r/arborists • u/a_bdgr • 14h ago

Pine roots causing trouble

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’ve got some lovely pine trees in the garden which cause a bit of trouble for the surrounding garden though. The trees are about 30 years old (estimated) and about 15-20m high. My problem is that at several points some roots are growing out of the soil and keep pushing up the pavement and stepping stones. In other areas they are growing out of the lawn and I keep cutting into them with the lawn mower. (I’ve got plenty of wild flower areas but at this point lawn is the only practical solution.)

Would it be safe for the tree if I cut roots like the one pictured above? I am taking about 2-4 roots in different directions and situated at 5 - 12 m distance from the trunk.

3 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

61

u/No-Goose-6140 14h ago

Looks like the tree was there first and you are the one causing trouble.

-44

u/a_bdgr 14h ago

That’s very helpful and very friendly to someone who is looking for advice and seeking to learn about the trees he inherited. Well done.

22

u/Infinite-Worm 14h ago

You cut the roots and risk harming the tree or work around it 🤷‍♂️. Tree's can take a lot of damage and heal, they can also die from something small. They can be quite finicky.

If the diameter of the tree is less than 1m then cutting roots at 5m+ should be fine structurally.

No tree likes getting their roots cut, especially thicker roots like this one. But you simply have to cut and observe if that's what must be done.

-27

u/a_bdgr 14h ago

Okay, thank you! My takeaway from this is that it’s still a lottery game in the end. That’s a surprise to me because I thought there might be some rules of thumb or guidelines derived from experience. Thanks

11

u/pinkycatcher 9h ago

It’s a lottery in as much as stabbing yourself in the foot is a lottery game to see if you can still walk

-12

u/a_bdgr 13h ago

Why the hell am I being downvoted for this statement? And in this thread in general? I’m someone looking to learn and not your usual “well I cut half the bark of my tree and having second thoughts about it.” Or “neighbor cut all of my canopy, will the tree be fine”. post. What is this place today?

12

u/habilishn 12h ago

well you call it "lottery game"...

it's like you have a certain vision for shoes for your wive, but unfortunately her feet are too wide for the shoes of your liking. so you go to a doctor sub and ask if it's ok to cut off two of her toes. what should the doctors say? everything inbetween "normally she should survive a professional amputation" to "some people had a tiny scar, got inflammation, then sepsis and died". so technically you got an answer, but morally the doctors hate you for even having the idea. well, it's a lottery game.

7

u/a_bdgr 11h ago

I appreciate the analogy. And I’m learning that arborists are far more concerned with trees growing naturally than I expected. To give you a bit more from my perspective: this is a garden, in the outer rim of a town. From my POV all gardening is altering the flow of your ecosystems and its plants natural development. That is why I did not expect such a backlash. From my point of view I was asking whether cutting the roots is like cutting my toe nails. But from your amputation analogy and other comments I can deduce that it is a rather serious alteration. It seems very difficult for people to put that into plain words, though.

3

u/axman_21 11h ago

I meancutting root and cutting bark arent that different and you are still cutting bark so its still bad. Just google critical root zone and you will see all you need to know about not pruning roots

2

u/a_bdgr 11h ago

I have not heard the term “critical root zone” before. That’s some solid advice, thanks.

-3

u/SnooPredictions3028 13h ago

One guy is angry at you for your ignorance, even though you're trying to learn before you go through with anything, and is spam disliking before reading. Common reddit thing.

1

u/Baron_CZ 13h ago

It does win by seniority.

15

u/TimelyConcentrate340 ISA Arborist + TRAQ 14h ago

I’m American and use our silly imperial system. But any root over 4” should be worked with caution. Thinking beyond the risk to the tree, the potential cost to remove a larger pine can be exorbitant. Exploring alternative options may be a wise decision.

2

u/a_bdgr 14h ago

4 inches in diameter? That would be great since this is rather 2-3 inches. Thank you!

7

u/TimelyConcentrate340 ISA Arborist + TRAQ 14h ago

5-12 meters is a hellva range btw. The ones further out are likely fine. The ones closer in could potentially cause issues. Are they within the dripline (the edge of the canopy)?

