Hickory Root Damage

[Bob&Sharon]

Dear Forum,

We are having some work done in our backyard and the excavator has piled a huge (~3 feet deep) amount of red Georgia clay next to a 100-year-old Hickory. This pile was placed there today and will be gone within weeks. They should have wrapped the tree, so now removing it will involve very careful shoveling. The question is: How sensitive are Hickory trees to added weight (this time of year)? Do we need to remove the pile now or is a few weeks okay? How will we know?

Thanks for your advice,
Bob and Sharon

 

[treeseer]

HIckories very sensitive to root damage so the clay on the trunk is just another issue. See Avoiding Construction Damage etc in the link below, and get an arborist on site. You do not want to lose that asset, and pay for removal to boot.

Your contractor should know better.