What is recommended when large, uncut roots are exposed by trenching for up to a week? Should the roots be covered to protect against sunburn, heat, drying? The roots in question are 4 to 8 inches diameter, about 8 feet from the trunk of a very large Modesto ash. Does air drying help when cuts to large roots must be made? In the above proximity to the tree, what maximum diameter of roots can be cut for trench? Is there a truly superior method to excavate in this situation, besides hand-digging?

Reply to post by Mark Goodwin, on August 08, 1999 at 19:05:04:

from what i have read cut roots should be allowed to air dry prior to re covering with soil.
on a recent job i used an "air knife" to excavate a trench approx 6 mtrs long to a depth of 600mm. the air knife is simply a compressor with a suitable handle on the end of a hose which blows/blasts soil out of the trench. it worked well in that it did not do much(if any) damage to the roots it exposed but it was time consuming (about 8 hours sandy topsoil clay subsoil).in regards to diameter of roots that are safe to cut i think you can only assess each tree on its own based on all the factors in its microclimate