The Mrs has a thing about climbing roses. She's already managed to nearly
strangle a plum tree with a climber, and now another one is shooting up our
oldest pine tree.

Latest plan is to put another one in to 'improve' another plum tree. But
apparently the gardener keeps hitting 'something hard' a few inches away
from the trunk.

I tried to explain that that's where the thicker roots would be radiating
from, but she's determined to get the 'obstruction' hacked through and get
the climber in.

Q1: Does hacking through tree roots significantly damage the tree? Looking
at a 6" hole at tyhe base of a 12" diameter trunk.

Q2: Do climbing roses do any damage to fruit trees? The two existing
climbers are going mental - Must put a lot of weight on the tree branches.

Cheers,

Al.