I love this tree…. We understand your love for Crape Myrtles and in your neck of the woods, I would imagine they are spectacular! If you are able to maintain optimal conditions supplemental watering, fresh mulch bed, etc. If you have any other questions, feel free to email us at customercare bowerandbranch.
We have a very large Zelkova tree approximately 15 feet from our house. That root was about the size of an adult wrist. We cut that root because we think it is the reason a foundation crack has started leaking. The soil here is clay. Would it be reasonable to expect there to be deeper roots of similar or larger size also growing in the same area? Tree roots actually grow out not down , only a foot or two below the surface, so the chance of there being large roots at the base of your foundation is very low.
Now, you may have done damage to the Tree when you cut the root. We recommend that you supplement with water as we go into Summer to make sure your Tree has plenty in order to push through the shock from the cut. You may see some die back in the canopy as a result. We would also suggest that you not cut any more roots unless a Certified Arborist has determined it must be done.
You could possibly kill your Tree by cutting the roots or weaken the stability of it, making it more susceptible to blowing over in a storm. If you have any other questions, feel free to email us at grower bowerandbranch. My daughter has a Norway maple about ten feet from the house. It was there when she bought it last year.
I am concerned about branches on the roof and roots in the foundation. I am thinking it should be removed and another tree planted further from the house. What do you recommend? It is known for its shallow root system and dense branching — both which inhibit anything from growing underneath it. You should definitely be concerned about branches falling onto the house and somewhat concerned with the foundation.
It would be best if the Tree were removed now and a new one planted. The longer you wait, the more expensive it may become. Depending on what variety of Tree she decides to go with, she may not have to plant it in a new location. If she needs any help deciding on a new Tree for her new home, we would love to help her out! She can give us a call at , live chat with us or find her perfect match! I have a 5 year old river birch about 10 feet from both my and my neighbors house.
They have begun complaining about the surface roots and keep nagging me to axe them although I have explained that the tree will likely fall on one of our houses next time it storms if I do that we live in NC and get 30 to 40 mile per hour wind gusts with big storms. Is there any reason to believe the roots of a river birch will go under a foundation and damage it?
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You should expect to see surface roots continue to appear. This will damage the Tree significantly and lead to failure down the road. The roots of a River Birch are not likely to cause damage to a solid foundation. However, if there are existing faults in the foundations cracks , the roots could add to that damage over a number of years. We are sorry about that! If you have any other questions, feel free to live chat with us on the site, email us at grower bowerandbranch.
Several of its surface roots were getting close to our foundation and sidewalk — I think I made a terrible mistake before doing research online. The tree appears to have surface roots from what I can see and I just cut off 4 of them about 2 feet from the base of the tree yesterday. Like many others, I thought the tree had deeper main roots and I was just cutting a few surface roots to protect my sidewalk and possibly foundation.
After I did it, my wife read online about what a terrible mistake I might have done. Is there anything I can do so my tree survives? Please, any advice would be appreciated. By cutting off those roots, you have done serious damage to your Tree but there is a good chance the Maple can survive this. Your Tree will be set back for several years and you may see it defoliate a little now as a response to the damage.
You should do this every two weeks by bringing your hose to the base of your Tree and leaving it on a slow trickle for two hours each time. With a little TLC, your Tree may grow through this but it will experience a bit of a set back. Just keep up with the TLC and you should see your Tree bounce back! Is this a serious problem? This leads us to believe that there may be some sort of erosion issue occurring.
If that is the case, we would recommend applying a layer of mulch to help combat the issue. We have a very large Norwegian Maple approx 10ft from our house. We are wanting to put in a patio but to do so we will need to cut some roots and place down a root barrier. The diameter of the tree is approx 7ft. If anyone could offer advice it would be much appreciated.
