[Mag]

Hi,
Hope you can help me. I have two questions
First Question:
I have 6 mature evergreen trees in my back garden - I think they are cypress they have flat leaf 'palm' leaves. I have a rectangular lawn in front of the trees that I would now like to replace with paving of some type (no loose gravel) but I am afraid if I do this I might kill the trees if no water or air is getting to the roots.

By the way the reason for removing the lawn is both for ease of maintence and so children and dog can run around.

Second Question:
The trees are the height of the roof on the house (two story) and I was thinking of cutting the tops off them - is this a good idea and when should it be done?


I live in Co Limerick by the way so any advice you can give me would be great.

Many thanks,
Mag.

[birdie]

Paving contractors will have to dig out for a base to prevent paving settling. So roots may have to be cut. They often use a wacker vibrating machine to settle paving bricks which will not be good for the trees roots either.
Any photos to give us a better idea of the lay of the land.

[Tom]

Any chance of creating a deck on the are over the tree roots. You will be building up and not disturbing the roots. If paving you should also think about will the trees get too much water by the patio running into the roots or too little by the open soil are being covered. Cutting the tops of the trees only encourages the roots to spread so this may cause more problems than it solves.
As birdie said a picture or two of the area and the trees would help. Maybe the trees could survive paving nearby, maybe they are not worth keeping.