Should I remove the tree roots coming from the neighbouring garden?

Question

When I was digging out* a patch to grow veggies earlier in the spring I found big roots in the soil unconnected to anything in our garden. It looks like they're coming from some kind of palm trees planted right at the edge of our neighbour's yard. They were so thick I couldn't break them with the spade so they're just lying there underneath the patch for now.

Now this spot where the neighbouring roots are is the spot that's best suited (with regard to sunlight and airflow) to growing veggies and herbs. Can I just claim the soil for our plants and chop away the neighbouring roots or would that be bad form? What would you do and why?

Now, if the neighbour's tree was something nice like a lemon tree I wouldn't even think of doing this, which suggests that the answer is not straightforward at all.

Note: We have not met this particular neighbour because their yard backs on to ours rather than being beside ours. Obviously part of the answer might be to talk to that neighbour, but I am looking for a gardening-informed answer rather than the political one!

(*) Our soil is very poor in every way, so this is a process I go through, square metre by square metre, adding compost, mulch and a little organic fertiliser - in order to grow anything at all.

UPDATE: Adding pictures (click to enlarge) so you can see how precariously close not just the vege patch but a nectarine tree I planted at the end of winter and a few years old citrus are to the neighbouring palms (which by the way are towering at approx 5m+ high).

Palm is close to nectarine tree and vege patch:

Close-up of unearthed roots:

Palm is also close to citrus tree in foreground:

Answer 1

While I'm a big fan of raised beds in general, I don't think they're any kind of a solution here - the roots will just come up into the beds.

From what I've read, landscape fabric and cardboard don't stop tree roots.

We have Norway Maples "near" (40 feet from) our raised beds, and I have to dig a line around the outside of the beds down six inches with a pickax (and pruning saw) every year or two to keep them from taking over. And they do take over. Nothing grows well when they're in the garden. Norway Maples are pretty notorious for this - palms may be not as bad - or worse, for all I know.

Update

I just saw the pictures. I'd check the neighbor's yard, if possible, to make sure that it isn't something like a sea of concrete with islands of soil for the palms. Make sure the palms are likely to have lots of other area for roots.

There's nothing in the picture for scale, but it looks like the roots are well less than an inch. If so, I'd have no worries whatever about cutting them - especially if you:

• cut them when you're likely to have rain for the next few months
• cut them over multiple seasons if there are a really large number coming from one tree. Limit how much you cut to something like 4 to 6 square inches of root cross-section per tree. (That's not scientific - I'm just trying to communicate my musings.)

Caveat. I've never gardened in your climate, your soil, or with palms.

You might want to call these folks and see if they have anything useful to say or sell. In the U.S., I'd suggest that you contact your county agricultural extension service - I don't know if there's something equivalent in Australia.

Answer 2

I know I've recently listened to a Gardeners’ Question Time podcast where someone had a very! similar question to yours. I've tried to find the episode, but have failed miserably. Sorry.

Below is a mixture of what I can remember from that show and my own advice (for what that's worth):

• Anything on your property, be it above or below ground, is technically yours to do with as you please (unless of course Australian law is different to UK law in that regard).

• Personally, I wouldn't consider it "bad form" to remove above ground vegetation that strays into your property if it causes any kind of problem, issue...

• I also wouldn't consider it "bad form" to remove any invasive below ground growth that causes or has the possibility to cause problems, issues eg Here I'm thinking of things like Bamboo.

• I would consider it "bad form" to cut out a major section of tree roots, unless of course those roots were directly affecting something like the foundations of your home.

• Regardless, "bad form" or not, I think the best thing you can do initially is engage your neighbour in conversation about their tree and the problem, issue the roots are causing on your property.

  • Best case scenario, your neighbour is understanding and willing to work with you to fix the problem.

  • Worst case scenario, your neighbour isn't understanding and basically ignores your concerns.

• Depending on how that discussion goes, will determine how you move forward, your best course of action.

• If the tree is in bad shape or approaching the end of its expected life span, it might make good sense just to remove the tree completely (of course this relies on your neighbour agreeing to that, seeing as the tree is on their property).

