Willows impress with their beautiful growth and their flowers, which appear as delicate catkins. The planting proves to be very worthwhile, were it not for a single disadvantage: willows form such a strong and extensive root system that the surrounding area is often affected. If the roots spread too much, you should remove them immediately. Find out how to do it.
Although willows are shallow rooters, removing the roots is a real feat
Why remove willow roots?
- Stones, sidewalks, driveways or terraces are raised
- Pipes could be damaged
- distant shoots climb up the walls of houses
- Roots draw water away from other plants
Ways to remove willow roots
There are two options to choose from for removing willow roots. Unfortunately, with both methods you cannot avoid manually pulling the severed roots out of the ground. However, under favorable conditions you can save a lot of energy.
No sweat no gain
For the classic variant you need
- a spade
- a chainsaw
- Protective clothing that can get dirty
- Saw the willow down to a few centimeters above the ground
- Expose the root ball
- Trace the individual root strands (extent up to 10 meters)
- Mark the route of the underground pipes so as not to damage them
- Expose the rhizomes
- Break up the roots into individual pieces
- Then rip them out of the ground
- Seal the holes
- Choose a dry day for this procedure
- Saw off the willow at the height of a tree stump
- Expose the root ball and use a spade to pierce the root strands
- Wrap a chain around the stump
- Attach the other end to a vehicle hitch
- Use the vehicle to pull the bale out of the ground
- Then rip out the remaining roots from the soil
Remove tree stump
This method is only recommended if you can be sure that you will not damage any pipes when removing the root.
Prevent
In order to save yourself a tedious amount of work, it makes sense to curb root growth when planting. You can get root barriers for this purpose in specialist shops. A bottomless concrete tub placed around the root ball is also effective.