Rhus growing - advice anyone?

Hello all,
I moved here in January, and delighted to see a Rhus, about 9' tall growing in the back garden. Now, this tree is getting it's leaves now, and it's a lovely shape. The one thing that will make me tear it out is..... the damn roots!! They are growing almost on the surface, underneath, so that I couldn't plant anything there should I want to. Currently got stones there, but there's dozens of baby Rhus growing!!! Is there anything I can do about this please, can I sever these roots without the tree falling or dying? It's such a shame...

Thanks

Ange

 

Yes you can sever the roots, they're pretty shallow when they're young and you may find that if you give them a tug they'll pull out in a run all the way back to the tree. Once they're established they do get thicker and tougher and you're best cutting through those with some loppers.

If they come up in a lawn, mowing is enough. I take out a few branches every year to keep my tree open and I decide once they're in leaf which branches are going to be lopped each year. I've also laid mypex under the tree and covered that with an ornamental gravel which has also helped to keep the tree open and has stopped little trees growing too close.

You will need to keep an eye out quite a distance from parent tree, those roots will travel. BUT, it's worth it!