Super Large Tree - Ficus is ruining my foundation.
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8 years ago
I have a huge ficus tree that when I took off the laminate flooring from a ground slab there was cracking everywhere. So the tree has to come down. The root are everywhere, under the house and yard and I notice cracking up stairs too not sure if that's the cause but the lower level it's obvious.
So the tree has to come down, when we cut the tree down to the stump how do I kill the root system so it won't keep growing? The root system is about 20-30 feet away from the tree looking at the cracking in the basement apartment. From inside the gate it is about 6-7 feet below what you can see. I will get photos later of what it looks like from inside the yard. It's like inside a brick planter that is 5' wide by 4 feet high but there is no bottom to the planter it's just bricks making it look like a planter.
Please advise how I can kill the HUGE root system so it won't continue to break the foundation.
Thank you!
the tree in the back, biggest one.
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avamom2012
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Question about Ficus - Rubber Tree
Comments (12)Hi, Scotty. First, I'll be talking mostly about repotting. What the person in the video did was not a repot. He very simply potted up, which means no part of the root congestion you saw went away, it simply remained hidden in the center of the root mass where it continues to rob the plant of a great deal of it's potential in terms of growth, vitality, and likely appearance. If I was repotting that plant, the first things I would have done is snip the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the root mass off and bare-rooted the plant before finishing the root-pruning and returning the plant to the same pot in a fresh medium. Potting up) can actually be done at any time of the year with little in the way of consequences unless the root system of the plant being repotted is sickly and the step up in pot size is appropriate, but June is the best month for both potting-up and repotting, even though potting up is a half measure. I would guess, over the course of the next year, the plant he potted up will be denied well over half of its potential for growth/vitality because he didn't remedy the root congestion. Repotting in early spring after a plant's winter of suffering low light and often low humidity conditions (increases the rate of respiration) means the plant's stored energy reserves are, practically speaking, nil. Houseplants for the most part don't go "dormant" in winter, they are unable to grow because they are usually hovering somewhere just above or below their LCP. The light compensation point occurs when the amount of energy consumed during respiration is equal to the amount created during photosynthesis. When a plant is using all current photosynthate/ energy production to maintain its existing viable parts, it has no energy left to grow, so repotting in early spring when length of day/night is about equal leaves the plant at a serious disadvantage from both the perspective of current energy production and it's inability to draw on depleted energy reserves. Repotting in late spring (June) will have allowed plants well taken care of to accumulate carbohydrate reserves in roots and cambial tissues; and, plants will be moving toward peak ability to create food from the sun's energy. Whereas it might take a month or more for plants repotted in March to show new growth (depending on the plant and its level of vitality and natural vigor), the tropicals I've been repotting for 40 years are typically pushing new growth before 2 weeks and in most cases, less than a week. So, while anyone is free to do as they choose with their own plants, my experience after thousands of full repots is that almost all houseplants and a large fraction of succulents are best repotted in the weeks before the summer solstice. Those growing fruit-bearing trees (citrus, avocado, mango, coffee, ..... indoors will usually want to repot earlier. Al...See MoreFicus Trees in Containers IV
Comments (329)The first bend in the trunk is result of a previous pruning. I noticed that when I was looking at the first images. Looks like the trunk bifurcated (split to form a 'Y') at that point and one side of the bifurcation was pruned off. In mid-June, the lowest branch marked in yellow should be cut back to 4 leaves. The long branch moving left/ marked yellow in the image above, and the branch moving right/ marked yellow should also be pruned back to 2 leaves. The leader, above these 2 branches and marked in yellow, should be pruned back to a leaf that points in the direction you want the leader to grow. This is called 'directional pruning'. Example: With the above pruning cut made, the new branch (shows as a leaf only, but it's a new branch) in the axil of the leaf on the right will want to grow to the right. If you wanted the new leader to move left, you would prune lower, to just above the leaf on the left. A cut above the leaf attached to the severed part would give rise to a branch growing away from the grower. Because there are other forces in play, like phototropism (tendency for plants to bend toward the brightest light source), there is no guarantee the branch will grow where you wish, so you might need to encourage the new branch that forms in the axil of the leader's top leaf to grow where YOU want it to. I mentioned this already, but I'll reiterate that your tree will respond to pruning with a much higher degree of enthusiasm if you do the pruning A) while the tree's energy reserves are highest, and B) when the tree's current ability to carry on photosynthesis is peaking, both of which will occur during the summer solstice (21 June). 