Tree roots everywhere!

[mattyd]

Hi All, new member and new to gardening in general!

I have a small problem - To the back of my house there is a playing field surounded by trees, a few months back the counsel arrived and cut down every second tree (by the looks of it) these trees are about 10ft from the boundery of my garden.

Sence the tree has been cut, my avarage size garden has been sprouting small tree roots, there a nice covering over the whole garden, i would guess there are about 50 or so.

So, advice needed. but I do have two questions...

1- im guessing the trees roots are heading towards my house, is there any chance of future damage to the foundations?

2- to remove them whats best - cut, pull, lawnmower or none of these?

Cheers all!

[David E. Ross]

Roots? It sounds more like shoots?

[Phisherman]

Maybe. It really depends on the kind of tree. I wouldn't trust a willow nor a silver maple, but a sweetgum or sugar maple is okay.

Cut roots getting into your garden area. I use a spade, maddock, pic axe, saw, etc. Cutting tree roots may harm the health of a tree, if that matters.

[mattyd]

yep, shoots - sorry

[David E. Ross]

Mowing the shoots will eventually starve the roots underneath them. This will work only for shoots from the roots of the trees that were removed.

Alternatively, you can use Roundup or some other herbicide if there is no desirable plants right next to the shoots. Roundup will move through the shoot and kill the roots; mix it a little more dilute than the instructions indicate so that it doesn't kill the tender shoot before it can reach the roots. This will work on shoots from roots both from trees that were removed and trees that are still standing. For the latter, the trees themselves should not be harmed because only roots near the treated shoots should be affected. (In many cases, roots send up shoots only when the main tree has been killed, in which case standing trees will definitely not be affected.)

Twice, I've had trees removed from my garden and then had to fight shoots from the roots for several years. I couldn't always use an herbicide because the shoots were coming up right in the middle of desirable plants. I had to pull the shoots because they were not were a mower could be used.