We have a large douglas fir, a root of which is growing under some paving stones and dislodging them. Can we safely cut the root? We don't want to do anything to damage the tree but the paving stones in question are right at the entrance to our house so loose stones are a bit of a hazard. Thanks!
There's a risk you could destabilise the tree and leave it more likely to come down in a storm; I would advise not to cut the root. Better to take up the paving stones and re-lay them, with some compressible material (e.g. expanded polystyrene beads) directly between the root and the new positions of the paving, to allow for future diameter growth of the root.
