Am I Smarter Than An Apple Tree?

This is my secondary compost pile and the "Y" shaped tree trunk in the left background is my apple tree. My scarecrow in on the right. You might be able to see a little cross at the base of the apple tree, a gift from a good friend for Blunder's burial ground. When we bought this property about 17 years ago, I thought this spot would be the best spot for a compost pile because it was next to the apple tree. Many hours I spent as a kid picking up apples and lugging them around the yard. I thought if I put the compost pile right next to the tree, I can just toss them in and save all that carrying. Good idea, right? Well, it was a good idea for about 10 years. Then the apple tree sensed the rich, vitamin packed soil next to it and started sending roots that way. Eventually the roots threaded up through the soil and spread into my compost. The roots divided and separated and hung onto that compost like a baby hangs onto candy. When it came time to empty the compost in the fall, I felt like I was on the loosing side of a tug of war. I'd stick the pitchfork in and and lift up with momentum only to be stuck in mid-lift. It's no wonder I have a bad back. Eventually I'd end up kneeling in the compost and prying the roots loose from the compost and cutting them out of there. Some of the roots were over 4 feet long and too thick to be cut with the blade of a shovel. To prevent the same thing from happening year after year, I dug down a foot around the perimeter of the compost pile and cut the apple tree roots. That helped for a year. Then the apple tree was smart enough to go down deeper before coming up again into the compost. This year, before putting the leaves into the pile, I laid down some metal from an old sign on top of the bare ground and covered that with a triple layer of landscape fabric. Come next fall, we'll see who is smarter - me or the apple tree.