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Roots become a problem in three quite different ways, and they want different responses. The one thing they have in common is that cutting a substantial root on a standing tree is not a decision to take casually.
Roots From a Tree That Has Gone
The simplest case. Once the tree is felled and the stump ground, the remaining root system is dead and decaying, and it can be dug out wherever it is in the way with no consequence at all.
This is what is needed where a patio, a base or a driveway is going over the area, because decaying roots lose volume for years and anything built above them settles unevenly.
Surface Roots on a Standing Tree
Roots showing at the surface across a lawn are normal on many species and on compacted ground, and they are not a sign of anything wrong. They become a practical problem when they catch a mower or make an area unusable.
Cutting substantial roots on a standing tree can destabilise it. The roots on the windward side are in tension and are holding the tree against the wind. Severing large roots close to the trunk is one of the commonest causes of a tree failing in a subsequent gale, and it is worth advice before anything is cut.
The usual sensible answers are topdressing over them with soil and reseeding, mulching and planting the area rather than mowing it, or removing only small roots at a distance from the trunk. Where the tree is going to have to come out for the ground to be usable, we will say so.
Roots Lifting Paving, Walls and Drives
Roots thicken as they grow and will lift a path, crack a wall or break up a drive. The question is always whether the tree matters more than the surface.
Where the tree is staying, a root can sometimes be cut and a root barrier installed to redirect future growth, and the surface relaid over a bed that gives the root somewhere to go. Where the surface matters more, the tree usually has to go, because the root will otherwise do it again.
Roots and Drains
Roots do not break into sound pipework. They find joints and cracks that were already leaking, get in, and then thicken and block it. So a root in a drain is a symptom of a defective drain as well as a blockage, and clearing the root without repairing the pipe means doing it again in a few years.
What Our Root Removal Service Covers
- Root systems dug out after felling, where ground has to be clear
- Roots removed from the footprint of a patio, base or driveway
- Surface roots ground out where the tree can spare them
- Advice on which roots can safely be cut and which cannot
- Root barriers where growth needs redirecting
- Suckering roots dealt with on poplar, lime, cherry and elm
- All material removed
Suckers
Poplar, lime, cherry, elm and false acacia send shoots up from remaining roots after a tree has gone, sometimes metres from where it stood and sometimes for two or three years. Repeated cutting or mowing exhausts them — it takes persistence rather than one visit, and it is worth knowing before removing one of those species.
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Tree Root Removal — Common Questions
Can you remove roots without taking the tree down?
Small roots at a distance, often. Large roots near the trunk are holding the tree up, and cutting them is a genuine stability risk.
Roots are lifting my patio — what are the options?
Either the surface is relaid over a bed that gives the root room, with a barrier to redirect it, or the tree comes out. It depends which matters more to you.
Do you remove roots before a patio is laid?
Yes, and it is the right time to do it. Anything organic left under a hard surface decays and the surface settles.
Why do shoots keep coming up after the tree was removed?
Suckering, from the remaining roots. Poplar, lime, cherry and elm all do it. Repeated cutting exhausts them over a season or two.
Is there a root in my drain?
Possibly, and if so the pipe had a defect first. Clearing the root without repairing the joint means it comes back.
Get a Quote for Tree Root Removal
Tell us what needs doing across Hertfordshire and we will quote for the work. Call 07388 094829, message us on WhatsApp or use the form below.