For homes in the Lawrenceville, Georgia region a common problem emerges when families decide to widen their driveway, or indeed if they put down a new patio or expand the home once the kids start to get older and the same amount of space that served in the past now feels too small for the family.
While these are all perfectly normal things for a family to do, they can have an unexpected impact on the trees on the property after the construction is undertaken. Sometimes the tree looks perfectly fine for a season or two afterwards, but then it starts thinning out or losing branches, or (worse still) it starts leaning a little more each year until you realize that the tree was never really okay after the work and something has compromised the structure of it.
We are TreeTime Tree Service and we want to walk you through what we’ve learned about what is happening in these situations from our considerable experience of working over the years on properties around the Lawrenceville area. In the following we’ll explain the changes that have most likely occurred both underground and aboveground when a new driveway or patio is put in and what this means for the structure around your tree or trees.
The root zone: The place where construction damage actually takes place
Most roots are actually not deep, especially comparative to really tall trees. Instead the roots fan out wide underground, preferring to live in the upper part of the soil where oxygen and moisture are readily available. That means there is a wide area around large trees that is absolutely crucial to its overall health. When a driveway expansion or similar work cuts through that area, you are not just trimming a few roots; you are changing how the tree acquires water, oxygen and nutrients, as well as how it holds itself up.
There is a common assumption that if the trunk of the tree was not hit during construction, then the tree wasn’t hurt by it. But root severing can be just as serious as damage to the trunk of the tree itself. This often doesn’t manifest right away. A tree can survive on stored energy alone for a while, then decline when drought or storms occur.
Another issue which people rarely consider are changes in the microclimate of the property. An extension onto the house, for instance, can throw shade onto a tree where there used to be sun. In these cases, the soil now stays drier or wetter than it used to be in the past, or the wind pattern will shift owing to the change in shade. The zone 7B trees around Lawrenceville are surprisingly adaptable, but they will need to respond to these changes in ways that can often impact on the future health of them.
If you’re facing issues like these with your trees after construction work, don’t hesitate to reach out for professional help from our tree service in Lawrenceville.
Driveway expansions and tree balance
One of the most common causes of problems with trees is when driveways are widened. The problem is not just losing some of the roots during construction; it is losing roots in an unbalanced way, where they are removed on one side of a tree and not on the other. Trees are engineered by nature to be stable owing to the presence of a broad, balanced root structure or plate. When you cut anywhere near the root structure on the side where the driveway is being laid down, while leaving it intact on the opposite side, you can create a long-term stability issue that might not show up until a storm happens months or even years later and pushes the tree sideways.
In Lawrenceville, when we get storms like this, the canopy of the tree can essentially become like the sail of a ship, something which pulls the tree in whatever direction the wind is blowing. Then you are suddenly dealing with a hazard rather than a landscaping issue, as the tree makes the unstable root structure underground heave.
Soil compaction during construction can also cause difficulties. Driveway work usually involves bringing in heavy equipment and having to flatten the space. The soil is compacted downwards as a result and thereafter it has less pores for oxygen and water to filter through, meaning that, even if the construction work doesn’t result in any roots being cut, it can still suffocate them over time by excessively compressing the soil around them and reducing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the roots.
Patios and pavers: How they change water behavior more than is appreciated
Putting down a patio often seems like a lighter piece of construction work than building a driveway, but the impact can still be big on the surrounding trees. When you cover the soil in the area with paving stones, you also have to compact the base material underneath, and this changes how water moves into the root zone. Some areas become chronically dry in these situations, while other areas still become weirdly saturated because water run-off from drains or when it rains now collects in a new place from where it did in the past.
We also see patios built right up against the flare of trees, the area where the trunk starts to widen down towards the base. It’s crucial that this zone gets a lot of air coming in and out and it should not be buried or covered. If it cannot breathe, then the bark stays damper for longer and organisms that will cause decay become more active around it, leading to problems at the base of the tree that are hard to reverse.
There is a temptation when these things happen to just “clean it up” by adding more soil and leveling everything off. However, that can actually be one of the fastest ways to further stress a mature tree; it creates a scenario where roots that were living near the surface are suddenly deeper and in soil with different oxygen levels to what it has been used to, which are problems.
Home additions can also create problems
Home additions often require excavation work prior to pouring out cement or to dig trenches for utilities. It can appear as though this work is safe, as the work is happening away from the tree itself, but roots extend well beyond where the tree is above ground, especially in open lawn settings where the soil is easier to colonize and it spreads out aggressively. This means you are impacting on the roots below ground when carrying out construction work even when you think you are well away from the tree.
