I would really like to plant a silver birch by the boundary fence with
my nextdoor neighbour, and surround it with an hedge. The tree would
have been planted just over 7 metres from the house. BUT after
reading the recent thread about sliver birch and taking into account
that my neighbour said that he knew of someone who experienced
problems with the expanding roots of one of these trees, would it be
wise to scrap the idea altogether? Are there any varieties of silver
birch where the root system is less attrusive? Also, if the news on
this is bad as I suspect it will be, what kind of trees are generally
safe to plant in a back garden? An alternative I was thinking about
was a mountain ash. Any info would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Manic Blue

In article ,
(Manic Blue) writes:
| I would really like to plant a silver birch by the boundary fence with
| my nextdoor neighbour, and surround it with an hedge. The tree would
| have been planted just over 7 metres from the house. BUT after
| reading the recent thread about sliver birch and taking into account
| that my neighbour said that he knew of someone who experienced
| problems with the expanding roots of one of these trees, would it be
| wise to scrap the idea altogether? Are there any varieties of silver
| birch where the root system is less attrusive? Also, if the news on
| this is bad as I suspect it will be, what kind of trees are generally
| safe to plant in a back garden? An alternative I was thinking about
| was a mountain ash. Any info would be much appreciated.

At 7 metres, I wouldn't worry too much. The roots will get into
any crack in any drain, though. There are lots of trees that are
fairly safe at that distance, of which rowan is one.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
(Manic Blue) writes:
| I would really like to plant a silver birch by the boundary fence with
| my nextdoor neighbour, and surround it with an hedge. The tree would
| have been planted just over 7 metres from the house. BUT after
| reading the recent thread about sliver birch and taking into account
| that my neighbour said that he knew of someone who experienced
| problems with the expanding roots of one of these trees, would it be
| wise to scrap the idea altogether? Are there any varieties of silver
| birch where the root system is less attrusive? Also, if the news on
| this is bad as I suspect it will be, what kind of trees are generally
| safe to plant in a back garden? An alternative I was thinking about
| was a mountain ash. Any info would be much appreciated.

At 7 metres, I wouldn't worry too much.
snip.


say that when the bloody thing is 20 metres high and dropping leaves all
over the place and drying out the soil and shading the garden. Never mind
the roots, worry about the effect above ground.
--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
. ..

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
(Manic Blue) writes:
| I would really like to plant a silver birch by the boundary fence
with
| my nextdoor neighbour, and surround it with an hedge. The tree would
| have been planted just over 7 metres from the house. BUT after
| reading the recent thread about sliver birch and taking into account
| that my neighbour said that he knew of someone who experienced
| problems with the expanding roots of one of these trees, would it be
| wise to scrap the idea altogether? Are there any varieties of silver
| birch where the root system is less attrusive? Also, if the news on
| this is bad as I suspect it will be, what kind of trees are generally
| safe to plant in a back garden? An alternative I was thinking about
| was a mountain ash. Any info would be much appreciated.

At 7 metres, I wouldn't worry too much.
snip.


say that when the bloody thing is 20 metres high and dropping leaves all
over the place and drying out the soil and shading the garden. Never mind
the roots, worry about the effect above ground.

Always think on the bright side. Say to yourself "leafmould"

Franz

The message
from (Manic Blue) contains these words:

I would really like to plant a silver birch by the boundary fence with
my nextdoor neighbour, and surround it with an hedge. The tree would
have been planted just over 7 metres from the house. BUT after
reading the recent thread about sliver birch and taking into account
that my neighbour said that he knew of someone who experienced
problems with the expanding roots of one of these trees, would it be
wise to scrap the idea altogether?

The idea of seven metres, yes.

Are there any varieties of silver
birch where the root system is less attrusive?

No. But there are dwarf birches, though not to my knowledge, silver.

Also, if the news on
this is bad as I suspect it will be, what kind of trees are generally
safe to plant in a back garden?

Depends on how big your back garden is.

An alternative I was thinking about
was a mountain ash. Any info would be much appreciated.

Probably, though if you could move it a bit further away ..........

One which you could plant is a winter-flowering viburnum. It doesn't
grow very high - about ten feet, and has small sprays of long-lasting
heavily-scented pink flowers.

Standard variety available.

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm