Weed roots have killed my Mothers garden

pattimcdhol

Dear readers I am hoping you can help me.
My Mothers garden has been ruined by a neighbours tree (weed) root system that is taking over. Little shoots are popping up all over my Mothers lawn.
It has always been a beautiful lawn until this year.
The soil has turned to a dusty sand consistency.
I have attached many, many photographs of the roots and main weed (which is now a tree) in the garden next door. 
I have spoken to the neighbour but it is a rented property and they will not cut down the tree/ weed. Photographed.
My husband and I decided to make a trench to see the extent of the problem and as you can see the roots are enormous. They lead right across the garden (left to right) heading to the next property.
Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. I am at my wits end and my poor Mother is devastated.
 
Kind regards Patti

steephill

Rhus typhina or stag's horn sumac - well known for suckering as above. All you can do is keep taking out roots as you find them, trace them back to your boundary and chop them off there. You could try sinking a physical barrier on the edge of your property but that will be a lot of work.

Ladybird4

Hello pattimcdhol and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately that tree - a stag's horn sumach is notorious for producing suckers but as the property the tree is growing on is rented it may be the landlord you need to speak to. I've seen suckers in lawns before but have never seen lawns devastated quite so much as your Mother's.

Theveggardener

pattimcdhol, Now that looks very familiar. All this week we have been extending a base to put a greenhouse on. While digging down we can across root like yours and chased them back to the boundary and cut them. While we know this family do nothing to the garden from one year to the next there's little we can do, they own the house so we can't talk to a landlord. We have Conifers, Ivy, Brambles, Bindweed a tree and then there's the grass. The Bindweed and Ivy are both up through the trees and Conifers. The photo's of the fence is in good condition in comparison to their's, theirs is almost falling down. If it's not raining tomorrow I'll take some photos and post on here. I hope the landlord will come to your rescue and either do the work or tel then it's their responsibility to maintain the garden. The stag Horn is the main culprit but it looks like you also have Ivy and is that some type of Conifer over the fence on the left, is so they are taking the water out of the ground. 

Bijdezee

As its a rented property I would go to the land registry and get the address of the owner and write to them about it, you may be lucky and find that they will do something about it.