On 8/11/2008 11:39 AM, Albert wrote:
Have a large Cedar tree and it has a large root that has grown out
which is 6 feet from the tree and is creating another stump in the
yard. Can one cut out this stump from the root without killing the
tree?

I would get a professional arborist to answer this. The answers vary by
the type of tree and the growing conditions.

My ash tree -- more than twice the height of my two-story house and
having a trunk over 9 feet in circumference at chest height -- has many
surface roots. An arborist told me that I could completely remove all
surface roots in an area that is about 1/3 of the drip zone and that,
after waiting a year or two, remove the roots in another 1/3, etc. The
tree has sufficient deep roots that removing surface roots (1/3 at a
time) would not harm it.

However, a cedar is not an ash. That's why you need professional advice.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/