Depends on the state of the pipe. If you suspect its old and might have some
cracks, hen avoid it. Electricity seems not to be an issue, but gas on the
other hand and potentially water, if still the old metal pipes can lead to
embarrassing issues, like a rose tree fracturing a gas pip with its roots,
since the pipe was more rust than metal at that point!
Took 20 years though. grin.
Brian

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"RJH" wrote in message
...
On 29 Nov 2020 at 13:36:19 GMT, "Nick Maclaren" Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
David wrote:
We are trying to decide where to plant a couple of fruit trees, on semi-
dwarfing root stock.

One location is by a West facing wall which has a soil pipe (and power
and water) running fairly close to it.

How close? If close enough that a root could get between the wall
and it, then it's a potentially serious problem. It's amazing how
much force growing roots can exert.

Other than that, the type of soil makes a difference, because friable
soils move more easily, but semi-dwarfing rootstocks work by having
a feeble root system, so are not a major problem.

I will be searching the usual suspects, but is there any reliable guide
to how close to underground pipes and cables you can safely plant trees
and shrubs?

No. All simplistic rules are nonsense, anyway.

We may want to plant a Wisteria at the back of the house as well, with
similar constraints.

They are rather more vigorous, so I would be more cautious. But there
are a zillion planted in similar locations.


I had read at the time I planted one that their root systems are
relatively
benign. I planted one about 3m from a drain about 5 years ago and it's
gone
pretty mad - maybe 5m in 2 directions along walls. Any comments welcome .
. .


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Cheers, Rob