GardenBanter.co.uk - Underground electric lines

"Kentucky Cardinal" wrote:

Is it safe to plant shrubs or trees close to (5 or 6 feet away) underground
electric lines?

Safe how?

Are the electric lines on your property or on a utility company ROW...
I would check with the utility company, especially if there could be
an issue regarding the accuracy of a survey. And if those wires
belonged to me I'd make sure to plant a lot further away than 5-6
feet. I make sure anything I plant is well inside of my property
line, at least 15'. And if I had buried utilities; electric, water,
waste lines, I'd be sure to allow plenty of room for heavy equipment
to dig without having to destroy a tree. If you're going to plant
trees remember that they grow, and be sure there are no power lines
above, or so near that if a tree comes down it won't take the power
lines with it... and be sure it can't fall on your house, or across
your driveway where you park vehicles. And make sure especially that
any trees you plant can't if they eventually fall damage your
neighbor's property. I'm always amazed to see where a tree falls and
does horrific damage to find out that people didn't give an iota of
thought to what kind of tree or where they planted it. I say that
planting a tree or any large growing shrubs 5-6 feet from buried power
lines is much too close... for a tree that can grow to a 30' spread
stay at least 20' away, I'd want some insurance because there is no
way to tell in advance how large a tree will grow. I bought two
identical flowering crabapples nearly ten years ago, planted them on
the same day some 40 feet apart thinking there'd always be enough
space between but by the third year I noticed how one was growing much
faster, now one is double the size of the other, I have no
explanation.