Expert: Jim Hyland - 6/26/2009

Question
Sacramento Ca.just on the other side of my fence my neighbors sweetgum trees grow with roots that are spanning out breakiong above ground and damaging irrigation pipes underground.new stalks growing from the roots.  it's damaged my yard which is a traing field, so those top roots pose as a safety issue. is there a way kill the roots without having to dig em out and cut em?,i'd like to dig up the roots after their dead. or what are some options besides relocating my training feild.
thanks for your time. any advice would help

Answer
Cut into the roots and apply a herbicide called Roundup to the cut surfaces. You can just paint the Roundup on the cut surface from the container. The herbicide will be transported to the other close roots and kill them also. This will kill the roots in your yard. It may effect the foliage of the tree nearest your yard but should not cause too much of a health problem with the tree. This should rid your yard of the roots and the tree will survive with the roots in the adjacent yard.