Questionis it an o.k. idea or dangerous to the health of an oak tree or pine tree to build a flower bed with stones around the bed?
AnswerTree roots can not stand more than a couple of inches of added soil around the tree. More than this will push out the air spaces and kill the roots of the tree causing the foliage to die. Stones since they are heavier than soil will be worst and not need as deep to cause damage to the roots. You could add 3 inches of good top soil and plant the flowers in this if you did not dig down below the added soil. Do not rotor till the area this will damage the trees roots. Stones for a border will be ok. Do not pile the soil up on the trunk this will damage the root collar of the tree.