'Father's Day' is easy to remember. If you intend to repot, do it at the same time you prune. While you could probably remove a little soil to cut through (2 cuts) the kinked root that emerges from and returns too the soil, I would do it at the same time you prune the top. Reason: Pruning the top decreases the volume of foliage the roots must work to keep hydrated. It also makes it less likely that a branch on the same side of the tree where the kinked root is attached will die. When a tree is unable to keep certain parts hydrated, it sheds those parts. Unfortunately, they seem to always choose to shed parts the grower feels are essential to the o/a composition/ shape/ style of the tree. Some trees, like junipers/ yews/ arborvitae/ .... , develop a dedicated relationship between individual roots and branches, such that damage to a particular root will kill a particular branch. Notice the live veins connecting roots to individual branches below: This tree ^^^ has 4 branches and 4 live veins. Other trees lack the direct relationship between particular roots and branches. For the genus Ficus, the relation is moderate, but the lower a branch is (and the shorter the tree is) the greater the likelihood that death of a branch or root will result in the dieback of it's counterpart on the opposite side of the root to shoot connection. When serious about earning a green thumb, the largest step a container gardener can take in that direction will come from understanding how water behaves in container media and what that means to the health of your plants' root systems; this, because issues with root function and/or health cause the most problems by far, with some of them seemingly unrelated to root health. Two examples that lend support to the later contention are infections by disease pathogens and insect predation due to a less than robust metabolic rate, caused by limited root function or poor root health. A healthy plant will remain forever elusive unless and until we are able to maintain root systems in an elevated state of vitality (health). Al...See MoreLarge maple tree in my front yard...remove?
Comments (34)Umm, that's "big" not "bit." I'm reminded by the other thread... what is the direction of prevailing winds in your area? When trees do go down, which direction do they tend to fall? It might be kind of random in a hurricane. But in a normal storm? That's the kind of question you can ask a local arborist. Some of them think they work for the tree and not for you, so beware those. And Tom, I'm amazed you're duped by a photo that looks good from one direction. You've seen the ones that show that the main trunk has a substantial lean on it and that the upright part is a subservient branch that ended up growing upright, probably when the leader went rogue for some reason. And that crack is still there even though it doesn't show in the picture. You know trees keep growing and putting mass on at the top no matter how big they get. By the way... sewers: tree roots don't usually heave them up but rather infiltrate and plug them. They are after the water in them, so have no interest in going underneath. Similarly, roots go under sidewalks in part because moisture reliably accumulates under there, especially right on the underside of the concrete or stone - that's why they heave them rather than delving into the dirt under them. So you wouldn't have a sewer failure in the yard; you'd just need to rout it out. When we had a willow growing this close to our sewer line, we had to rent the rotorooter about once a year; sometimes got away with 18 months. This was with a new PVC pipe in place, but the junction to the city sewer was obviously vulnerable, because we always had to go that far to clear the blockage. So what is vulnerable is not the new pipe, but where it is connected, potentially to old clay pipe exiting the house, or at the connection to the city line. Be alert for drainage slow-downs on various fixtures in the house. Our first hint was always the downstairs toilet glugging when bath upstairs was being drained. Your tree is not as bad as a willow in this regard, but any tree that will heave a sidewalk like that IS a moisture-chaser. Anyway Eric I'll shut up now. Not stalking, really :-) Karin L...See MoreGardening is RUINING my relationship!
Comments (29)I have no business here, since I was just searching the forums for threads on lasagne gardening, but I just have to interject a comment!! Catnip, you are SOOOO lucky your boyfriend shares your love of gardening!!! My boyfriend (who I love dearly) doesn't. He isn't against it, but isn't overjoyed at the thought of spending time on his knees in the yard up to his elbows in soil with his butt sticking up in the air, as I am. He drops me off at the Nursery to browse and comes back for me later to help me haul my purchases home. I'm not complaining, mind you, but I would love it if he wanted to help me build a compost pile or had something he really, really wanted to try growing this year. Even if he got interested all of a sudden and started telling me I was doing it all wrong, I'd just laugh at him and hand him a trowel. So count your blessings, young lady!! :-)...See More
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