What to Do When Roots & Rocks Are Under the Surface in Landscaping?

Utility Marking

• It is important to know where your utility lines lay underground before digging. Most municipalities provide free utility marking services so a homeowner or landscaper knows where important lines are before digging. Pipelines can easily be mistaken for stones or roots and are sometimes accidentally cut into, causing serious problems for the house that easily could have been prevented. If lines are marked beforehand, pipes can be dug around cautiously or avoided altogether.

Removing Rocks

• Rocks can be a hassle to remove from beneath the soil, but it is always a good idea to get rid of them if possible. Rocks create barriers for plant root systems and displace important air, soil and water that are useful to plants. If you hit a rock with a shovel, begin digging around the hard surface until you find the edge of the rock. Sometimes a pickax may be necessary to dig around rocks. Unless the rock is inordinately large, once you have found the edge of the rock you can usually place your shovel under the rock and use the shovel as a lever to force the rock out of the soil. Sometimes rocks found in the soil can later be placed in the landscape for aesthetic value.

Removing Roots

• Small roots are frequently encountered in uncultivated soil that occupy the space in which you wish to plant your new plant or shrub. Usually large roots are deeper beneath the soil and are not encountered in most small landscaping projects. Try to determine what tree the root you have encountered is attached to. If the tree is small, that root may be important, but in most cases cutting individual roots will not cause noticeable harm to a tree. If the root is more than 2 inches in diameter, you may not want to cut it. To cut tree roots, use the edge of your shovel to hack at either end of the root. If this does not work, a hatchet or ax may be necessary to cut the root.

Displacement

• In many cases, rocks may be too large to remove without heavy machinery, or roots may be large, and cutting them may result in killing or seriously injuring a nearby tree. Also, utility lines that cannot easily be rerouted may be found where you wish to plant. If this is an issue, plants will have to be moved to another location from the place you initially wished to plant them. Fortunately, most of the time shrubs and the holes dug for them need only be moved a few inches to avoid obstacles in the soil that cannot or should not be removed.