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Live oak help
Posted on 8/23/25 at 8:49 pm
Posted on 8/23/25 at 8:49 pm
We just removed a ton of over grown / weed infested Asian jasmine, ferns, and lily of the valley around this oak due to how difficult it is to upkeep/maintain… (We have very young children, full time jobs, and a ton more landscaping around the sides of the house and backyard.) We are seeing conflicting information online about what to do with the area around it. What is the best type of mulch to add or any other recommendations to make this look good, but also easy to maintain? Side note- hoping to add a children’s swing on one of the branches for the kiddos
This post was edited on 8/23/25 at 8:52 pm
7
Posted on 8/23/25 at 8:51 pm to Cleopatra
The plan at this point is to also remove the monkey grass as you can see it’s in terrible shape too… unless someone suggests otherwise. It could be cleaned up and more can be planted to fill in the gaps if needed
Posted on 8/23/25 at 10:28 pm to Cleopatra
Hardwood mulch. Keep it 6" away from the trunk
This post was edited on 8/23/25 at 10:29 pm
Posted on 8/23/25 at 10:31 pm to Cleopatra
Any tips on how you removed the asian Jasmine? I am guessing just a lot of pain staking pulling. I have some i need to get rid of also. Thanks.
Posted on 8/23/25 at 10:42 pm to countryboycansurvive
quote:
Any tips on how you removed the asian Jasmine?
I had a ton of it around my house. To my suprise, I was just able to mow it down with the lawnmower over the course of a month or so. Now, I just mow it the same height as the lawnmower over and it is pretty quickly being taken over by turf grsss.
Posted on 8/23/25 at 11:24 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
Hardwood mulch. Keep it 6" away from the trunk
But no more than 2 inches deep so it can breathe. Adding too much mulch or worse, dirt, will kill an old oak quickly.
Posted on 8/24/25 at 6:27 am to Stexas
So interested in the ideas and results. If anyone has any pics of what they have done, that would be great as well. I have about 9 or 10 of these in my yard and 2 are in my front yard where my driveway passes. I have Bermuda grass in my yard and St Augustine grass near the live oaks. Grass around trees is scarce so I want to plant something to make it look better. Tried planting asiatic Jasmine but it’s not growing to quick.
Posted on 8/24/25 at 1:40 pm to Cleopatra
I would plant to mexican daisies around it. It will shade out any weeds. Put a few pavers at the bottom of the child's swing so it will not grow there.
Posted on 8/25/25 at 7:24 am to Cleopatra
Cast Iron plants around it. looks good and upkeep it very easy, that is what is under mine and no issues at all
Posted on 8/25/25 at 7:51 am to Cleopatra
Cast irons, liriope and Asian jasmine are some of the most common understory plant for live oaks around here. Looks like you've already had two of those three options. You could also add some mulch and uplighting. Live oaks don't need mulch but it would be better than exposed dirt.
While you have all vegetation removed from around the tree, you may want to consider removing some of the dirt around the base and expose the trunk flare/root flare. Maybe someone else with a little more knowledge could chime in but you don't want to choke such a pretty tree out with all that fill.
While you have all vegetation removed from around the tree, you may want to consider removing some of the dirt around the base and expose the trunk flare/root flare. Maybe someone else with a little more knowledge could chime in but you don't want to choke such a pretty tree out with all that fill.
Posted on 8/25/25 at 11:18 am to Cage Fighter Trainee
Hold up.. we had cast iron plants there! I didn’t know that’s what they were called until I just googled that. That was the big plant we just removed. We were told by an arborist that it was starting to affect the health of the tree
Posted on 8/25/25 at 11:20 am to Cage Fighter Trainee
Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions!!! I think we will keep it simple and mulch it (for easy of upkeep). I’ll ask the tree guy that’s coming add cabling to it about the dirt situation
Posted on 8/28/25 at 5:02 pm to Cleopatra
If you have access to a public composting facility get some of the green mulch. It’s the stage before it becomes compost. You can usually get 2-4 yards per week free. Works really good around trees. The compost is great for free dirt but will suffocate tree roots if you put too much around trees. It’s better for gardens and flower beds. All free. I’ve used a ton of it (green and compost) to build beds and mulch trees and plants in heavy black jack clay soil. Build roads. Saved thousands of dollars and built character in two sons shoveling it.
Posted on 8/28/25 at 5:12 pm to Cleopatra
quote:
I’ll ask the tree guy that’s coming add cabling to it about the dirt situation
It does look like the root flare is under a mound of dirt but I also see small roots in that dirt. Air spading would be idea to remove a bit of the dirt but not damage those roots.
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