Tree Root Damage to Sidewalks and Curbs

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Figure 1.
Relation of average diameter of tree species to (A) percentage of trees that damaged sidewalks and (B) percentage of trees that damaged curbs.
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Figure 2.
Ranking of tree species by amount of damage to sidewalks and curbs (scale: 0 = no damage to 3 = concrete displaced more than 2 inches.).
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Figure 3.
Approximate effect of trunk diameter on damage to sidewalks and curbs as determined by using regression equations to adjust estimated damage for planting strip width, tree species, and soil texture. (Damage scale: 0 = no damage to 3 = concrete displaced more than 2 inches).
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Figure 4.
Approximate effect of planting strip width on damage to sidewalks and curbs as determined by using regression equations to adjust estimated damage for trunk diameter, tree species, and soil texture. (Damage scale: 0 = no damage to 3 = concrete displaced more than 2 inches).
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Figure 5.
Approximate effect of soil texture on damage to sidewalks and curbs as determined by using regression equations to adjust estimated damage for trunk diameter, planting strip width, and tree species. (Damage scale: 0 = no damage to 3 = concrete displaced more than 2 inches; soil 1 had most sand, soil 4 had most clay).

Species	Number
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)	118
Planetree (Platanus acerifolia)	113
Modesto ash (Fraxinus velutina ‘Modesto’)	98
Flowering plum (Prunus spp.)	86
Myoporum (Myoporum laetum)	79
Glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum)	59
Evergreen elm (Ulmus parvifolia)	57
Shamel ash (Fraxinus uhdei)	49
Fruitless mulberry (Morus alba)	54
Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)	50
Total	763

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Table 1.
Relations between amount of sidewalk damage and tree size, soil texture, and planting strip width for 118 sweetgum trees.¹

1 × = tree that displaced sidewalk 1 inch or more; ⚬ and • = trees that displaced sidewalk less than 1 inch; • = possible source of less damaging cultivar. Trees to left and right of dotted lines were predicted by discriminant analysis to move sidewalks less than 1 inch and 1 inch or more, respectively.