Does anyone have any advice or tips on growing vegetables near mature trees? I have a vegetable garden which is only about 30 metres from some pretty large oak trees. MY garden runs north-south and the trees are on the south east side. It is not shaded by the house at all and in the summer most of the garden gets sun much of the day, as it also mostly does when the leaves are off the trees, but from September onwards till early spring the shadows cover most of the vegetable garden till around noon.
Obviously shade is one issue, but more importantly, I’ve recently come across tree roots – not that big but intrusive, fibrous and tough, in some of the vegetable beds nearest the south end of the garden which also gets the least light. These may come from the oak trees, about 20 metres or less away (how far exactly do roots of large trees extend beyond the area of the canopy?). I’ve also noticed poorer growth at these points in the vegetable beds.
These signs and symptoms seem obvious enough, but does one abandon vegetables in such situations or are some better at coping than others, and am I largely feeding trees when I mulch my veg plots? I do have two apple trees espaliered on the fence nearby too, though I don’t think the roots come from them. I also have a plum tree at the north end of the veg plot. This does seem to impoverish the bed nearest to it at that end. My neighbour on the west side has two large apple trees though I’ve not noticed any problem from that direction – my best veg beds are on the west side of the garden, which also gets sun most of the year round.
What are the important factors here and what vegetables can handle them best, if any? I haven;t visited Homeacres but from the pictures it looks as if there aren’t many large trees around?
I’m interested in the idea of “agroforestry” that seems to be becoming fashionable now, but how does one mix trees with other equally demanding food plants and still come up with a viable harvest??
All practical experience and tips welcome. I’ve had some success with red currants, and my own fruit trees do well, as do raspberries. Other things, I’m not so sure about…..
