On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:48:30 +0000, SarahH wrote:

We have a lovely mature (10-15 years old) Camellia very close to the
boundary of our property near the house. Its around 10 foot tall now, Im
planning on pruning it back to 8ft after its flowered.

We are in a semi-detached house. The attached neighbours are planning a
single storey extension at the back. If the foundations go to the
boundary and cut off half the roots how likely is it that we will have
an ex-camellia? Is there anything we can do to save it?

Thankyou
SarahH

I'm guessing your plant is not right *on* the boundary so it's going to
lose much less than half of its roots. Assuming also the extension isn't
so close that it will stop water reaching the plant and that the plant
won't be in full shade (they'll tolerate but not like, quite a lot of
shade)
Then I would just hope for the best. If you attempted to move it you would
almost certainly get more root loss than you will get by leaving it where
it is. Since it's going to lose some root then your planned pruning is more
likely to be beneficial than not.
For insurance and a treat - could you find room somewhere for another one?
15 quid isn't a lot for such a beautiful plant - and they grow quite
quickly.

Rod