What Are the Dangers of Cutting Tree Roots?

A light brown tree that has aboveground roots and foliage that grows near the tree with green vines growing up the tree.

Once you understand what roots do and their importance to tree health, you will be better equipped to care for the landscape around your home. The roots of the trees in your yard may be underground, but they can affect all parts of your tree—including what you see aboveground. From the canopy of your trees to the soil and structures around your home, there are many dangers of cutting tree roots you should think about.

This is your chance to learn more about your tree’s roots in your landscape design and when you should consult a certified professional arborist for your tree-scaping needs.

What Do Tree Roots Do?

You probably already know at least a little about what tree roots do. But, to give you a refresher, read below about tree stability and how the roots act like nutrient highways.

Tree Stability

Tree roots are what anchor the tree into the ground. Now, imagine how large mature trees are and remember that the roots of those trees can extend well beyond the size of the tree’s branch system. The roots of your tree are essential, as they help your tree stand upright without branches drooping or the trunk leaning.

One of the reasons trees have such wide root systems is to ensure they can withstand weather conditions like high winds.

Nutrient Highways

Tree roots play a crucial role in the health and vitality of trees by acting as nutrient highways. These underground structures absorb water and essential nutrients from the soil and transport them to different parts of the tree, including leaves, branches, and the trunk. The root system also works to store excess nutrients for future use during times of stress or dormancy.

How Cutting Tree Roots Harms Trees

A dark brown tree with a large root system that’s visible above the ground and has bright green and orange leaves.

Cutting your tree’s roots can harm your trees in multiple ways. It can disrupt important processes, leave your tree unstable, and cause further damage.

Loss of Tree Stability

The tree roots support the tree trunk and branches, allowing them to be upright and stable. This can be especially important in high winds and heavy downpours of rain. If you were to cut anchoring roots, you risk your tree falling and possibly harming surrounding property or people.

Deprived of Nutrients and Water

You already learned that roots provide the rest of the tree with nutrients and water. Therefore, cutting those roots prevents the tree from absorbing nutrients and water.

As you can expect, cutting tree roots will also disrupt the important process of storing excess nutrients. This disruption leads to nutrient deficiencies that can weaken or even kill the tree over time.

Susceptible to Disease, Stress, and Shock

Just like with the human body, if tree roots lose nutrients and water, then it will eventually lead to disease in your tree. Cutting the roots will also put your tree under stress. When your tree is under stress, it will take in less nutrients.

The sudden change for your tree will throw it off balance, and the tree will go into shock. If a tree is in shock, it will be even more susceptible to drought and extreme weather.

Canopy and Root Growth Imbalance

The canopy and the root growth work in harmony. If you cut a tree’s roots improperly, the tree will struggle to maintain its leaves, branches, and overall structure. This creates an imbalance, which can result in leaves and branches dying off.

Root Disruption Can Cause Risks to Your Property

Changing the structure of your tree’s roots can cause issues, including damaging the surrounding ecosystems and causing tree instability. Without the tree being stabilized, you risk it falling on your property or even a neighbor’s property.

You could face possible legal ramifications if trees on your property were to damage a neighbor’s property. This is reason enough to seek expert advice when assessing the possible trimming of your tree’s roots.

Being Proactive Prevents Root Challenges

A man wearing gloves and using an orange chainsaw to cut at roots of a tree stump in a whole dug around the tree stump.

When you are determining where to put trees as part of your landscaping design, it’s always best to consider placement that allows for enough growth in the future.

Being proactive about your landscaping design also goes hand in hand with using barrier systems to protect your sidewalks, driveways, and the foundation of your home. The longer a tree lives, the longer and larger its roots can become. You can prepare for this by adding root shields to your yard in advance.

Prune Roots Strategically

Another way to minimize harm to your tree roots is to prune strategically. For this task, most people hire experts in tree pruning. Hiring a professional not only allows you to relax and know the project is progressing on time, but these experts can also easily and quickly diagnose any other issues.

If you have the time to learn and become somewhat versed in pruning yourself, you can gain an understanding of specialized techniques. However, you most likely still need to buy specialty equipment if you’re going the DIY route.

Know What Trees You Have

A simple way to be proactive about preventing root challenges for your trees is by knowing what types of trees you have in your yard. If you are familiar with the different types of trees you have, then you can figure out how you should trim or prune them.

Consider the Time of the Year

Seasonality can make a difference in tree maintenance. For example, if you are trying to control the size of your trees, you will want to trim them in late summer or early fall. So, by considering the time of year, you can be more proactive about the health of your landscape.

Protect Your Property and Consult With a Certified Arborist

Projects like tree trimming and pruning roots are jobs that are more suited for professionals. If you take shortcuts, you are also choosing to take on risks that may cost you more money, time, and even legal liability in the future.

Now that you have learned more about the dangers of cutting tree roots, you can see all the benefits of hiring a professional to get the job done. You can mitigate a lot of the risks you just read about by consulting with a local arborist for peace of mind. Protect your pocketbook, your beautiful landscape, and your neighbor’s yard by working with All Around Arbor Tree Service, the top arborist in Portland.

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