𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝘁 – 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀.

Last week at IFAT in Munich, Germany, I once again found myself explaining the difference between deep-rooted and shallow-rooted trees on several occasions.

This time, the story came from Italy.
Large, healthy, mature Pinus pinaster trees were cut down because the roots lifted the paving.

The diagnosis?
“Wrong tree species.”

The solution?
Replace them with “deep-rooted” trees species.

𝗔 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻…
So I asked a first question, the answer to which I actually already knew:
“Have the conditions underground been adapted?”
No. Of course not.
And that is precisely the problem.

𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀.
If the soil below the pavement is compacted, starved of oxygen, flooded, dry, or too small for roots to survive in… roots will move upwards. Every time.
Not because they are stupid.
Because they are alive.

We keep blaming trees for doing exactly what biology tells them to do, while cities continue building underground conditions that roots cannot tolerate.

So now:
❌ Mature trees are gone
❌ Decades of canopy lost
❌ Cooling capacity reduced
❌ Biodiversity removed
And in their place?
Young trees heading straight into the exact same underground prison.
Then we act surprised when the paving lifts again in 10 years.

Urban tree failures are often not tree failures.
They are soil design failures.

The good news: this discussion led to an invitation to speak with the city department involved.
Maybe the next trees will get what they actually need:
soil volume, oxygen, water movement, and room to grow.
Not blame.

𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝘁 – 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧.

Werner Hendriks