I have a huge sycamore off the patio. Some of the roots are growing above ground. If I spray paint them....the better to see them when I mow....will it hurt the tree??

Yes it will hurt the tree. Surface roots aka Lateral Roots not only help to anchor the tree they are major suppliers of oxygen, water and nutrients and Sinker Roots, the ones that grow down come from Lateral Roots. If you spray paint them you will cut off their oxygen supply - literally suffocating the tree .. that's why it's not a good idea to dump soil on them to cover them.

OK...thank you so much

If these are large roots, they are probably more for anchoring the tree; little roots do the work of feeding the tree, so I think you could paint them or even shave them off with minimal inconvenience to such a large tree.

They are big and would put a hurtin' on the blades if I ran over them.

Don't do it Ginger

http://www.treeboss.net/surfac...

http://forestry.about.com/od/t...

http://gardening.stackexchange...

http://www.lawn-care-academy.c...

I agree with @Xeramtheum - the roots serve a purpose and are important.

Would it be possible to carefully plant some kind of ground cover that can co-exist with the trees surface roots and eliminate the need to mow anywhere near the tree?

Xeramtheum said:Yes it will hurt the tree. Surface roots aka Lateral Roots not only help to anchor the tree they are major suppliers of oxygen, water and nutrients and Sinker Roots, the ones that grow down come from Lateral Roots. If you spray paint them you will cut off their oxygen supply - literally suffocating the tree .. that's why it's not a good idea to dump soil on them to cover them.

Indeed the premise is true, but its not analogous to dumping soil over the roots. Burying roots deeper in soil aids in suffocation of the entire root system. Painting the large roots above the soil line only (and only part of the upper surface of them) is quite miniscule in the total root surface interface. I don't imagine that you (Ginger) intend to actually coat the large roots with an opaque layer of paint anyway, rather, just spray enough paint to make them more visible. While I question the aesthetics of the endeavor, I believe that to be a subjective matter, but don't think it will have any more impact than white washing a tree trunk to prevent frost cracking in winter, or spraying pruning paint over tree wounds. .......adverse effects are minimal (if they exist at all).

One might also look at the big picture: Which is worse...
---- Spray painting roots, or mechanically wounding roots because you didn't see them.....?