Tree roots under the patio.

You could approach the school but its likely to be council responsibility. They should agree cut the tree back but whether that will help with your patio problem is debatable as the damage seems to be already advanced.

Well perhaps getting it cut back would stop the damage getting any worse

Only for a while. I have a weeping cherry in my front garden. It sends out roots for miles and although I have cut back a fair few branches I have started to find roots appearing in flower beds around the house and down the side of it! I fear it will have to go, which will be very upsetting as it's gorgeous.

We've got a similar problem with a flowering cherry tree, but it's in our own garden. The roots are causing cracks in the tarmac of the drive.

I don't think just cutting it back's going to solve the problem, it'll have to be cut down completely, otherwise the roots will just keep on growing.

Yes, I'm afraid so. I wish I could just face that fact with my own tree.

Can you dig down and cut off the offending roots? Presumably that's legal?

I cut down a small flowering cherry which was suckering all over my front garden. The stump soon rotted to dust and the roots shrank away, so I agree the whole tree needs to come down if you can get permission.

DD1 has a similar problem with a bamboo from the garden to the rear of hers. The paving is very dangerous and shoots are even coming up through the floor of the shed. It is a rented house, so it will be the landlord's problem ultimately.

Nonnie it's actually quite hard to get down to all the roots. It's quite possible that a stump killer chemical will have to go into remaining roots, as cherries/prunus family can quite easily send up suckers from bits of root. However if you cut down the tree, drill holes into the stump and fill them with stump killer a couple of times, over the next couple of years it should all rot away.

I fear that you are all right and cutting back the tree won't help with the roots. I would hate to have the whole tree cut down though, it is so pretty in the spring and the petals cover the whole garden like snow. The birds love it too.

I suppose you could raise your patio height.

You could abandon the patio to its fate and have a raised deck instead.

DH talks about decking from time to time. He's not one of the world's great gardeners and we've got a new shed to sort out first, but decking could be the way to go.

I was told that if you cut the tree in height the roots stay the same as they were before. You would get branches coning out from underneath and some on top of where the tree was cut but they would sonn grow more and not look so odd.

I'd abandon the patio too and find a new place to sit.