A tree that looks perfectly healthy above ground can be slowly strangling itself below the surface. Girdling roots happen when a tree's roots wrap around its own trunk or root flare instead of growing outward, often because it was planted too close to a sidewalk, driveway, or foundation.
Over years, the wrapped root tightens like a belt and cuts off the tree's own circulation. It's one of the more common problems we find on trees planted along Birmingham's older streets and subdivisions, where root space was limited from the start.
The tricky part is that a tree with girdling roots can look fine for a long time before it starts declining, so the earlier it's caught, the more options there are to correct it. Sometimes it's a simple root pruning fix, other times it points to a bigger structural issue.
Do you know if any of your trees were planted close to concrete, a fence line, or a foundation?
#BirminghamAL #TreeCare
Authentic photo of exposed girdling roots at the base of a tree trunk, ideally during a root collar excavation showing the wrapped root against the trunk.
Canva text suggestion: "Healthy above, strangled below" or "Root problems don't show themselves right away"