How can I plant things where a pine tree was taken down?

Question

Is there something I can put on the spot to take some of the acidity out of the soil?

Answer 1

talk to your local nursery, they can tell you what amendments to reverse the acid in the soil.. cleaning the area, all pine needles etc, from the old tree will help this happen quicker. there are however acid loving plants that would love to be planted there..

Answer 2

I agree with collegekid. Pine needles are not necessarily a bad thing, especially for (as you remarked) acid loving plants. All the plants collegekid mentioned would work nicely in this area (blueberry plants too).

I don't know how the soil is under the needles, but I would think that the decomposed needles as well as the mulch that the undecomposed provided have contributed to you soil's texture (not too hard).

At any rate, I think adding a bit of composted manure to the soil and lime (if you would like to lower the acidity a bit) would be good amendments.

Oh, and you might think about saving those pine needles.....as I mentioned, they make a good mulch.

Answer 3

If you had the stump ground down to below ground level you can go head and plant just about any bush or small tree in its place...

I had a huge pine cut down in my front yard and planted a dogwood bush in its place about ten years ago.. The bush has grown like crazy since....

Once you cut down the pine trees the acidity drops pretty fast because alot of it comes from the pine needles that drop every year....

Answer 4

If you want to plant something that likes an acidic soil, like holly, azalea, rhododendron, etc. you can just add organic matter and some good topsoil to make the area ready.

If you want to plant non-acid loving plants then you'll want to rake out all the dead needles, level it out with organic matter and topsoil and then put lime on top to neutralize any excess acid left. I would recommend pelletized dolomitic lime.

Answer 5

i personaly would dig all the old soil out and replace it with organic matter ,lots of anything ,thats packed with minerals to help your new plants as i sould imgine the pine tree would have used up most of what was in the soil,so you need to try and put back the goodness

Answer 6

I was told i had to let it settle for a year. I am glad i waited, the ground is much firmer and I filled in the rest with top soil. Not sure about the acidity

Answer 7

A vine plant will grow over it.