Protect your garden from Conocarpus Lancifolius
Conocarpus lancifolius is commonly known as damas (conocarpus) tree. These are the tall lushes green trees you see when driving by remote residential desert areas or parks. They might look green and lush while creating great visual barriers but upon taking a closer look you will see the damage the roots of these trees are causing to the floors, walls, drainage lines and your main water supply lines. Besides the Conocarpus lancifolius tree, the conocarpus family consists of conocarpus erectus and conocarpus sericeus. The latter two are approved in plant pallet lists by developers in their communities. The one that homeowners are told to avoid is conocarpus lancifolius.
We have seen conocarpus lancifolius do extensive damage to residential gardens, irrigation lines and drainage lines. The other plants and trees also suffer from improper growth as the conocarpus lancifolius starves them of water by taking in all the moisture in the ground. The most costly damage a conocarpus lancifolius does in your garden is it damages your main water supply line under the ground. This is not visible and the homeowners don’t realize the effect of this till they get an inflated water bill from DEWA ( Dubai Electric and Water Authority). DEWA will not compensate you for this and the homeowner is stuck with damaged water lines and a huge bill.
If you’re a new homeowner and you inherit these trees, you should have them excavated by a professional landscape company who ensures that other services running below the ground don’t get damaged during the excavation process. The majority of the time when homeowners see the cost involved in having a proper excavation of this trees, they choose to have these trees cut down rather than having all the roots excavated. If you decide to cut the tree trunk only, the roots of conocarpus lancifolius will gain more strength and grow faster causing more damage to your garden.
Damage caused by a conocarpus lancifolius tree is not caused by the tree trunk or its leaves. The real culprit is the tree roots below the ground. The proper way to excavate these trees is to have the root ball removed completely from the ground. This will involve damaging your existing floor or irrigation lines, but it’s better to absorb this cost once and to excavate properly as this will ensure your garden is never infested with the roots of a conocarpus lancifolius again.
