A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Maple tree roots are killing my lawn

My next door neighbor has an old maple tree on their front lawn. We installed new sod 10 years ago, and the roots are now coming up and taking over my lawn. Any ideas on how I can get my lawn to grow back? I tried seeding last year but it didnt work out.

The neighbor loves the tree so it is staying.

That's a tough one, sure hope someone can help you with it.

I'd cut the roots off on my side of the lawn and install a barrier. Is it only one tree?

that is exactly the solution. it won't kill the tree, but you will have to put a vertical barrier, depending on how deep the roots go.

Do you know what kind of Maple this is? If the roots are exposed on the soil surface how large are they? It's the nature of some maples to send roots to the surface for stability, these roots should not be removed unless absolutly necessary. Smaller water seeking roots mostly underground and far outside the dripline can be root pruned with no damage to a tree. What is the distance from the tree trunk to the root problem in your yard? The are many variables to consider when dealing with a mature tree. Some viruses are affecting maples and oaks in regions of the U.S. Check with your county extension office that you aren't in one of these area before cutting into an expose root.

I had exactly the same situation - close anyhow. No wonder our lawn dried quick. Roots from the sweet gum next door came over the property line, through the shrub bed and into the lawn.

If you ever check out the tree care album at my site, the root pruning and root barrier panel photo happens to be from our own yard.

Once we severed the roots, the tree could not draw our lawn's moisture anymore.