"aboleth" wrote in message
ps.com...
On 20 Sep, 12:15, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message

...

I always thought poplars were the worst tree to have near a house as
they
invariably made for the drains and also caused a lot of trouble with
their
roots?

That's always said but we had two Lombardy poplars only yards from our
house
and had no problem with the roots. That's just our experience, of course,
it
doesn't mean that the saying isn't true.

One of ours blew down during a 90mph wind years ago. It's roots did
spread
very far out - but in all directions, they weren't far under the surface.
Next door's lawn was uprooted :-( Luckily the branches were caught in
the
fork of a pear tree at the other side of the garden so we could still get
underneath to deal with it.


There's a row of these poplars along the bottom of our gardens. The
story is that there was a stream running aloing there and it was
market gardens before they built on it. The trees are known to be
thirsty and were put there deliberately to drain the ground - quite
progressive thinking for Victorian builders.

Why shouldn't Victorian builders be progressive? Many of the houses they
built are still standing and desirable, the same can't be said for many
modern ones.

And if there were market gardens on the ground the land wouldn't need
draining - unless the gardeners were growing rice.

Most long rows of poplars are planted as windbreaks rather than to reduce
water levels.

100+ years later they are
still there. We had boreholes sunk next to our house and the roots
have not invaded, but they are definitely on the higher-risk list for
insurance purposes.

That just wshows how unenlightened are insurance companies. They work on
legend rather than research.

I've just heard about a house built of wool which has had to be demolished
because it's a fire hazard! Wool won't burn, firemen's suits are - or were -
made from wool. At the weekend I was wearing felted wool gloves to deal with
my fire - the same ones used by blacksmiths.

There are too many myths around in our 'progressive' age.

Mary