if the lawn isnt that important to you.. that you dont water it to grassy perfection .. then why remove the tree because its in the lawn you dont seem to care much about ...

whats the problem anyway ... that it popped and edging brick ... remove a few bricks.. excavate the root.. cut it a ways back into the bed.. and reset the edging ... one root isnt going to make a difference to this tree ..

that might buy you another 10 years. .and then maybe you will have other reasons to remove the tree ...

cant tell from the pic.. how the tree stands in relation to the house ... but it might become an issue down the road ... if it overhangs the house somehow or another ...

also.. as to the edging ... i dont know why your would get rid of it.. it was not properly installed.. so it needs to be take up and properly reset ... but thats just labor .. why throw out the brick??? ... resetting it properly might involve putting a base of compacted slag under it.. so it doenst keep moving ... the only thing wrong with it i see is that its leans this way and that way.. and hurts the eye ....

btw ... a tree root system is said to be about twice the size of the tree you see above ground.. in a pancake shape in the first foot or so of soil .. and birch are notoriously shallow rooted ... and that is why you got what you got ...

ken

now.. i did not say remove all the roots under the edging.. if you do that.. you may as well just get rid of the tree .. but only one seems to be a problem right now ... so just fix that one ... you cant go cutting all the roots one one side of a tree.. and hope for the best ... you will end up with problems.. in the years to come.. in what i call.. tree time ...

Embothrium - thank you so much for your reply. My issue with this is the constant replacement of mulch. I have trouble keeping this area landscaped. I have a ton of catmint and purple salvia in my landscaping and have replaced them multiple times with no luck. I’ve planted numerous bulbs over the years as well with not a ton of luck. So increasing the size of this area is not an option I’m very excited about it. I know it may come to that but would love to avoid it if I can.

Due to their dense network of small thirsty roots after about 15 years in place birches do not lend themselves to underplanting except where damp soils and cool summer climates compensate adequately. And since their main source of interest is their bark bunching companion plants close around them that hide part of this feature from view is working at cross purposes.

Ken- thanks for your response. I don’t think I communicated my feelings on the lawn very well. I DO really hope to improve its appearance and keep it. We have a sprinkler system and we make sure to water appropriately. I just didn’t want anyone to think the issue was watering too much or not enough.
The problem is it is really expensive to have the edging done again and my concern is that we aren’t addressing the cause of the uprooting. I know very little about any of this that is why I am asking. I have read a ton of posts on here about tree roots disrupting the area around it and many people say to remove the tree. I’m hoping I don’t have to but our lawn has roots at the surface in multiple spots so if I throw down a couple thousand dollars to edge again am I wasting money.
We hired a landscape designer to plan our entire yard. I hired a professional because I have no idea what trees to plant or avoid. Do you know of a tree that does not have a shallow root system?

All trees have a shallow root system....even those with so-called tap roots. Those are just a single deep anchoring root but all the rest of the root system, including the fine feeder roots that keep the tree alive and healthy, spread out laterally just below the soil surface. Over time, many of those will produce roots that appear above the soil surface. Or the soil compacts sufficiently to expose them. It is just something gardeners deal with.

In my very personal view, trees will have priority over anything else, including perennials and a lawn. They are disposable.....the tree is not.

That makes sense. I love the tree and really don’t want to remove it. That’s the reason we haven’t done anything yet. I was just hoping someone had some top secret way to fix everything. 🤪
I’m ready to move to a condominium. This landscaping upkeep never ends. Between the deer, rabbits, slugs, japanese beetles, cold temps and snow the work never ends. I don’t think I’m cut out to take care of all of this “low maintenance” landscaping we have.
Appreciate your feedback 💛

Depends on what you think needs to be done all the time. As in maybe you are taking an approach that makes it all more work than it really needs to be - many property owners seem to think the yard should be an outdoor version of the inside, as in similarly tidy (as similar as anywhere outdoors can be). With for instance the surfaces of the planting beds being seen as analogous to interior flooring or carpeting, with the same frequent cleaning of these being undertaken (there are actually power tools available that have components designed to enable the "vacuuming" of beds).

Oh gosh no. That is definitely not me.

Nothing in the picture is as beautiful as the tree. Nothing there is worth sacrificing the tree for.

So you are trying to grow sun plants under a tree . . . .

Let's start with the basics. Where in the world are you?

When was you house was built? Was the lot wooded before the house was built? Are there other trees in the area? What else has been planted in the area, ie in the past or present.

Our lot was a wooded before the house was built 14 years ago. There are still holes that appear as an old root or tree tree finally rots completely away. leaving the mold of the tree.

If there are other trees in the area, You may think the root is from the Birch, but it may be from a tree some distance away. Another thing that can produce roots are plants and shrubs. I have a large lligustrum, that has roots that appear above the surface. In another case I have a root showing that is running perpendicular to a line coming from the nearest tree.

If all else fails there is the Mattock. It is great for cutting roots down so they do not interfere with the lawn mower.

Needless to say the tree is the most important part of your landscape and every thing should be done to accommodate it

Dear Floral, thank you for your response but I only showed you a photo of a tree and a photo of edging that needs to be redone along with an area of lawn that is suffering perhaps because of the tree. I’m looking for solutions to keep the tree and improve the area around it.

thank you mad_g. I am in the Midwest. I’m not trying to grow plants under a tree. I’m not sure where you are getting that idea. I do have plants under my tree. There was a great suggestion to enlarge the bed with plantings. Unfortunately I haven’t had much success with adding additional beyond the ones in the photo. I’ve tried some sun/shade plants and for some reason they have failed over and over. I don’t have any expertise in this area so I’ve always consulted a landscaper. I was just hoping to use the power of this forum to gather some thoughts and suggestions.

The basic issue is likely to be that the birch has now gotten big enough to make it hard for other plants to grow beneath it. So that the bother reducing solution is to back off the underplanting and give it its own space.

Thank you for your advice krnuttle. Our house was built about 11 years ago. The lots were actually already cleared so I don’t know about any previous trees. Im pretty sure they are from the birch but not 100%. We planted 2 other birch and their roots are very much the same. It is crazy though there are roots systems running everywhere I look. Most are smaller. They look like droppings from the birch and when I try to pick up they are attached. 😜

My only concern with cutting the couple of root that are really disruptive is that I’ve heard they can come back even stronger and more aggressive. I don’t know if this is true just something i read somewhere. I thought about trying to build the lawn up in the area by adding more soil and have it seeded so my lawnmower doesn’t hit the root. No one seems to know if that will help but I suppose it’s worth a try.

Thanks again for your thoughts on the subject. I really appreciate it.

No a cut root does not grow more for an extended period afterward. As in more than it was growing before.

Emb Thanks for the info. FYI, the grasses in the photo don’t bloom until summer so all of those and the other shrubs you can see are doing just fine. It’s just closer to the edging that I have tried catmint and salvia and have had to replace over and over. If we extend the bed for the tree I just don’t want a huge bed of mulch. Our soil is clay if I didn’t mention it before.

I’m going to add another photo for reference