The roots you want to cut are what we call the structural roots. They are the roots that prevent your Tree from falling over. By removing a portion of them, you are causing the Tree to be unstable and are opening yourself up to failure down the road. If a strong storm comes through with high winds, you could be dealing with a serious problem. When cutting the structural roots, you will also be cutting the feeder roots the small fibrous roots — which, as you can imagine, disrupts how the Tree is able to feed itself. The damage that occurs by cutting these roots may not be reflected immediately — they may present over time.
Early defoliation, dying branches and stunted growth are all visual signs of damage. You will also be opening your Tree up to diseases and pests that feed on weakened Trees. Truthfully, my Growers recommend that you either cut the Tree down or move the location of the patio before cutting the roots of your Tree. We are here to help! The tractor, which was just doing its job, sliced the top of the root removing the bark or bark like skin and exposing the lighter wood under the bark phloem?
We live in the woods, literally. We recently have lost a number older trees up by the road and the tree guy, not an Arborist, told me that one of the trees got sick and then was domino effect.
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My question is what do I do now. Should I put tar on the wound like the old days, cover the root with mulch or what? First things first, you certainly have a way with words! As for your Oak Tree and what to do — our Team recommends letting nature take it from here. Your Tree is well established and this wound may not be as detrimental as you may think. One recommendation we do have for you is to make sure that the bark that has been damaged is a clean cut as opposed to a ragged edge. If the edges are ragged, simply take a little pocket knife and clean them up a bit.
I have planted a 3. It is of 1 inch diameter stem and roughly 10 feet high. Should I be worried about its shallow root system and remove it? It was just planted yesterday. To be truthful, yes, you should be concerned — but not only for that reason. There are many different reasons we would recommend removal.
Fast growing Trees tend to have shallow, aggressive roots which cause issues as they grow — specifically, Silver Maple roots have been known to lift sidewalks and break macadam driveways. So the possible damage and surface rooting is far spreading. On top of all of that, the wood is weak and brittle. As a result, during severe storms, you can expect branches to break off of the Tree. Unfortunately, we would recommend removal of your Silver Maple as the negatives outweigh the positives. If you were looking for something similar, we would suggest the Autumn Blaze Maple — this is a cross between the native Red Maple and the Silver Maple.
We have a year old Mountain Ash tree in our front yard. It gets full sun and plenty of water, but every time we get any winds, the tree practically gets uprooted. During high winds we have to tie it down. Is there something we can do to make it more rooted? We live in central Michigan. After reviewing your situation with our Growers, they believe you have the European Mountain Ash variety.
Unfortunately, that variety is notoriously weak rooted. Chances are, based off of your location, your soil is either a heavy clay soil or very sandy soil — both of those are not very conducive to root growth. But this was in the laboratory, and I wondered, could this happen in real forests? Trees in real forests might also share information below ground. But this was really controversial, and some people thought I was crazy, and I had a really hard time getting research funding.
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But I persevered, and I eventually conducted some experiments deep in the forest, 25 years ago. I grew 80 replicates of three species: I figured the birch and the fir would be connected in a belowground web, but not the cedar. It was in its own other world.
And I gathered my apparatus, and I had no money, so I had to do it on the cheap. So I went to Canadian Tire —. And then I borrowed some high-tech stuff from my university: And then I got some really dangerous stuff: But I was legally permitted. Oh, and I forgot some stuff, important stuff: The first day of the experiment, we got out to our plot and a grizzly bear and her cub chased us off. And I had no bear spray.
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But you know, this is how forest research in Canada goes. So I came back the next day, and mama grizzly and her cub were gone. So this time, we really got started, and I pulled on my white paper suit, I put on my respirator, and then I put the plastic bags over my trees. I got my giant syringes, and I injected the bags with my tracer isotope carbon dioxide gases, first the birch.
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I injected carbon, the radioactive gas, into the bag of birch. And then for fir, I injected the stable isotope carbon carbon dioxide gas. I used two isotopes, because I was wondering whether there was two-way communication going on between these species. I got to the final bag, the 80th replicate, and all of a sudden mama grizzly showed up again. And she started to chase me, and I had my syringes above my head, and I was swatting the mosquitos, and I jumped into the truck, and I thought, "This is why people do lab studies.
