Leveling a natural area (grow, Dogwood, trees, front yard)

[underPSI]

Question to see if my thoughts are correct. I have a natural area in my front yard that is sloped on one side and flat on the other. There are several Dogwoods around the perimeter of this natural area. I was thinking of bringing in some dirt to fill in the steep slope so it would look like a raised bed. The deepest point would require about a 3' depth of additional dirt which is in the center where there aren't any trees. Is my thinking correct that by doing this the trees in the natural area would die because of the roots that run along just beneath the surface?

[underPSI]

So nobody knows if putting dirt over an existing natural area will kill the trees?

[DubbleT]

I'm not sure about your question, can't quite visualize what you're describing. At any rate, I do know you are not supposed to 'bury' the roots of trees under a lot of soil, although I've read that a light covering of soil or mulch is okay. I had a maple tree that had a few inches of soil put over it to grow a few perennials in, and it didn't seem to suffer any ill effects.

I also found this info, hope it helps some.

"Eighty to 90 percent of the tree's rootsare located in the top six to 24 inches of the soil and occupy an area two to four times the diameter of the tree crown."~Dan Hartman, Cleveland Urban Forester

"It is common for roots to spread two to three times the width of the branch canopy. While feeder roots travel this far, the most essential roots are usually considered to be within the canopy dripline."

[cdelena]

Healthy trees will adapt to changes in conditions if the change is not too damaging. Most of the important roots are within the tree crown and if less than 30% of the roots get buried they should be OK.