Below is a table which I believe came from the British insurance industry.
It gives absolute safe distances for trees. So a mature cherry 17m high
will have roots travelling a maximum of 11m. Then it depends upon how good
your foundations are and with deep rooted trees how deep your foundations
are. Generally the older the house the shallower are the foundations.
cheers
Davy
Table 2. Typical safe distance to tree, outside which the tree is
unlikely to affect subsidence of the building
Max root distance recorded
Species Normal Mature Height Safe Distance (m)

Apple/Pear 12 10
Ash 23 21
Beech 20 15
Birch 14 10
Cypress 25 20
Cherry 17 11
Damson 12 11
Elm 25 30
Hawthorn 10 12
Holly 14 6
Horse Chestnut 20 23
Laburnum 12 9
Laurel 8 6
Lime 24 20
Magnolia 9 5
Maple 21 20
Oak 24 30
Pine 29 8
Plane 30 22
Plum 12 11
Poplar 28 35
Sycamore 24 17
Spruce 18 7
Walnut 18 14
White Beam/ Rowan 12 11
Willow 24 40
Yew 12 5

This list is not exhaustive and should be regarded as a GUIDE only



"Pete Lodd" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I planted a tree 18 months ago, which is growing rather fast and giving us
the shelter we want. However it is only 3-4 feet (an oversight) away from
the side of our house. Do you think it is a concern for the foundation of
the house in the long term? I think it is wild flowing cheery.

Many thanks for any advice.

pl