A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Does anyone know if

Does anyone know if adding about a foot of dirt along the base of a bunch of VERY well-established and old Cape Honeysuckles will hurt them? Obviously, it would cover the bottom foot of the plants, which will be trimmed at the time to a height of about 6 feet. I pretty much HAVE to add the dirt, because I HAVE to level my yard, so I'm putting all the extra dirt behind a new retaining wall where these honeysuckles are. I don't want to hurt them, but MUST keep the water from pooling next to the house.

Thanks in advance if anyone knows.

Hi GG, generally, if you cover the base of a plant with soil, or even a damp mulch, you can cause collar rot. This is basically the bark getting too moist and fungi, whatever gets to it and it rots. You could possibly put a small retainer around the individual plants to stop the soil from actually touching the trees. I'm thinking along the lines of a foot of 8" PVC pipe, split down one side, (to get it on) and placed around the base of the trees. Not sure if it'd work but i'd bet if you bury the plants base you'll get the collar rot.

Hey Longy! Thanks for the info. The PVC pipe sounds like a good idea, and something I could do. Thx again.