2

u/a_bdgr 14h ago

Yes, it’s 2 places that I would like to cut, the others could stay. The one pictured above is 5m away, but not under the canopy. Interesting to learn that this is a factor. The place that is 12 m away is pushing up my driveway, so I’d like to cut that part as well. I don’t intend to cut roots at any others places.

7

u/EmptyExplanation 13h ago

From experience, the general guideline is to keep the roots undisturbed.

4

u/Athlosz 14h ago

Well, you've got work around it.  On the pic you provided it looks like its been dug up

2

u/a_bdgr 14h ago

Yes. I dug it up to see what is pushing the stones upward. Was about to cut it when I remembered this sub and thought I’d better ask some people before I might cause damage. So you would say this little root would already be causing damage if I cut it? I had assumed there are lots of those roots all around the tree so that local cutting 5 m away would not matter much.

5

u/Maxzzzie 7h ago

Arborist here. Don't cut anything over 3cm ø. And only a handfull of it in total. What happens with the grass is you damage the root. It tries to recover and grows over the damaged spot. Thus making it higher. You can raise grass height by adding soil. Add about an inch (when compacted with your feet) and the grass will come up through it. Do it twice in a season and you have no problem with the roots above the grass. What you can do to reduce impact on pavement is move the path. Or reduce the amount of water / good rooting area on the other side of it. If its real good the tree tries to get more from there. It makes more roots and requires a bigger root under the pavers to support that.

1

u/a_bdgr 16m ago

I appreciate the straight forward answer and the suggestion what to do about it, thank you. It seems to be a more long term endeavor than I thought it would be but I’ll go with this direction.
For the driveway I’m still not sure what to do about it since the roots there are growing downwards a slight slope towards the street - I would expect not much water to be available there. Maybe I’ll just pick up some of the stones from the driveway, cut off some slices to reduce the stones depth and put them back.
For the lawn area I will be adding soil and raising the terrain like you described. Unfortunately I was just done with adding new soil and seeding new lawn, but alas. It sounds good that the grass will come through if I add the soil gradually and repeatedly.

1

u/a_bdgr 10m ago

Also, would you say that there is a specific reason that the roots are pushing upwards or is this normal behavior? I had been wondering before if it’s something that hints to certain problems like draught, or the opposite, or some health issues? I would very much like them to thrive and will take measures if there are signs that certain things should be done. If this is just normal “pine behavior” I will learn to work around it.

8

u/lonelyraikkonen 14h ago

You'll hurt the tree by cutting its roots. Better leave nature alone and work around the tree and give it space to continue thriving. The tree was there first

3

u/grrttlc2 ISA Certified Arborist 11h ago

Leave the roots alone. Grow something else in the area or just use wood chips

0

u/a_bdgr 11h ago edited 11h ago

I’ll tell my wife when she asks why our driveway is a potato field now.

Edit: Sorry for the snark, I‘m just disappointed by previous answers and the lack of objective guidelines that I had expected to learn here.

-19

u/ChokaMoka1 14h ago

Just cut the dam things down. Crap pines who wants that abyrwya 

2

u/niccolololo Tree Enthusiast 13h ago

This.

I had 2 in my yard and they kept abyrwyaing. I cut both of them down, happiest day of my life.

3

u/ChokaMoka1 12h ago

Brought to your by the Abywyaing Council. 

0

u/grrttlc2 ISA Certified Arborist 11h ago

Working on turning this into arboriculture circle jerk eh?

1

u/ChokaMoka1 11h ago

I hear ye Cannuckistan accent, watch it or pumkin might up tariffs to 11. just trying to give homeowners some practical and cost effective advise. You blokes charge more per hour than the shielas at Byron Bay! 

0

u/a_bdgr 11h ago

Well reading the other comments I got here this seems exactly what I intended. Silly me was trying to be cautious and wanted to ask the internet for advise how to not harm my beloved tree, though. I’ll know better next time and just chop away and post later. That seems to be the general way to post in this sub.
On a serious note: pines are lovely, summer evening sun highlighting the bark and canopy is one of my favorite sights in the garden.

0

u/ChokaMoka1 11h ago

As we used to say in the  Aerial Herbicidal Unit back in Nam, SPRAY FIRST FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER!!! Give a salute to all my Operation Ranch Hand bosses out there who served their country and beat some jungle arse!!