Root invasion is the incursion of plant roots with undesirable impacts.
Biological
When the roots of neighboring plants or trees invade the area of other plants there will be decline in the health and eventual wasting of the plant whose space is being invaded. In
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
ed areas, periodical inspection during planting and care can allow for the discovery and removal of invading roots.
Plumbing
As plant roots spread in the search for nutrition, they will opportunistically enter
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
or
sewer with resulting line blockage. 5% of sewer line blockage is attributed to root invasion, though reports of line breakage due to the intrusion are rare.
Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
and
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
pipes are more likely to be invaded then
PVC pipe
Plastic pipe is a tubular section, or hollow cylinder, made of plastic. It is usually, but not necessarily, of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow—liquids and gases (fluids), slurries, powders and masses of sm ...
, with pipe joints being the typical mode of entry for roots.
Structural
Road
A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved.
Th ...
s,
sidewalk
A sidewalk (North American English),
pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...
s and
foundations can all suffer structural issues from tree roots. Several methods of control have been attempted, from barriers to encouraging growth in desirable directs. Selection of plants with root systems that will not conflict with nearby structures is the most effective method of damage control.
[Roberts, Jackson & Smith 2006, p. 389.]
Notes
References
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*{{cite book , title= Soils for fine wines, last= White, first= Robert Edwin , authorlink= Robert Edwin White, year= 2003, publisher= Oxford University Press US, isbn= 0-19-514102-4, pages= 279, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6hTn6-wONgC&q=%22root+invasion%22
Plant roots