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Planting a new tree where previous tree was

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From: Julie Veach City: Zwingle, IA
We are going to remove a 25-year-old honey locust tree in our yard because of the huge amount of seed pods that drop all Fall & Winter. Can we plant another tree near where this tree was and how far away? I was told that whatever the distance of the top of the tree is will be the distance that the roots are spread out. We should not plant another tree within the root area. If that is the case, we would have to plant at least 12 feet away from the tree. Can you advise?
	Extension Message From: Richard Hentschel Extension Educator, Horticulture DuPage/Kane/Kendall Unit hentsche@illinois.edu
Typically you will need to move away from the stump or stump grinding area because you will run into too many large roots to easily plant the replacement tree. If the stump was ground out there will still be too many large roots left in the soil. You could probe the area to help determine the future location. Most root systems that are going to cause you problems are in the top 12-18 inches. As the locust tree root system slowly decays, you can expect to see mushrooms in the lawn.
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