Pyracantha Root - can I cut it?

polybear

Hi all,

I have a large Pyracantha Bush at the bottom of my garden; the area in question is currently being redeveloped to create something hopefully a bit nicer, whilst being easy to maintain.  I'll be using part of a railway sleeper to create a raised bed.

However, Mr. Pyracantha has somewhat inconsiderately placed a root smack bang in the middle of proceedings, which makes positioning of the sleeper more complicated than I would like; the Y-shaped crack in the garden path in the first photo is due to the root too  

I'm contemplating chopping the root out; I realise it's not ideal but it would make life a lot easier (and the path should benefit too).  Any thoughts please - I don't want to kill the bush as I quite like it and it's pretty useful for killing any intruders hoping to climb the back gate or fence; the birds like the berries too. 

Many thanks.

Brian

edit:  The root is in the centre of the second photo, just to the right of the green flowerpot

greyteam1959

Cut it.
It's a pretty vigorous bush so should not really bother it.

sheramber

As there are other roots I would risk it. 

Justagardener

Could you cut a notch in the sleeper to accommodate it?

polybear

Many thanks for the replies; cutting a notch (not the easiest job, due to the thickness of the sleeper) is one option if I have to, but I'd prefer not to if I can be fairly sure that root removal would have no serious impact on the plant.

twopenny

Can you cut it as near the path? That should be a smaller piece and you may need the thick part of that root to keep it stable in high wind.

Could you dig it out and bury it deeper? It's the stability I would worry about.

Great tree! Just what you need in that situation. When I lived next to a family that were a nightmare over the road I grew a hedge of climbing roses. Did the trick, looked nice and gave me flowers.