• Personally, I wouldn't go about hacking out large sections of a tree's root system, doing so could have dramatic consequences eg The tree falls over (next time a strong wind comes through the area).

• Seeing as you say, "Our soil is very poor in every way..." I think your better option would be to take the time to build some raised beds.

  • I recommend building 12inch (300mm) high (minimum) raised beds. 18 to 24inches (450 to 600mm) in your situation would be much better IMHO.

  • The higher the raised beds the better in your particular situation, as the tree roots will most definitely do their best to muscle their way into your healthy soil environment and suck it dry...

• When putting raised beds in, keep the following information in mind:

  • As stated above, build them has high as possible.

  • Beds should be no wider than 4ft (1200mm), allows you to easily work the beds without stepping into them.

  • Beds can be a long as is practical.

  • Remove the top 4 to 6inches (100 to 150mm) of material from inside the beds.

  • In your case, it might be worth putting down a landscape fabric or a thick layer of cardboard.

  • Depending on how you construct the walls of the beds (material used), you might want to added some drainage holes just above the outside ground level.

  • If beds are going to be next to each other, leave enough space between them so you can work easily in each bed, 2ft (600mm) minimum gap. Mulch the space between the beds with wood-chips, they are cheap and make an ok! surface to work from.

  • Fill the beds with a 50/50 mixture of finely sieved top soil and high quality "organic" material (compost, leaf mold, etc). Add the material in 6inch (150mm) layers, "lightly" tamping down each layer as you go.

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Hope the above helps and good luck talking with your neighbour :)

Answer 3

As a fellow Aussie I know you have an easy answer to your legal rights: just call your local council and confirm with them that you have permission to cut roots from neighbours trees.

There are by-laws in councils to prevent you from harming trees. I know in our area it is any tree that is over 3 metres is basically a protected species. Not suggesting that you cutting these small roots would harm the tree, but the council's answer might be 'yes you can, provided the tree does not die'.

The other thing to consider; from memory and my recollection of AUS law, there is an area either side of fence which is common property, so if the roots are close to the fence you may also not be able to do anything about them even though they are technically on your side of the fence. Again, this is something to check with your local council.

Once you know where you stand with the council and have an understanding of where you are legally, then follow the advice in the other answers.

Answer 4

I agree, the councils are becoming ever so educated on these topics with many queries going directly to specific departments. They are best to talk to if you want to keep out of potential problems with your neighbour but failing that, roots can cause some serious damage to your property, let alone your garden so please consider all actions including professional advice.

You can find a lot of information on what type of trees and potential statistics about anything in particular on tree sites like https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk or search Google for the tree name. The problem is identifying the tree firstly, which is where a tree consultation or service might come in helpful.

Good luck with that!

Answer 5

It is less known that palm roots can be of great use by humans. For example, a web site says:

the root of the palm trees can be used to treat urinary tract infections and bladder problems. This is because the roots of sugar contains high potassium silicate and so can smooth urination. To process this sugar root you can make herb decoction of the roots of palm that has been known long ago.

I will not provide links, since they can be easily found by googling "palm root benefits".

At quick glance, it looks these roots an be used as a cure of veneral diseases, and constitute a part of a herbal viagra as well.

My advice is to build a farm of palm roots from your side of the fence.

The key is to first find out the exact kind of palm that you are dealing with, and to find anything useful wrt their roots.

Then, every autumn you dig a little bit of roots. New ones will grow quickly if you water the area well. In spring, you can put seeds of some useful leguminose ground cover, that will provide nitrogen naturally to the new growth of palm roots. And, in autumn, a new 'harvest' of roots.

You may be surprised that there may be a significant market demand for palm roots. Contact your local organic natural drug or healthy food producers.

I also advise you not to tell the neighbor anything (you do not have any legal obligation to do so), because he/she may (driven by greed and envy) start digging the roots from the opposite side, which would be IMHO too much for the palms.

From time to time (but not too often) tell the neighbor how nice his trees are, like this:

'Oh, what nice spruces! What, they are not spruces? Then magnolias? Not magnolias? Palms? Is that right? Are you serious? Anyway, very nice trees!'