I have a tree dilemma that I'm hoping to get some advice on: I recently bought a house that has a large city-owned tree in the front, growing in the parkway strip (see image). The tree is a Liquidambar. I am in the process of tearing out the entire front lawn, to replace with a mediterranean-inspired perennial garden, but the root system seems to have completely invaded the lawn to the point that in order to do this I will need to remove massive amounts of root, some with a pretty thick diameter. We already had to have part of the sewer line replaced due to root invasion (which the city helped pay for, thankfully), but I would like to get rid of as much of the remaining roots in the lawn as possible. My question is - is it ok to do this without mortal damage to the tree? While I'm not *all* that crazy about the tree in the first place, because of the aforementioned sewer damage it's caused, I don't want to kill it, and I certainly don't want to make the tree unstable enough that it'd blow over in a bad windstorm or something. Is there a right and wrong way to go about this? Thanks in advance, Lori
Cuts and fills can be murder on trees. Do not cut the roots. Possibly you could get away with berms or mounds of coarse, well-aerated soil over the roots in the lawn area. Since the city already knows the tree has caused problems there maybe you can coax them into replacing the sweetgum with something less obstreperous.
What about cutting roots smaller than such-and-such diameter... or a percentage of total... Can I cut just *some*, not *all* without killing it, or is it doom no matter what? I don't mind damaging the tree a bit, I just don't want to kill it or making it unstable... I'd love it if the city would replace it, but previous interactions with them makes me quite doubtful that they'd be any help there, unfortunately. Lori
The tree is not yours, as such you have no right to severly damage or kill it. DOes you city of a tree by-law, you need to check that first to see if there is a clause about damaging trees. If you are intent on removing all the roots the tree will likely die shortly. If you remove some roots, well new roots can be expected to grow from the cut ends and reinvade the current lawn area. If you cannot live with roots then remove the tree and replace it. If I was the city I would allow you to remove the tree at your expense, replant a suitable tree and pay for the lost value of the tree (likely$3-5000). Should cost no more than $6500.
Ok, well I was afraid of that. I appreciate the advice - I'll have to give some thought to it. Thanks, Lori
