How do you kill a tree's root system?

Question

Two neighbors of mine whom live side by side, have a line of trees that split their property. There has been a feud between the two over who owns them, and whether they can be cut down or not. Last week, one of the trees (Poplar Tree), which looked extremely healthy, and was right beside the neighbor's garage, mysteriously fell over. The tree was very healthy, but the root system was completely disintegrated, and allowed the tree to fall over. Is there something out there that would rot the root system off without killing the tree. Would copper nails in the tree kill the roots, while allowing the leaves to stay green and healthy looking? I do tree work on the side, and have never seen anything like this before. In my opinion, It looks way too much like sabotage...

Answer 1

copper nails huh? dats a first time for me.. wat ppl in y hometown do is pour acid or kerosene oil around the tree.. this susbsequently leaks seeps into the grounds and into the roots.. how ever i havent noticed whether the leaves stay gree till it falls.. i dont think dat is possilbe... itmust have been acid.. the roots wud have perished within minutes..

Answer 2

Copper nails is bogus. First of all the nails may not go deep enough into the tree. They may not get beyond the cork layer...bark. Second there is no magic from the copper.....no poison. The type of copper poison is in a different formula....simple chemistry.

As for the tree falling over.......they do that. Every storm trees fall over. Cause 90% of the time is human related. We did things to the tree to cause it to fail.

The list is long, but right up there is poor pruning (topping and flush cuts) and root damage (not allowing enough roots to spread, compaction, paving over them, ripping them up, poisoning are just a few).

Legally you can't do anything to purposely kill your neighbor's tree (DRAT!) However, if a branch is hanging over your property legally you ask the neighbor if you or an arborist would properly remove the branch at it's insertion (where it begins). If the neighbor says no, you can cut the branch back to the property line.

Roots are a bit more problematical. You can remove surface roots but not to where they impair the tree's stability. Generally, no root removal within 10 feet of the tree's trunk.

Trees improperly pruned will have major internal decay......this is what causes trees to fail. A trained certified arborist can determine when the damage occurred. Maybe not who did it, but when it occurred. Trees do not heal!!! They internalize the wounds.....they try to wall the boo-boo off from the rest of the tree but weak tree heredity and overpowering pathogens cause compartment breaches.

Specifically to your answer, it is easy to poison a root system with any number of chemicals or even to cut them off. Doing so risks having the tree fall on your own house.....only takes the wind blowing in the wrong direction. If you suspect foul play.......evidence is necessary.....physical evidence and I suspect it's all cleaned up now. If you run across this again, grab as much of the tree as possible and soil samples. An arborist qualified to do the pathology can determine cause....up to a point. I'd only do this is if there is a sizable property loss or human injury or death. The pathology and expert's testimony in court would cost thousands.

Answer 3

a coper nain will kill an ever green and it dose rot the roots some thing with the coper and if the tree stands for a few mounths to a year it will have die back i worked for a tree c.o. that did it to trees that the conservation sid we couldnt take down thay would tell the home owner to do it need less to say i left the c.o. after finding this out

Answer 4

once you cut the bushes down paint the stumps with centred Roundup on the instant out of the bottle. this ought to kill the roots. If later you notice new shoot rising from the stump injury them off or decrease them off previously they get better than 2 to 3 inches severe. in case you notice new shoots rising from the roots decrease them off on the floor. Roots cannt stay to tell the story via them selves they might desire to boost up and boost new leaves to feed them selves.

Answer 5

you are missing the point, anything growing or hanging over your property belongs to you. If it is on the property line cut your side down!

Answer 6

it sounds to me like some body used a strong root killer or put old fashion salt water directly to the roots

Answer 7

I have heard that if you pour Clorox bleach around something, it will soak into the ground and kill what's around it.