Root runners all through the patch of garden where I want to grow vegetables. Anyone know what I can do?

Question

I've just removed a 12ft area of paving slabs from my back garden and wanted to use the area to grown vegetables but the soil underneath the slabs is full of root runners that go in all directions, and they are tough things! When I start pulling one up it runs the whole length of the 12ft area like an underground cable. I have been chopping these roots and cutting them up, but need to remove them completely.

Is there any way I can cultivate this area of my garden and is there something I can use to break up these root runners, please?. As it stands, I could maybe grow surface vegetables like cabbage, cauliflowers, brussels etc, but I wouldn't be able to grow root vegetables like carrots, beetroot, parsnips, as they would be damaged by these roots. The soil is lovely and plants grow really well in it.

Our garden is surrounded by bushes and a couple of trees, but the runners don't seem to be tree roots and the bushes are a distance away from the area. Hope someone can help?

Thank you VERY MUCH everyone for all your wonderful answers. I just don't know who to choose as the best answer as they are all so good. I will be able to use all the information you have given me also I didn't think about putting pots in for the root veg - that's a great idea. I've grown carrots that way when we lived at the other house. So, who do I vote as best answer?

Answer 1

What a "back breaker" you have to deal with, and so many people have given you good suggestions. But I'm not one to fight with tree roots or roots in general, so I just look for an easier way to co-exist with them. For my garden solutions, I use the deepest window boxes or pots I can get (yard sales, discount centers, even give aways from friends and family).
I use them to plant the under-ground veggies in, such as carrots-little finger variety, beets, parsnips, turnips etc. For the other veggies such as Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Butternut, pumpkins, herbs and what not I use the ground surface. I just make sure my soil is the best mix I can create for my little eatables. This is just another alternative solution/answer , but Co-existing works well for me!

Answer 2

A mature tree, depending on the type, can produce root runners that go 20 to 30 feet. Removing them shouldn't hurt a tree too much. But, be aware that the runners are coming from something and removing them may damage the source plant.

Regarding removing the runners, there's not much you can do except dig them out. The soil in a vegetable garden should be free of obstructions (like root runners) to a depth of at least the head of a standard spade-type shovel. So, using such a shovel, start at one corner of the area you are preparing and dig out a shovel full of dirt.

Keep digging out shovels full of dirt, turning the next clump into the hole you made with the previous one. As you encounter a root runner, pull it up as much as you can. Then start digging where you think its running to. The goal is to pull it all the way out. To cut it, you can use the shovel itself (hack away at the root) or use a pickaxe to hack the root runner off at the edge of the garden.

Continue until the entire bed is tilled and free of roots. Grade the plot with a hard metal rake and the shovel. And, go ahead and toss out any rocks you find in there, too.

Answer 3

I live in the southeast and have managed commercial landscape operations from texas to fla. as well as made I don't know how many personal veggie and flower plots. very seldom have i not found your situation, when preping a new spot.
unless u have bushes next to ur plot, very unlikely to hurt them and it is extremely unlikely to hurt a tree and it is very likely it is either tree roots or tree like shrubs like crepe myrtle. small roots like you are experiencing can run forever, it seems, certainly well past the water line of trees.
the best method is to just chop em up. you don't want to just process actualy planting spots, u need to always prepare the entire area, so if it is with a pair of snips or an axe or machete or a roto tiller, just chop em up, remove the pieces and prepare as you would anywhere else.
I plant in deep, double dug beds, anyway, incorporating organic matter such as compost, rotted manure, peat ... and then bed it up. very seldom is the encroachment of the roots more than an occasional problem, if bed prep is done well and a foot deep. be careful w/ too much rototilling, it creats a shallow hardpan, a hardened subsurface "floor" only 6 or so inches below the surface, making it hard for your plants roots to penetrate.

Answer 4

it relatively is an undesirable lot of ash and it will disillusioned the nutrient stability on your soil. despite the fact that in case you till finally it in now, that remains going to be way too plenty ash. the two get busy eliminating maximum of it, or forget approximately a pair of backyard this 300 and sixty 5 days. As for the beans, they could desire to be planted interior the floor extremely than in pots. in the event that they could be grown in pots through fact, say there is too plenty ash interior the backyard, the pots could be plenty bigger than 4 inches. Get a brilliant pot, one that holds a pair gallons of soil or greater, and plant numerous beans interior the pot. It seems such as you're making plans on planting one seed in line with 4-inch pot, and that heavily isn't a staggering plan in any respect. i'm afraid your first gardening adventure would be very disappointing on the fee you're going. i might propose which you paintings with a pal for a 300 and sixty 5 days who's commonplace with a thank you to backyard, after which you will prefer sufficient awareness to plant your very own backyard.

Answer 5

Rototill, rototill, then rototill again. You probably have tree roots to deal with. You will probably need a pro to help you find out what the roots belong to. You may end up killing a tree, which turns into a HUGE expense. It's worth a phone call.

Answer 6

It is probably bind or chick weed. DO NOT CHOP IT. yOU WILL HAVE TO BE PATIENT. Try a weed killer such as Roundup, and then cover it with black polythene and leave it for a year and then remove the plastic and weeds should be dead. Remove all tracesof them and then you can fertilise the ground and start to plant your veggies. Good luck.