I waited an hour. I figured it would take this long for the trees to suck up the CO2 through photosynthesis, turn it into sugars, send it down into their roots, and maybe, I hypothesized, shuttle that carbon belowground to their neighbors. After the hour was up, I rolled down my window, and I checked for mama grizzly. Oh good, she's over there eating her huckleberries. So I got out of the truck and I got to work. I went to my first bag with the birch.
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I pulled the bag off. I ran my Geiger counter over its leaves. The birch had taken up the radioactive gas. Then the moment of truth. I went over to the fir tree. I pulled off its bag. I ran the Geiger counter up its needles, and I heard the most beautiful sound. It was the sound of birch talking to fir, and birch was saying, "Hey, can I help you? Because somebody threw a shade cloth over me. Cedar was in its own world.
It was not connected into the web interlinking birch and fir.
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I was so excited, I ran from plot to plot and I checked all 80 replicates. The evidence was clear. The C and C was showing me that paper birch and Douglas fir were in a lively two-way conversation. It turns out at that time of the year, in the summer, that birch was sending more carbon to fir than fir was sending back to birch, especially when the fir was shaded.
And then in later experiments, we found the opposite, that fir was sending more carbon to birch than birch was sending to fir, and this was because the fir was still growing while the birch was leafless. So it turns out the two species were interdependent, like yin and yang. And at that moment, everything came into focus for me. I knew I had found something big, something that would change the way we look at how trees interact in forests, from not just competitors but to cooperators.
And I had found solid evidence of this massive belowground communications network, the other world. Now, I truly hoped and believed that my discovery would change how we practice forestry, from clear-cutting and herbiciding to more holistic and sustainable methods, methods that were less expensive and more practical. What was I thinking? I'll come back to that. So how do we do science in complex systems like forests? Well, as forest scientists, we have to do our research in the forests, and that's really tough, as I've shown you.
And we have to be really good at running from bears. But mostly, we have to persevere in spite of all the stuff stacked against us. And we have to follow our intuition and our experiences and ask really good questions. And then we've got to gather our data and then go verify. For me, I've conducted and published hundreds of experiments in the forest.
Some of my oldest experimental plantations are now over 30 years old. You can check them out. That's how forest science works. So now I want to talk about the science. How were paper birch and Douglas fir communicating? Well, it turns out they were conversing not only in the language of carbon but also nitrogen and phosphorus and water and defense signals and allele chemicals and hormones — information.
And you know, I have to tell you, before me, scientists had thought that this belowground mutualistic symbiosis called a mycorrhiza was involved. Mycorrhiza literally means "fungus root. The mushrooms, though, are just the tip of the iceberg, because coming out of those stems are fungal threads that form a mycelium, and that mycelium infects and colonizes the roots of all the trees and plants. And where the fungal cells interact with the root cells, there's a trade of carbon for nutrients, and that fungus gets those nutrients by growing through the soil and coating every soil particle.
The web is so dense that there can be hundreds of kilometers of mycelium under a single footstep. And not only that, that mycelium connects different individuals in the forest, individuals not only of the same species but between species, like birch and fir, and it works kind of like the Internet. You see, like all networks, mycorrhizal networks have nodes and links. We made this map by examining the short sequences of DNA of every tree and every fungal individual in a patch of Douglas fir forest.
In this picture, the circles represent the Douglas fir, or the nodes, and the lines represent the interlinking fungal highways, or the links. The biggest, darkest nodes are the busiest nodes. We call those hub trees, or more fondly, mother trees, because it turns out that those hub trees nurture their young, the ones growing in the understory. And if you can see those yellow dots, those are the young seedlings that have established within the network of the old mother trees.
In a single forest, a mother tree can be connected to hundreds of other trees.