Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 7/12/13 7:42 AM, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Cheryl Isaak said:


Okay - this is truly a mystery. There are a series of root that run
what seems to be the length of my long garden bed (very close the
entire 100+ feet of my driveway) Usual depth is about 6 inches, few
have been deeper, less often shallower

Each time I find another, it's another fresh hell. They're usually
about 1/2 inch in diameter, but yesterday's approaches one full
inch. Roots of garden plants I'm trying to divide grow down on
either side of this tough root resulting in very sore muscles.


Near the top of the bed is a Manchurian Crabapple with oaks, pines
and maples at the very top (typical New England woods). At the
bottom of the drive are my snowball viburnum, a clethra (sweet
spire - native shrub) and my neighbors ornamental evergreens.

The driveway goes downhill over its length (top being the house etc)
maybe 15 degrees. The base tends to stay damp unless there is a
drought.

One or more of the trees at the top of the slope are following the
lovely bit of cultivated ground you built down to the moisture at
the base of the slope. A tree's root system spreads out a lot more
than you would think--much farther than the canopy.

When we put in our second raspberry patch, we found an amazingly
large root that ran like a shot from the mulberry tree in one neighbor's
yard and across a stretch of lawn straight to my vegetable garden. There
was another root that crossed from a different neighbor's yard
directly to my compost pile.

When yet another neighbor's white poplar tree was cut down, the
extent of the area its roots covered was revealed by the shoots they sent
up. They reached outward at least as far as the tree was tall, possibly
more.


Well, lets hope which ever tree is sending these roots down the slope
survives with them cut. You don't want to know how much my knee hurts
today from trying to lift one medium sized daylily. This root has to
be over 100 feet from the tree.

I've cut that sucker on either side of the hole. At least when I lift
the next few, it won't be an issue on the down side of the bed.
Thanks Pat

If you figure out which tree the roots come from, you could try adding a deep
root fence between that tree and the garden to try to force the roots deeper.