planting near buildings

[Mike]

Another foolish question:

i am running out of room for trees.. i am thinking of planting at edge of alley between alley and my shop building . building is a one story barn, alley is about 5 to 6 foot from building,,,,am i pushing my luck planting this close to a structure? my concern is the roots eventually dammaging the foundation...

 

[Deere John]

Potentially, yes. Large structural roots exert some pressure as they grow in diameter. Combine that with a freeze-thaw cycle (if applicable) and trees have the potential to displace structures or installations that one would figure are stable.

You could plant a fine-rooted species such as cedar - the roots go down a ways (weeping tile?) but do not get big enough to cause serious structural worry.

hope this helps.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

In this situation smaller is better, and getting plants with a fastigiate or collunar form would be best. Another high maintainace option is espaliar, pruning a tree into a two dimentional form on the side of a building.

Always look for cultivars then you are sure of what you get.

So many trees, so little room!