Saving a large white oak after cutting roots

[hman0217]

Hi all

We have a beautiful white oak on the property, my favorite tree hands down. Although it's a touch closer to the house than ideal, it is a vibrant thriving tree that drops a ridiculous amount of mast and I can't imagine how much wildlife it supports

Unfortunately, we've been rebuilding after a fire and, somewhere along the line, the septic pipes under the stone patio were crushed. I'm going to be doing the work myself to perform surgery and dig out and replace the pipe but here's the rub...

I'm going to have to get pretty close to that tree. As close as 12 feet to the base though maybe i can stay 18 feet away (don't know exactly where the line is) radially, is be cutting maybe 45 degrees out of the circle and also presumably those roots are doing less work since they're under a stone patio with a house upstream (so less water?)

My question is, if I end up having to cut substantial roots, can I improve the tree's chances of surviving the shock by cutting back some of the branches as well? I understand we can cut up to 25% of the growth each season safely and I don't think we'll be cutting anywhere near 25% of the root system. Maybe 5-10% may suffer at most?

Your suggestions are welcome

Thank you

 

[hman0217]

If I'm bring totally honest...this also begs the question of whether the roots themselves are the culprit, which would potentially have an unfortunate solution.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Good luck, My septic company killed 1 white and 1 red oak during a septic replacement. I came home and saw all the torn up roots and asked about it. He said they will be fine, we do this all the time. They dug the hole about 10-12’ from the white oak, it was about 15’ from the red. Both huge trees, both died within 3 years.

 

[hman0217]

Good luck, My septic company killed 1 white and 1 red oak during a septic replacement. I came home and saw all the torn up roots and asked about it. He said they will be fine, we do this all the time. They dug the hole about 10-12’ from the white oak, it was about 15’ from the red. Both huge trees, both died within 3 years.mG

sorry to hear that

Gosh I'm sorry to hear that
How long was Septic leaking for? From what I've read, the sewage itself can make the tree sick.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Gosh I'm sorry to hear that
How long was Septic leaking for? From what I've read, the sewage itself can make the tree sick.

Mine was a tank replacement in a new location. Wasn’t a leak per say, the top collapsed on the old one and they tore the roots putting the new one in.

 

[mishalikasma]

sad to hear that

 

[thenne1713]

Hate to say, but many a " vibrant thriving tree" has uprooted in high winds like we had again this year? THIS maybe the time to SAVE your newly rebuilt house from catastrophe? Over 5-10yrs, I took out two 75yo+ oaks, and so GLAD this year after Hurricane Elvis Jr. came thru Memphis, plus I now have a beautiful lawn, where I previously had nothing but dirt. I still lost two live 24"+ BRANCHES X 40-FOOT from one of remaining trees this year, AND WILL BE REMOVING A similar branch over house later this year. Good Luck.

 

[Crainn]

I'd love to hear an update on your tree. Did you find any useful information elsewhere (I don't see much in the way of response here). I hope it survived. I'm looking for ways to preserve our white oak during an extensive construction project that's about to start. As you said, it's a very productive tree for the ecosystem, so I really don't want to lose it. Would appreciate any knowledge or experience you can share. (Really sorry to hear about your fire, by the way.)

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I'd love to hear an update on your tree. Did you find any useful information elsewhere (I don't see much in the way of response here). I hope it survived. I'm looking for ways to preserve our white oak during an extensive construction project that's about to start. As you said, it's a very productive tree for the ecosystem, so I really don't want to lose it. Would appreciate any knowledge or experience you can share. (Really sorry to hear about your fire, by the way.)

Welcome to AS. Hopefully we can give you some constructive advice. As always, pics are always helpful. At this point my best advice would be to get an arborist out as soon as possible that can help you come up with a good conservation plan. Hopefully your architect designed the project with the trees health in mind as well. Keep in mind, trenching for septic and utilities is not the only risk to a mature tree during a construction project... physical damage from equipment and soil compaction has probably killed as many trees during construction as physical root damage.
Hope this helps

 

[Crainn]

Welcome to AS. Hopefully we can give you some constructive advice. As always, pics are always helpful. At this point my best advice would be to get an arborist out as soon as possible that can help you come up with a good conservation plan. Hopefully your architect designed the project with the trees health in mind as well. Keep in mind, trenching for septic and utilities is not the only risk to a mature tree during a construction project... physical damage from equipment and soil compaction has probably killed as many trees during construction as physical root damage.
Hope this helps

Thank you for the response! I didn't give details because I was really just interested specifically in what the OP had learned about what an oak might be able to survive in the way of root cutting. We've had an arborist look at it... he was a bit on the fence about whether the tree would survive or not, as right now one corner of a new foundation would be close to the drip line and excavating for that foundation poses a likely problem. What we are really looking for is an arborist who would be willing to be on site when digging is done to observe the roots and advise real-time how to minimize impact to the tree. The arborist who came to look at it said arborists aren't willing to do that anymore (if they ever were) because they fear liability issues. But maybe the building is planned too close to tree in any case. I'd really hate to lose it. I have written to a tree care company that emphasizes preservation over removal, and I'm hoping they can help us.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Thank you for the response! I didn't give details because I was really just interested specifically in what the OP had learned about what an oak might be able to survive in the way of root cutting. We've had an arborist look at it... he was a bit on the fence about whether the tree would survive or not, as right now one corner of a new foundation would be close to the drip line and excavating for that foundation poses a likely problem. What we are really looking for is an arborist who would be willing to be on site when digging is done to observe the roots and advise real-time how to minimize impact to the tree. The arborist who came to look at it said arborists aren't willing to do that anymore (if they ever were) because they fear liability issues. But maybe the building is planned too close to tree in any case. I'd really hate to lose it. I have written to a tree care company that emphasizes preservation over removal, and I'm hoping they can help us.

Gotcha. If just one corner comes close to the dripline, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The greater danger to the tree is overall compaction of the root zone due to construction traffic, backfill, etc., as well as any grade changes. Express your concerns to the G.C., and I would highly recommend taping off the dripline at least as an exclusion zone. If the G.C. isn't sympathetic to your concerns, that could be a red flag as to how the rest of the project goes, to be honest. Oaks in particular have root systems that extend well beyond the dripzone and are very sensitive to soil compaction. Every trade is focused on just getting their part of the project done, with little regard to the overall project, that's where the gc comes in. Step one, your yard is not a parking lot, let them walk to their truck down the block! Even just simple pickup traffic can damage those fragile feeder roots through compaction. As far as a preemptive crown reduction pruning goes, not necessarily a bad idea, and not a bad time of year to do it, just make sure you have a good arborist do it with the overall health of the tree in mind, not just a reduction for reductions sake. Good luck with your project.