Last Fall we dug an addition to the pond out in the pasture hundreds of yards from any trees. The hole was nearly 20 feet deep. At about 10 feet we found remnants of tree roots down in the clay and shale. No telling how old they were. I’m guessing this area was cleared over a hundred years ago long before statehood of 1907 when the Cherokee were moved here.
TREES HELP ONE ANOTHER THROUGH A “WOOD-WIDE WEB.”
When you walk in the woods, there’s a network beneath your feet. Parent trees nourish their saplings through roots, and with the help of symbiotic fungi, roots connect neighboring trees to share nutrients and warnings about threats.
https://watsonadventures.com/blog/fun-stuff/10-amazing-secrets-from-the-hidden-life-of-trees/
IIRC there was a discussion of this book on FR ...