Live oak roots

[Hogmauler]

Folks can I cut these live oak roots out without killing the tree? They are starting to run under sidewalk and headed towards the house. An arborist told me they suck a ton of water out from underneath your slab as well. Plus I have to mow around a few of em cause they’re that big in diameter. The trees were planted 14 years ago when the home was built.

[ACbob]

I've taken some big roots off ours with no problem. They are mature established trees though.

[cva34]

I like ACbob had to take out bunch to replace sewer line line was about 15f from tree..Tree never knew it that was prob 10y ago

[Take Dead Aim]

I would ask the arboristyou spoke too, before I asked this board.

[Hogmauler]

These are 14 years old.

[Ishi&Elvis]

What TDA said.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

I would try to shave off the top and then coat with prune seal. But this could also be asking for rot and infection at ground level. Ask around and find a trusted arborist in your area. Be warned. A lot of people out there make a living selling fear. Get advice and then a second opinion. Remember, cutting the root doesn’t just kill that section. It kills everything that branches out from there as well. The larger the diameter the root, the larger the section your losing. How far away from the truck are these exposed roots? If they are near the drip line, I wouldn’t hesitate to cut there. If they are closer to the trunk, beware and seek advise from an arborist. I’ve heard live oaks root systems are very sensitive to suffocation and heavy traffic over them.


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[Scubasteveo]

Randy Lemmon has always said you can take one per year out.

https://ktrh.iheart.com/featured/gardenline-with-randy-lemmon/content/2018-12-19-rules-for-cutting-big-tree-roots/

[Stoof]

Stick to under 20% of the critical root zone and you should be fine.

[El Viejo]

I'm facing this same problem. We have a big tree that's about ten+ feet from the house. It's already started cracking our patio and now there are cracks in the brick of our home. Our plan was to take the whole tree out this spring, but I'm going to talk to our guy about maybe just cutting off the roots out from the foundation. I hate to lose such a big pretty oak. It was here when the house was built in '67.

[Hogmauler]

All sound advice fellas. I was thinking that the roots also stabilize the tree as well.

[tigerscowboy]

Take a look at the canopy and imagine the same in the earth. I've never killed a live oak cutting a few roots. More than 25% a year could cause stress as my understanding.

[2B4Him]

In my situation, I would never cut the roots. I live on very rocky soil and we have a bunch of live oaks, many of which are many decades old (several of which would take two people joining hands to go around the circumference. Because the roots of my live oaks cannot go down very deep, they are on top and just below the surface. These trees are a large part of why we bought the property and I won't gamble with them.

[Hogmauler]

Gotcha. We don’t have that problem here in Katy. In Mountain Home we do, if we have any trees left after the ice disaster. Planning a trip up there soon.

[Scubasteveo]

Randy Lemmon also suggests these guys to build in protection for your house from trees.

http://www.rootwallpro.com