In article ,
William Wagner wrote:

I also have a japanese
maple which is 10 inch's wide an 6 inch's tall that is about 10 years
old. hmmm.

Sorry to mislead Trunk is 1/2 in diameter if lucky. Branch's are 10
inch's wide an 6 inch's tall after 10 years.

Bill

--
Zone 5 In South Jersey USA Shade
Consider Hearing all sorts of music at http://xpn.org/
"No Progress without contraries" William Blake

When we moved to Pennsylvania, I looked at the old stone farm houses
that had been here for 200 years and many of them had Norway Spruce
planted fairly close (10'). I planted some Norway Spruce fairly close
to our stone farm house and haven't had any problems and they are twice
as tall as the 2-story house now.

It depends upon the variety. Some trees like Norway Maple have huge
surface roots. Some trees like our spruce have deep tap roots. When in
doubt consult with an arborist.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

I was always told that you shouldn't plant a tree closer to a building than
the eventual height of the tree, so a tree that will grow to 60
ft.........60 ft away.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"Babberney" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 12:17:29 -0400, wrote:


Isn't 2 times the mature canopy for a dogwood is 40'-50' away! Maybe
along the very back of yard right up against the fence.
I would agree that 3' is too close, but no trees even small ones
within 40' seems like too far away. Can this be correct?

Swyck
I agree that roots may extend well beyond the reach of branches, but I
see no need to put a small tree like j. maple or cherry so far as 40'.
I'd say most of these trees reach a mature spread of 10'-15', so maybe
6'-8' from house would be a minimum. You could probably get away with
closer (I also agree it won't do any significant foundation damage)
but you'd get a far less attractive tree in the end, since it would
develop distorted form. Also remember that most j. maples need a
certain amount of shade or they will be sunburned all the time and
will never thrive (but you can find sun-tolerant varieties if needed).

good luck,
Keith Babberney

Keith, that was the info I was trying to impart - hope it came across in the
same vein. While the root spread might be considerable, that should not
necessarily be the overriding factor - canopy spread should be. And yes, I
agree that both these trees tend towards the small side, so depending on the
specific cultivars, somewhere in the 8-10' range should be about the right
distance.

pam - gardengal

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 11:14:54 GMT, Matt wrote:
near our house. Is 3 feet from the house too close? What is minimum

Definitely 3 ft is too close. And those who don't think so are welcome
to come help me take down 5 nice, 20 ft columnar arborvitaes that the
previous owner planted about 2.5 ft out from the house. They're nowhere
near full grown, but I figure this is about the last season they've got
before the moisture trapped near the siding starts to rot it.

I hate to ruin a good gardening argument with ugly data, but:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_WO017
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortn.../treeroot.html
http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/...tiledrains.htm
http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/trees.html
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/trees/430-028/430-028.html

Kay, who also planted 83 trees this spring... around the property. Some
will be removed in 5-15 years as things grow together.

Xref: kermit rec.gardens:270758


wrote in message
...
I have asked this question myself and wondered at some of the replies.
The information may be accurate but they also mean that the average
suburban yard (.15-.25 acre) would not have room for any trees.

Isn't 2 times the mature canopy for a dogwood is 40'-50' away! Maybe
along the very back of yard right up against the fence.
I would agree that 3' is too close, but no trees even small ones
within 40' seems like too far away. Can this be correct?

I think you may have been a little confused by my previous answer - it is
the ROOTS that can spread out 2-3 times the spread of the canopy but this is
not the controlling factor in the proper placement of a tree on a
residential property. Trees should be positioned so that they are able to
grow unimpeded by structures, both for their health and the safety of the
structure. How far from a house they should be placed depends entirely on
the tree species - there are trees and then there are TREES. I wouldn't
recommend planting a large oak or red maple immediately adjacent to a
house - they simply get too big - but there are scores of smaller trees
more suited to smaller gardens and many of them can be planted relatively
close, certainly well within the 40' restriction posted by others.

FWIW, I live on a 6000sf property and I have planted 19 trees on my property
(not counting the 60' Doug fir that was already there) and have a number
more either growing in containers or awaiting planting. All are considered
small trees suitable for an urban garden and none will exceed 30 feet in
height nor develop huge canopies. The closest (and one of the smallest) is 5
feet away from the corner of my house.

As a landscape designer, I recommend placement of trees on properties for a
living. If you have specific concerns on what to trees to select and where
to place them on your property, you might want to consult with a certified
arborist or a design professional - they are going to be able to provide you
with accurate info for your specifc situation. Some of the previous
responses have been right off the wall!

pam - gardengal

"Matt" wrote:


"redclay" wrote in message
...

Matt wrote in message
m...
We would like to add a couple of trees to our landscape. We wanted to
plant
a weeping higan cherry tree and a japanese maple in two different
locations
near our house. Is 3 feet from the house too close? What is minimum
distance we should maintain from the house? Do these trees grow deep or
shallow roots? How wide will the roots spread?
thanks,
Matt
Yes three feet is too close. Both are shallow rooted and the roots will
spread a long way. You ought to plan on having the tips of the limbs no
closer than 20 to 30 feet from the house. As in plant the tree 30 feet
away
if the spread is 20 feet(20/2+10).


30' ...??? Yesterday while driving around town, I took notice of trees
planted near peoples houses. I must have seen 50 trees in excess of 24"
diameter, literally 4 to 6 feet from different houses. Somehow I think our
little japanese maple and weeping cherry will be just fine within 10' of the
house.
thanks,


Just pay attention to what a more mature tree size is. We have a short
and wide flowering tree at the edge of the driveway. It spreads out
wide(20'), but is only about 10-12' tall. Consequently trucks can't
get into the driveway without ripping down big limbs. I duck (6' 3")
when I walk under some. The owner sees planting that tiny tree as a
bad move now. To take it down is a tough decision since it took
decades to get to that size, maturity and character. Many nicely
landscaped homes are not mature landscapes, often being only a handful
of years in place. Just go to a corporate parks or shopping/walking
strips that is 5-10 years old and you'll see those tiny trees they
planted on islands and along the sidewalks are overgrown, covering
street signs, bursting out of there grill and brick pottings. My city
has a number of this tiny trees and street signs a few feet away have
disappeared.


If you are looking for a tree that will be there when kids are full
grown and bringing grandchildren around, you have to look at adult
specimens, or simply accept that when the tree matures to too big a
size you will simply rip it out.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener