Although ornamental trees can make an attractive and interesting feature in your garden, their roots can cause problems if they grow too close to your home's foundations or underneath your lawn.

But how do you remove troublesome tree roots from beneath your lawn without killing the tree or damaging your grass? Here's how to do it.

What You'll Need

• tape measure
• spray paint
• spade
• handsaw
• pruning shears
• topsoil
• turf

Everything that you will need for this project can be sourced from your local garden centre.

How to Do the Project

1. First of all, you need to choose the roots that you want to get rid of. Larger roots will be easy to spot, as they will push the grass up into snaky lumps. Trace the individual roots back to the tree trunk so that you can see whether any are connected. Before cutting out too many very large roots, ask your local tree-services company for guidance, as removing these could destabilise or damage the tree.  
2. Take a tape measure and measure the circumference of the tree's trunk. When you have the measurement, multiply it out by eight. The figure you end up with will determine the minimum distance from the trunk at which you can safely remove roots without damaging the tree.  
3. Armed with this measurement, use spray paint to mark the grass at your chosen cutting point.  
4. Take a spade and dig through the grass around the tree roots that you want to cut so that the roots are exposed. Ideally, you want to be able to slide your spade right underneath each root.  
5. Now take a handsaw and cut through each exposed root. Thinner roots can be cut using a pair of pruning shears.  
6. When the root is cut, pull the cut end upward away from the tree until you find the end. The discarded root can be added to your compost bin for recycling.  
7. Finally, use topsoil to fill in the trenches that have been left behind by the roots. If necessary, lay new turf over the top.  
8. Over the next few weeks, keep a close eye on the tree. If the tree starts to lean, or if leaves and branches begin to die, you may have cut the roots too close to the trunk. In this case, ask your local tree-services company to come out and either remove the tree for you or put supports in place to prevent its toppling over.

You can remove tree roots that are growing underneath your lawn by following the guidelines above. Very large trees with huge root systems may be best removed by a professional tree-services contractor if they present a risk of damage to your home.