Lafayette Tree Service tree roots

October 25, 2019December 5, 2023

Tree Removal: What Happens to a Tree After You Remove It?

Lafayette Tree Pruning

Cutting down a loved tree is a hard decision, but sometimes an essential one. When a tree becomes a trouble or a safety hazard, whether due to its falling fruit, fragile wood, or disease, the best choice may be to cut it down. After a tree removal job, you may be speculating what happens to the tree’s roots after the tree is cut down. What about the stump?

Always consult a proficiently trained arborist to inspect your trees for damage and to help you decide the best solution for your landscape.

What happens to a tree’s roots after it’s cut down?

Once a tree is cut down, the trunk is broken off into mulch and hauled away or cut into smaller logs or blocks for extra purposes, but the roots stay in the ground. Without leaves, the cut tree cannot make food for the growth of its roots. However, the roots might have sufficient nutrients left to allow the development of sprouts from the roots or the leftover stump. If a sprout grows enough leaves, it can eventually grow back into a tree. If a tree doesn’t create root sprouts, then it’s doubtful it’ll re-grow. Instead, the roots will ultimately decompose.

Once your tree is cut down, you are left with the tree base. Now you have to make one more important decision—let it settle or get it removed.

Does a tree stump and its roots need to be removed?

It’s up to you whether to remove a tree stump from your yard or not. There are many reasons why it could benefit your landscape and property. Here are three things to think about when you make this decision:

1. Tree stumps can be hazardous

Stumps sticking out of the ground can spree children running around in your backyard, causing injury. Furthermore, yard work becomes harder, as you have to maintain the area around the stump, and avoid tree stumps and root areas while mowing your grass. If you don’t, you run the danger of ruining your lawnmower by running them over.

2. Tree stumps can ruin your aesthetic

Tree stumps scattered around a well-manicured lawn stand out like sore thumbs, ruining the aesthetic of your scenery. The aesthetic of your land, in turn, has a result on its real-estate value. A large number of tree stumps could force your property value down. Besides that, tree stumps take up a lot of valuable space in your yard. This space could be re-purposed into an outdoor porch or a space to entertain guests and hold family picnics.

3. Tree stumps can give access to pests and insects

Tree stumps are breathing systems that can be host to several pests and insects. During the long decomposition procedure stumps go through, they encourage insects like ants, termites, and beetles. These pests can increase to other plants in your lawn, or even your house, if not restricted properly.

If you have questions about tree removal in your yard, contact Sexy Trees, certified arborist.

May 17, 2016December 5, 2023

How To Manage Overgrown Tree Roots

Alamo Tree Pruning

We’ve all seen the trees planted in gardens or the sidewalk whose roots are simply bursting from their planters. This can lead to cracked pathways, uneven walkways and overgrown gardens, creating undesirable effects both for safety and aesthetics.

The full effects of overgrown roots can go deep under the surface of the ground as well, with tree roots growing into drains and piping, causing plumbing issues and even cracking home foundations. But how do you deal with overgrown tree roots without allowing them to destroy your home or garden? Here are the vital steps you should take as soon as tree roots start to overwhelm your property.

Diagnose The Issues

Before taking action on exposed and overgrown tree roots on your yard, it’s important to fully diagnose the problem, and what the likely effects of different actions you might take could be. It’s difficult for the untrained eye to take all the possible scenarios into account, so you should consult a tree specialist, arborist or landscaper in order to correctly diagnose your tree root issues.

A qualified tree company can provide the right diagnostics for your roots and the best approach to tree care for every tree variety in your garden.

Prune Your Trees

Balancing the right amount of pruning can help to control the growth of your trees, and partially restrain root growth if you want to take a low impact approach to managing tree roots. With the assistance of a highly skilled arborist, you can maintain your trees by pruning the active pathway of tree growth, and in some cases limit root growth.

Work Around the Roots

If you value your trees, and the overgrown roots are merely an aesthetic issue, the best approach is to adjust your landscaping plans, and learn to accommodate the exposed tree roots. You can build a bed around the root system and cover with mulch to hide the roots if you like. Covering the roots with soil or trying to plant ‘cover’ plants around the roots is not advised, as these plants will fail to thrive, and the root system could be suffocated.

Tree Removal

In some cases, the tree roots may simply be causing too many issues, and the tree will need to be removed. If you decide to remove the tree, be sure to call in professional arborists or a tree company to remove the tree for you, as trees with advanced root systems are generally large, and not just difficult, but also dangerous to remove on your own.

Stump Grinding

A qualified tree surgeon has the right tools, experience and skills to properly remove any type of trees in California and can safely preserve your property while completely removing the tree and the roots. After the tree has been removed, the tree company can fully remove any remaining stump by grinding it down even below the surface of the ground.

While often just a cosmetic issue, exposed and overgrown roots can quickly turn into a major problem for your property when left unchecked. Caring for your trees, keeping them pruned and removing trees when needed allows you to keep your garden safe and beautiful.