[CANUFNET] Stem Girdling Roots

[Alison Bond via CANUFNET]

Hello Canufnet,

Does anyone know of guidelines for the maximum size of a girdling root that can be safely removed?  

The tree in question is a 88cm dbh American Elm, apparently healthy, but with a large surface root laying across one side of the trunk.  No obvious symptoms of girdling yet but I imagine it is only a matter of time.

The municipality intends to replace a sidewalk that has heaved.  Re-routing it away from this tree will require purchase of portion of the adjacent residential property so they are wondering whether it is warranted given the potential for a shortened lifespan because of the root.

With a road on one side and sidewalks on two other sides, I suspect that the root system has been constrained and I am nervous about destabilizing the tree.   (The root is on the west side).  Does anyone have typical thresholds for this sort of thing?

On the flip side, if the root is left in place, does anyone have any experience with how quickly a tree will die once the root starts to girdle?  I've seen anywhere from 'very quick, within a few years' to 'long slow death'.  I realize that there may be more girdling roots below the surface but this is the information I have to work with.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
Alison

Alison Bond BSc MSc BLA   OALA  CSLA
Landscape Architect and Certified Arborist

ENVISION-TATHAM Inc.    
115 Sandford Fleming Drive, Suite 200, Collingwood, L9Y 5A6
abond at envision-tatham.com I  Tel: 705.445.0422  I  Fax: 705.444.2327  I  Cell: 705.994.2059 I   www.envision-tatham.com
 
This email may contain confidential and/or privileged information for the sole use of the intended recipient.  Any review or distribution by others is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies.



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20180801/1f622ce1/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 20180729_160206 (1280x720).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 899683 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20180801/1f622ce1/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 20180729_155502 (1280x720).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 947858 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20180801/1f622ce1/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 20180729_155830 (1280x720).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 993192 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20180801/1f622ce1/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 20180729_155447 (1280x720).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 967875 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20180801/1f622ce1/attachment-0007.jpg>