Tree Crowding - Can Roots Harm Adjacent Trees?

lxskllr

Treehouser
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Jul 21, 2019
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MD USA
My pin oak(~28"dbh) I trimmed a couple weeks ago has an eastern red cedar growing a couple feet away from it. It's 8'-10' tall now. I had tried to dig it up a bunch of years ago, ran into problems, and just let it go. I kind of like it there, but I don't want it to injure the pin oak. Seems like something has to give at some point, and if it's the ERC, that isn't a problem, but I don't want it to harm the oak. Do I have any potential issues here?
 
Short answer, yes, but not necessarily from the roots. Sure, they can coexist, but it will not be optimal and both will alter their growth patterns due to their close proximity to each other.
 
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  • #3
Well, how bad we talking here? Slowed growth isn't really a problem. The pin oak dominates the canopy. I think the only reason the ERC has done as well as it has is due to the morning sun. The neighbor is scared of trees and cut all theirs down. If they hadn't have done that, the ERC would certainly be smaller, if not dead. I suppose my concerns would be girdling roots, and the introduction of harmful organisms.

As an aside, if human lifespans were longer, I'd totally troll the neighbor with trees. That whole side of the property would be planted in giants. Dawn redwood, giant sequoia... Whatever I could find that would do well here :^D
 
If you want to cut down every single tree that might have a problem at some unspecified time in the future, then cut them all down. In the woods I see lots of trees growing tangled up with each other. Sure, there's the possibility of girdled roots or some other crap at some point. But if it isn't an issue, then there's no need to make it into an issue.

I cut trees down all the time for homeowners who fabricate all sorts of excuses as to why the tree needs to go. 90% of them are made up bullshit. I used to try to reason with people but at some point I gave up because the tree always ended up getting removed anyway, just by somebody else. If you want the cedar gone then cut it down. No need to justify it.
 
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You clearly don't me at all. I've virtually turned a normal suburban lot into a wooded lot. I have more trees on this acre than the closest four neighbors combined. Instead of making assumptions, try asking for clarification. Here's your clarification...

The pin oak is more important than the ERC the birds planted. I like it there, but it's expendable. Trees don't give immediate feedback, and when they start to decline, it can largely be too late. Hence the question I asked. If the ERC will cause the oak's death in ~30 years(my estimated remaining lifespan), I'll cut it down. Otherwise it'll stay, with a possible option of topping it, cause why the hell not in my playground?

See how friggin' easy that is?
 
A picture would be nice, but I would not anticipate girdling roots or disease to be a problem. Mostly just developmental alterations.
 
My bad. Just a conditioned response after hearing the same stories tens of thousands of times.

I happen to like non standard, imperfect, non symmetrical trees. Every day I am asked about removing a tree that is 'leaning' or 'crooked' because it's going to fall over. Or cutting down a tree because it's touching another tree. I like trees with character. I have a pine tree in my back yard growing in between two oaks and all wrapped up in one of them. I listen to it creaking and rubbing every time the wind blows. No way would I cut it down.
 
As far as not planting a tree because you may not live long enough to see it mature, that is a common mistake people make.

Trees can grow much faster than we tend to think.
 
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  • #9
I agree regarding "ugly ducklings". They're much more interesting to look at than the textbook example of the species. The only trees I've actually planted(that weren't here originally) are ERC lining one side of my drive, two pawpaws, and two dawn redwoods. I also want to get a couple persimmon. Otherwise, the trees came from the animals, and I let nature take it's course. I then selectively cull for convenience keeping the dominant tree, and/or the one I prefer.

Here's a pic of the tree in question...

IMG_20200718_084158.jpg

You can see the long stub I left on the upper right. Seems to be doing ok so far. My annoying neighbor's car can be seen on the bottom left.
 
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