Digging up roots when weeding
Stephanie newish gardener
Posts: 516
Ours is an established garden which wasn't actively weeded and cared for between 2004 and 2014 as we were not able to permanently live here and just did what we could during relatively infrequent visits.
I'm gradually reclaiming the place from the weeds but quite often find various networks of roots when weeding. Sometimes I can trace these back to shrubs or trees and sometimes I end up concluding they are part of the underground motorway weed network that has taken over parts of the garden.
On occasion I have cut through some roots of up to a finger's width and so far nothing has keeled over (been doing this since summer 2014). Mostly though I end up taking out lots of fine roots, most of which I believe to be from invasive weeds such as different grasses and weeds.
Today I dug up a self-seeded non-productive rose to make way for a new shrub. It was hard to dig up because some of its bigger roots were growing under roots of a birch tree which sits in the middle of a border. I had to cut through some of the tree roots to get the rose out and then I did a load of weeding where I probably took out some roots from a nearby shrub that I think is probably some sort of berberis. Having said that, I'm not convinced they didn't belong to some invasive weed.
So to questions:
1. Does it matter too much if sometimes roots get disturbed when weeding?
2. How far would you expect roots to spread from your average shrub (some of which are 2-3m tall) I guess that's possibly a piece of string question
3. Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid this sort of thing, apart from digging the whole garden up and starting from scratch?
Thanks
Posts
With practice you should be also to distinguish between shrub/tree and weed roots. Established shrubs/trees can have a very extensive root system, often quite near the surface - so long as you're not hacking away near the base and you're not cutting through major roots then you're unlikely o do too much damage. Obviously young / newly planted plants won't like any root disturbance.
I use one of those narrow hand weeders that are forked at the end
I can't remember what they're called, but they do less damage than a trowel.
I find that the worst damage is done with a hoe - particularly in the spring when the young shoots are popping up amongst the weeds.
Just to give some context, here are a couple of pics of the sort of bed I'm working in
This is the one that generated the question, though I have thought the question many times before asking it. You can see where I've cleared weeds out, and the area between the shrub on the left and the hydrangeas in the background is pretty much mostly roots. The beech tree is out of shot on the right
This is a pic from the other side of the bed where you can see the tree as well
And these are various 'before' pics (some have yet to get to the after stage) to show the sort of weed situation I have. It is mostly grass at the moment as it is winter but we get lots of other weeds in the summer. All of these areas have lots of lovely roots to sort through. Some are from the weeds but I'm not sure about all of them.
I guess it's all part of what makes gardening fun!
I wouldn't think you'll do much damage to the shrubs, look on it as a bit of root pruning. They'll soon send out new roots.
I find that weeding is a most therapeutic occupation. Although it may give your back 'hell', as long as you stop if it gets too bad , you will always be able to see what you have done. One should never let weeds go to seed, as 1 years seeds become 7 years weeds. There are no short cuts, get the hand fork out and systematically work your way through the area in which you are working. Over the years, the problem will diminish.
I agree it is therapeutic, and I am finally feeling like I'm making progress, albeit a bit at a time. I can't say our weeds never go to seed though. The garden wasn't properly tended for 10 years so there are plenty of self seeded plants of all descriptions, not just weeds.
Hand fork is my preferred method of weeding - I can't get on with a hoe even when I've weeded a patch and I'm only tackling baby weeds, and a full size fork is no good with the amount of roots I'm trying to avoid.
I'm optimistically hoping for an early exit from work so I can spend more time in the garden tackling those lovely weeds!
Weeding will not damage the roots of plants that you want to get rid of.
My problem is that it's not always clear which plant the roots belong to. My original question relates to the risk of damaging roots that criss-cross the border between trees and shrubs. Where it's obvious that the roots belong to the weed that's no problem but it's where I'm tracking weed roots and come across other roots that I am a bit more cautious.
If you hold the weed in one hand , gently pull on it and loosen the roots with the fork, you will be able to tease it out of the ground without damaging other roots. Plants are very resilient and unless you go like a bull in a china shop, you should do no harm. If the roots are as big as you are suggesting, you will have to resort to a large fork.
That works for those weeds with roots directly beneath them, but I have a fair bit of that grass where the roots go on and on and pop up with a new lot of grass several feet away, all from the one bit of root, plus other weeds that spread in a similar fashion.
As I said initially, nothing has yet keeled over from my occasional hacking at an unidentified root in frustration just to get it out of the way to lift the mat of weeds up, so I can't be doing too badly. If however I could be sure that most of the tangles of thin roots I find belong to weeds then I'd be happier to just dig them all up. My concern has been that I might find they belong to various shrubs and trees which might be quite miffed at having their toes trimmed!
Leaving loads of small roots in the soil also makes it harder to plant things to help prevent weeds coming back, and again, it isn't clear that they belong to the weeds I've dug up as they don't always appear to be attached to the weed. They aren't necessarily that close to another plant though so I guess part of the question is how far from an established shrub would you expect to find thin tangles of roots close enough to the surface of the soil to be dug up with a hand fork?
Would be easier if I could post a soil sample here but it doesn't work like that. If anyone wants to come help dig out a few weeds and see what I mean.......