Taking Back the Land, Part 2: The Battle Beneath the Surface
Updated: Aug 31
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A week after Tom and his crew completed the first phase of Operation Garden, the new Oak Leaf Hydrangeas were delivered and planted. I had paid extra for larger 3-year-old plants and did not regret that decision for an instant. They took to the spot as if they were grown to be placed there.
I fertilized them to help them establish their root system faster and crossed my fingers.
The following weekend I started work on the brick flower beds in front. My objective was to remove the dead plants and soil. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to replace the soil with—suffice it to say that it was going to be something that could not potentially crack the foundation.
Since the beds were under the porch roof, once I emptied them, I could let them dry out while I figured out a replacement.
That week I bought a shovel to add to my existing gardening tool stash. I was looking forward to a few hours of digging in the dirt.
That few hours turned out to be the entire day.
Those Effing Trees—and Their Invasive Roots
I easily ripped out the dead plants and started digging out the potting soil. Almost immediately my shovel hit something solid. I moved to another spot and tried again. Same result. A few inches down from the soil surface was a mass of….something hard but not brick or concrete.
What the hell? I started removing the potting soil with a trowel, then brushed the soil away from the mass as if I was working on an archeological dig. Within five minutes, I saw what was blocking me.
It was masses of tree roots. They almost filled the brick planters.
I figured that the roots were from the two massive trees planted a few feet from the front porch that were now giant, ugly, dead-looking stumps. But, cutting into one of the roots, I saw that it was still alive.
Yikes. Still alive? The trees had been cut down at least ten years ago—but the roots were still alive?
I needed to find out more about these trees.
There were 7 skanky trees in my front yard that had leaves that looked elm-like.
I sat on an overturned plastic bucket, pulled out my phone, and Googled “elm trees”.
After looking at some photos, I realized with horror that what was in my yard was a fine collection of Chinese elm trees. They are resistant to Dutch elm disease (good) but are not native to the US and are highly invasive (very, very bad).
Chinese Elms are The Undead of the tree world.
When you cut down a Chinese elm tree, it continues to send out new tree shoots through its still-alive roots. Even if you grind out the trunk, if the roots remain, it will continue to make new Chinese elms. This explained the sapling forest in my back yard that had been cut down by Tom and his crew.
But at least now I knew what I was dealing with.
I put away my phone, drove to Home Depot, and bought a lovely little hand axe and a nice big jug of Roundup.
It was going to be a pleasure to chop the shit out of those roots and then douse them with Roundup.
Rooting Out the Chinese Elm Roots
Chinese elm roots are shallow and fibrous. Fibrous root systems have no taproot (a single large main root). They grow from the main stem or trunk in a network that forms a dense mat of roots and root threads.
I started by using my new hand axe to chop the top layer of roots. In some places, the roots were matted enough to cause the ax to bounce away, but that made me more determined.
For six hours I fought those roots, chopping, ripping, and digging, inch by inch, until the planters were clean down to the level of the concrete front porch. I crawled into each brick bed. Miraculously, there was no damage to the bricks or concrete beneath.
I then sprayed Roundup in both planters to kill the undead roots that remained at the surface of the exposed soil. Now I needed to consider what to use to fill the planters that wouldn’t encourage the undead roots to thrive.
Gathering up my gardening tools, I wondered to myself how bad the roots were in the rest of the yard. Given the fact that there were seven mature Chinese elms growing in the front yard, and a recently-cut-down sapling forest in the back, I was pretty sure the answer was “really, really bad.”
Would I be able to establish a formal garden in the front and vegetable gardens in the back as I had planned?
Or was my yard so clogged with roots that I would be unable to garden at all?
Oh, hell, no.
My vision for my new house included a garden, come hell or high water.
When I got back to the condo, I added an item to my Spring to-do list. It was a big one—namely, to rid my yard of all its existing trees and figure out what to do instead.
With that stake in the ground, I decided to set aside my yard-related concerns so I could focus on getting Phase One of the house reno done before my November move-in.
The following morning, though, after my first tree-related nightmare, I decided that, for my own peace of mind, I needed to accelerate my tree removal plan.
I also realized that if Portland had an ice storm that winter, the chances were good that a broken branch or an entire skank-tree could fall on my house or take out my utility lines.
I resolved to start the process of getting quotes and engaging an arborist to remove the trees in early December, after I was moved in and unpacked.
Related Reading
Removing tree roots from garden beds is arduous—but doable with the right equipment.
If you’re tackling roots, overgrown beds, or a garden reset, these are the exact tools I used (and still use):
Tools That Actually Got Through the Roots
My trusty Root Slayer shovel —rugged enough to handle compacted, root-filled soil thanks to its serrated blade
Durable hand trowel —useful for removing soil and prying apart root clumps
Sharp hand axe / hatchet —critical for cutting through heavy or dense root systems
Protection + Cleanup
Heavy-duty, grippy gardening gloves —essential when you’re pulling roots that fight back
Large yard waste bags —for lugging your yard waste to the recycling bin
Plant Care
Slow-release fertilizer for shrubs—great for most shrubs (skip acid-loving plants like hydrangeas and Japanese maples)
Fertilizer for acid-loving plants—hydrangeas love it
Lightweight water hose —pair with a brass hose adapter
No-rust hose reel —super sturdy and easy to move
Root Management
Targeted root killer / herbicide —works quickly and effectively
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