"Frank" wrote in message
om...
Does anyone have any first-hand experience in knowing the chances of
an Aristocrat Flowering Pear Tree causing damage to a home's
foundation?

I have a neighbor who decided to plant an Aristocrat Flowering Pear
Tree about 5 feet from our property line and about 17 feet from my
foundation in highly expansive clay soil that is watered almost year
round: in Califorina where we go long spells without rain. I have
water lines and sprinkler lines within feet of that tree, and a water
line about seven feet from it.

One of my concerns with this tree is potential root damage to my
home's foundation, concrete driveway, and anything I decide to put in
that area in the the future.

I've been researching root barriers, and the one idea I'm debating is
putting in a 4 to 6 feet deep (below ground) rebar reenforced concrete
wall along our property line to keep this tree from damaging my
property. Does anyone know how effective root barriers are at
different depths in the soil?

How well would a rebar reenforced below-ground wall work?

Any other ideas for an effective root barrier system?

Has anyone ever had any success in taking a neighbor to court for
intentionally planting a tree that they know will encroach on your
land and will likely damage your propery over time?

I think you should go ahead and do your 6' deep concrete root barrier. The
demoltion and construction--not to mention expense--associated with that
will give you something else to bitch about rather than your neighbor.
While you are at it, why don't you just build a concrete castle wall with
broken glass shards on top between you? Go ahead and put it around the
whole property. Don't forget the gun/obersvation towers. Good fences make
good neighbors after all. And you sound like you need a really good fence
in order to have really good neighbors and to protect yourself from the evil
and dangerous pear planters that you have running amok in your community.