Willing killing existing lawn hurt trees

bheppner – posted 27 September 2005 14:48

I am preparing to kill my existing lawn inorder to install fescue sod. I have three large 80 year old water oaks on my 1/4 acre lot. I have spent a fair amount of money treating and maintaining these trees and would be devastated if anything happened to them. The company that I interviewed to install the lawn recommended spraying the lawn with two applications of herbicide one week apart. I know this is a common practice, but should I be concerned about any damage to the water oaks.

Thanks

Tungsten33333 – posted 28 September 2005 09:22

Round up is known to kill mycorhizzal fungi.

Your old oak trees *might* suffer to a degree. Some oaks are really prone to environment changes, I think Post Oak is one example. Anyway, I wouldn’t put grasses within 3-5 feet of trunk. Mulch in that area instead to provide oxygen to the roots.