Fire Pit Project

[JLM]

So, I am planning to embark on a project to create a fire pit in my backyard. It will be meant to be an inviting space for sitting around a fire on a summer night. I am planning on planting palms around this, probably a mix of washingtonia and some other palm, among other smaller landscaping details. Once this project is underway, ill take progress pics.

There is one issue with this space in particular however. The people that lived at this house before us had an underground pool in this location, and from what we have heard and seen, then ripped the surface layer of concrete up and buried it in the bottom half of the pool, and filled in with dirt. So basically from what I know, theres essentially a gigantic pot in my backyard with very large pieces of concrete throughout it. Will this eventually be a problem for any palms planted here? I have no clue how deep it goes or anything like that, i just know its there. Any insight will be greatly appreciated!

[Fishinsteeg234]

I don’t think the buried pool will be an issue. The palm roots will grow all around and through the buried debris. Another thing to consider is you may  be able to burn a fire in this pit during the coldest of nights, creating warm area to possibly deflect some frost. You might want to try zone pushing around this fire pit area, the surrounding palms may have the best chance of cold survival there. I have a similar fire pit in my yard and have some cold sensitive specimens placed about 10’ - 15’ from the pit. I always to try burn some large logs in the pit throughout the night on the coldest spells. Not close enough to burn the palms, but close enough to have a radiational heating effect. Worth a shot if done safely.