Question
my school planted an oak tree next to the gym about 50-60 years ago. the roots are starting to make the gym floor a little uneven, and the school board is planning on having it removed soon. is there any way to maybe just cut out those few roots and keep the tree without it continuing to damage the gym floor?

Answer
It will depend on how close the tree is to the building. IF you go to the edge of where the branch over hang and draw a circle around the tree - this is about the critical root zone. You can cut up to 1/4 of the trees roots without killing the tree. IF you draw a line through this circle where the roots are to be cut and estimate the % cut and this is below the 25-30% the tree should be ok. After the roots are cut fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb of fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. You might get some of the branch dieback but the tree should be ok. Make the cut as close to the building as possible to keep down the amount of roots that will be cut.