Quote Originally Posted by new gardener View Post
I am new to gardening. We have an existing weeping willow in our yard and a garden area was made next to it. We never did anything with it for a few years after we moved in. One year my dad added a raised bed to the garden area and his garden did well. Now nothing will grow. We get some growth but it is very little. Is the problem the weeping willow tree? When I tried to get the soil ready for planting last year I had several little roots throughout the raised beds. Would it help if I moved the raised beds about 75ft away from the weeping willow tree? I really want a garden this year. Also, my dad is convinced that the seedlings that come off the tree is the problem not the roots.

Help !!!!
I expect someone with more knowledge than me will be able to answer this, but I will try to make a start. Weeping Willows are very thirsty trees so it could be taking the soil too dry. Depending on how you made the raised beds they could be prone to drying out anyway. There will be roughly as much root underground as the canopy of the tree so there will be a lot of roots. The tree will cause a lot of shade and depending on where you live the combination of lack of light and little warmth from direct sun may not be good for the things growing in your raised beds. Please forgive me for asking the obvious but are you conditioning the soil and feeding the plants? I only ask because the beds did OK the first year when the soil was new. I hope you find the answer to your problem.