Changes in light and heat also impact in different ways depending on the tree type. A tulip poplar, for example, tends to grow well with a lot of sun available to it and deep, well-drained soil around it. If the addition of a home extension increases the amount of shade that the tree is standing in, or if one side is now shaded, then you can get a tree that becomes lopsided, thinning on the shaded side and shedding interior growth.
The most common symptoms we see in Lawrenceville after construction work
The first thing people notice with tree problems after construction work is carried out are usually cosmetic. The canopy looks less full and thins out or the leaf size is smaller than usual. Alternatively the leaves only start to grow later than they should in spring or they start falling earlier than normal in the fall. These are classic stress signals. They are not always a sign of a death sentence for the tree, but they should definitely be treated as a message that all is not well with it.
The signs get worse from there: there is dieback, the tips of the branches stop producing leaves and then the smaller twigs become brittle and crack. Homeowners often assume at this point that it’s just a pruning issue, but tip dieback after construction near the tree generally means that it is rationing resources because the root system has been reduced or compromised in some way by the construction work.
We also see epicormic growth. This is where little sprouts start to appear along the trunk or major limbs, a sign that that the tree is under stress of one kind or another. What’s basically happening here is the tree is trying to replace lost canopy function quickly. Yet the new growth involved is usually weakly attached and not a long term structural solution for the wider issues confronting the tree.
Finally, there’s the possibility of the tree completely failing, something which nobody likes to talk about. When significant roots are cut during construction work, the risk of uprooting or entire limbs of the tree being lost increases, even if the tree still looks green and healthy in places. However, visual health and structural stability are not the same thing.
Some species handle construction stress better than others
Some tree species in our part of Georgia handle the stress of construction work being carried out better than others. Green ash has been used as a fast-growing shade tree for years, partly because people know that it tolerates a range of different conditions, but even a hardier tree that is more tolerant of changing conditions can struggle when roots are severed or the soil around it is excessively compacted.
White ash is often a beautiful specimen when it first starts to grow, with a nice and even branch distribution. It likes moist and well-drained soil, along with a lot of sun. Nevertheless, it too can experience dieback or the canopy thinning out when construction work changes the drainage area around it.
American holly is a different species again; it’s a broadleaf evergreen and it can thrive as a tree that provides screening in deep and fertile soils where there is adequate moisture. Conversely, when home extensions or the addition of patios change the amount of light it is receiving, the holly sometimes reacts. It can tolerate partial shade, but it does not like root disturbance and it really does not like it if the base of the tree is buried in any way. Once the flare of this tree species gets covered, there is a real risk of long-term decline.
Eastern red cedar is tougher; it tolerates poor soils and adverse conditions, but it is not tolerant to shade. Thus, after a home addition or the insertion of a taller fence line, cedars like this that used to get sun can start to thin out. People assume that evergreens like this just go brown in winter, yet in reality we are sometimes seeing gradual stress occurring in response to the increased shade.
Sweetgum grows fast and can become a big presence on your property, with a beautiful mix of yellow and purple leaves in the fall. It tends to prefer moist, and acid-rich soil. If construction work changes the soil profile away from these optimum conditions, then sweetgum can become moody and the leaves will start to scorch in the hot months.
Black walnut is different again; it likes moist soil and can be a valuable tree for providing shade and maintaining wildlife in your garden. At the same time, it produces heavy fruit and juglone, a chemical that inhibits certain nearby plants from growing. When a driveway is added near this tree type, it can stress the tree and lead to the walnuts falling off in greater quantities. Ironically, if the construction work involved has resulted in trees being parked under the tree, you now have walnuts falling on the vehicles in large numbers, which can dent the vehicles. Moreover, stressed walnut trees like this can shed larger amounts of deadwood. Anyone planning on carrying out construction work where this tree type is present needs to plan it out with the above concerns in mind.
Sugar maple is another tree we watch closely around new patios and driveways. While it is a gorgeous tree, it really does not tolerate hot and dry conditions. Therefore, if the construction of a patio or driveway increases the amount of reflected heat around a sugar maple, and/or reduces the amount of water it is getting, the tree can struggle.
Lastly, river birch and yellow buckeye trees tend to like deep, moist and well-drained soils. When patios and home extensions create compacted zones and redirect water run-off away from the root zone of these trees, they can end up stressed by the drought-like conditions. At the same time, no tree can deal with too much water, so if the amount they are receiving expands too much, they will become chronically wet.
