On Fri, 27 May 2005 18:12:45 GMT, dave wrote:

A bit OT (possible neigbour problem with their tree) this but would appreciate
advice. They have mature ash tree that's about 50 feet from our house. Sounds
like a long way - but it's a huge tree - the branches are over half way across
our garden and about 10 feet from our bedroom widow. I like have lots of trees
around but am concerned about what might be happening below ground due to this
tree. Does the root shape of an ash tree mirror it's branch shape to any degree.
I know nothing about gardening but I've heard some tree have more morizontal
roots while other mainly go deep.
Thanks

One of Britain's largest native deciduous trees. Can grow to 130 ft
or more height, life up to 200 years and in favourable circumstances
can attain a trunk girth of 20 feet. They have a dense mass of
horizontal roots close to the surface and can thus be a bit of a
nuisance to farmers if established in a hedgerow. Not generally
recommended in proximity to houses.

Would it be possible for you to dig down into your ground close to the
house to check for roots? You wouldn't have to go down very far, it's
a shallow rooter. Severing roots at that distance wouldn't harm the
tree or affect its stability.

dave wrote:
A bit OT (possible neigbour problem with their tree) this but would
appreciate advice. They have mature ash tree that's about 50 feet
from our house.

there is a stand of 3 ash trees 30 feet beyond the end of my garden (60m
from house!)

Last winter I dismantled the redundant kids play area and removed the bark
over textile safety surface. this was 30/40 ft inside our boundary. the soil
surface below the textile was criss crossed with ash roots and on digging in
preparation for lawning there were numerous hosepipe thick roots crossing
the area and heading deep into the garden.

WELL beyond the usual rule of thumb "roots reach as far as the crown"

pk

On Fri, 27 May 2005 23:59:14 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:


Our neighbour also has ash trees on the boundary. One that's about 30
ft high had dense roots spreading at least 30 feet across my garden, to
a depth of 2ft. They will travel a long way to water, in our case,
underground drains, brick-built septic tanks etc.

Janet

We've got a superb old weeping ash in our kitchen garden - I wish from
the bottom of my heart it was somewhere else, the roots are a real
pain.

=================================================

Rod

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