Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message . com
from "perrancott" contains these words:

I have a weeping willow in my half acre garden. I believe that it is
at least 12 years old. It is about 6m high

Just a baby, then.

A big mature tree in full summer leaf sucks up hundreds of gallons of
water a day, drying out the soil. IOW, when the tree grows bigger, and
especially in a warming climate, the boggy spot will dry in summer, and
those roots will spread , looking for water and nutrients elsewhere.
When your tree reaches 18 m high, you can ( very roughly) expect the
roots to travel the same distance from the trunk as its height. If
there's water uphill ( perhaps running off a house roof or patio or
driveway ), that's where they will go.

and growing in a boggy part
of the garden. An arborist from the local agricultural college told me
that its roots are not a problem because it is lower down the hill from
the building and 18m away.

Maybe, not a problem to the foundations of the house at the moment. I
wouldn't count on it staying that way, with climate warming. Buildings
insurers are getting very particular about distance from building
foundations to nearest tree.

Did he ask to see a drainplan, is it also 18 m away from all your
drains, sewer pipes or septic tank, soakaways, and those of all your
neighbours?

Janet.


There is no drainage to that side of the property. My insurer is
interested only in trees within 5m. Most of the trees in my garden are
covered by TPOs, but not the willow. Some of the larger ones are over
50m and within that distance from my house and a neighbour's. Will I
become uninsurable? Will the local authority that made the TPOs insure
me :-)?
Perrancott