Is your first statement about a construction code requiring a certain clearance around an external AC outlet? And what distance is "right next to the outlet"? To me this means less than 3 feet. The GFI (ground-fault interrupt) circuit is just a sub-system of your main AC power supply. The mains and GFI circuits operate on 60 Hertz (cycles per second). There is no radio frequency, microwave frequency or gigahertz telecom frequency involved; some people are suspicious of those. It is not apparent if your piping and wiring is in the ground or up a wall. If in the ground, it would be possible for a tree root to eventually deform the pipe, but apparently the tree trunks are 10 feet away, so this is unlikely. It would be unusual to use an electric pruner on these fruit trees, but if you did and the ground was wet, this is what the GFI is for, to protect you.

Maybe related or can point you in the right direction. I recently visited an area resort on Cape Cod where a golf course was being renovated. On a tour of the facility I asked why there was so much sand being put down and where the loam or topsil was. They put down atleast 8" of a 80% sand and 20% seed mix...and no loam or soil! Pretty sure it was rolled out. They were planting bent grass (tee boxes, fairways, greens) and bluegrass on the first cut. True they have drainage and irrigation, but I was surprised they were using a mix with primarily sand.

Finally got most of my fling finds planted tonight, including replacement broccoli (aka Dawn's urban north broccoli outpost), garlic and several ornamentals. Also my pepper seedlings went in the ground tonight, too. Still have a few fling heirloom tomatoes but need to add compost and manure to the new spot for them. I have something I was unable to identify. There were three black square qt(?) sized pots, and I believe they were labeled on the table underneath but don't remember the name. I recall they were some sort of shade item, green strappy leaves, maybe with lily in the name? I am having a hard time figuring them out, but picked them out thinking "Ah! Perfect spot under the elm tree for them." Now if I only knew what they were... If that sounds familiar to anyone, it'd save me from dragging the camera out. Thanks!

Thank you for the lead Tiffany - got my answer HERE and 'name that plant'! I assumed it was a weed because of how invasive the roots are, seems it's not. Seems some folks plant this intentionally. I can't past the the thorns all over it. It feels inhospitable to me. My personal preference would be to eradicate it with out chem...I wonder how easy that will be. Thanks so much for solving this mystery, bob_cville.