Why a tree can look fine for a year after construction work
Trees don’t respond like lawns. While grass will show damage fast if there is something wrong with it, trees respond on a slower timeline because they have stored reserves of resources that they can use and their growth cycle occurs over a longer season. A big root cut in summer might not fully manifest as a problem in the canopy until the following spring when the tree tries to blossom at full capacity yet cannot support the demands being placed on it.
We also see delayed effects from decay. For instance, a cut root doesn’t just disappear. Instead it will tend to decay back towards the trunk, depending on species and conditions, and over time this can reduce structural support and create cavities or weak zones, even if the tree’s leaves still look pretty decent.
What we recommend doing before and after construction projects
Before any expansion or addition work is undertaken on a property, we recommend looking at the trees as part of the overall project, not as obstacles that have to simply be worked around. The best time to protect a tree is before the first machine ever comes onto the property. Establishing root protection zones and planning where materials are going to operate from and be stored can make a huge difference for preventing future problems.
After the work is done, we recommend a real assessment, not a quick glance. We check the canopy density, deadwood, structural issues, and so forth, and see where changes have occurred, as well as playing close attention to where the soil has become compacted, a major cause of future problems. Sometimes the best next step is soil remediation. In other cases it’s best to prune to reduce the risk of problems developing.
We also talk about planting choices when removing existing trees is unavoidable. Native trees and plants tend to be more self-sufficient and adapted to local extremes, while they will also require less maintenance by you. Nonetheless, they still need to be matched to the right microclimate.
When a tree becomes a safety issue
If a tree starts leaning after construction work or if you see the soil rising up near the base, then it may be a sign that it is at risk of falling. At TreeTime we class that as an urgent situation, especially if the tree is overhanging a driveway, patio or where people gather or children play.
The hard truth is that sometimes the safest option is to remove the existing tree and replace it with something new. That’s just the reality if the construction work that was carried out fundamentally changed the structural environment in which the tree is located.
The simple takeaway for Lawrenceville homeowners
Driveway and patio expansions and home additions can be great upgrades to your property. But trees don’t usually experience them as upgrades. Instead their experience is that someone is interfering with their roots, compacting the soil, changing the slopes and gradients around their base and tinkering with their microclimate shifts. They don’t like these things.
If you’re planning a construction project in Lawrenceville, or you already finished one and your trees are suffering in the aftermath of it, we can help you troubleshoot what might be wrong or how to plan to avoid future problems. Very often the best outcome when it comes to trees and construction work is just catching problems early on or preventing them altogether.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Why do trees in Lawrenceville decline after driveway expansions or patio installations?
Trees often decline after driveway expansions or patio installations because most root structures spread out laterally in the upper soil near the surface next to a tree. Construction work in these areas where the roots are just barely undergound can sever the roots, disrupting how the tree absorbs water and nutrients, or it can result in the soil becoming overly compacted from heavy equipment use. Equally, changes in the microclimate, such as altered sunlight patterns or changing flows of water, can stress the tree, leading to thinning canopies or unbalanced growth.
How does root damage from construction affect the stability of a tree?
Damage to the roots during construction, especially when roots are removed on one side like during driveway widening, disrupts the natural balance of a tree. This is critical, as trees rely on a broad root structure for stability, the severing of which disrupts the anchoring effect that roots provide, which ultimately reduces the support and makes the tree more vulnerable to wind, storms and so forth in Lawrenceville.
What impact do patios and pavers have on tree health?
Patios and pavers alter water movement around trees by covering the soil above the roots with compacted material. This causes some areas to become too dry,while others retain excessive amounts of moisture. Similarly, building patios too close to tree trunks can trap moisture against bark, which leads to decay.
What are common signs that a tree is stressed or declining after construction work nearby?
Common indications that a tree is not doing well include the canopy thinning out with smaller leaves, the leaves starting to grow later than normal in spring or the leaves falling early in the autumn months. Progression of these symptoms leads to dieback at the branch tips and eventually the branches being lost altogether. These signs suggest the tree is struggling due to root damage or environmental changes caused by construction activities nearby.
What should homeowners in Lawrenceville do if their trees show signs of decline after construction work?
Homeowners noticing stress signs like these in their trees following construction work should seek professional help promptly from expert arborists. They can assess the health of the roots and canopy, recommend some mitigation strategies such as airing out the soil or pruning the tree. Early interventions will ultimately helps preserve the tree’s health and safety.
