks last fall and again this spring...
The grass has filled in and looks almost normal now.

Pete

 

[JakeBrake]

My home is is grove of very large oak trees. I gave up trying to get grass to grow under the trees years ago. As I get older, I'm grateful that I don't have to mow that part of the yard. I just spray the odd weeds that appear with Eliminator (a Round Up knock-off sold at Walmart).

By the way, last Fall I paid a tree service company $1200 to remove limbs that were over my roof. There were three workers and they were equipped with a bucket truck, a Bobcat, and several chain saws. They cut and stacked the large pieces for firewood. I have plenty of wood for next winter. They moved the rest to a large burn pile that I have not yet burned. They worked for most of two days.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Trees usually suck up both moisture and nutrients at least out to their drip lines (farthest spread of their branches.) And of course shade the area underneath them. All three contribute to choking out the undergrowth. And depending on the soil, the tree, rainfall, location, etc., may extend outward half again the radius of the drip line.

 

[hosspuller]

My house is surrounded by six oak trees planted 40- 50 years ago. They are more valued than grass. They provide shade in the summer reducing my cooling costs. I've mulched them in a radius 10 feet from the tree. Consider a tree in the forest, it's surrounded by forest litter feeding the tree. A tree surrounded by grass is starving since the grass intercepts moisture and nutrients.

By the way... don't let anybody "top" your trees. It is the worse thing to do to a tree. Instead ask for a reduction. That will thin the branches and keep the tree shaped.

 

[cqaigy2]

By the way... don't let anybody "top" your trees. It is the worse thing to do to a tree. Instead ask for a reduction. That will thin the branches and keep the tree shaped.

Thanks for that info.:thumbsup:

 

[TonyMcD]

I have always heard that oak leaves have a lot of acid in them, so you might check the soil and maybe add some lime, etc...will help the grass to grow.
Also using a grass that likes shade might help.