Tree Suggestions Needed

I'm hoping for suggestions from people who know a little about the growth habits of various tree's root systems.

On one side of my house there are three windows (2 bedrooms & a bathroom) that have a view of the neighbor's popup camper. The windows are spaced closely together spanning about 20'.

The neighbor's frog (room over garage) has a straight view into any of my 3 windows. Between the lack of privacy and the ugly view I keep the blinds closed all the time which is what I'm trying to remedy. There's only about

10' between my foundation and the prop. line and the neighbor despises trees that drop leaves or any other kind of debris. This means anything that I plant can't have a canopy that will cross the line and leave debris in their driveway.

So...I'm looking for a living screen, something to provide privacy for those windows but also be pretty for us to look at from inside. It needs to be either a naturally vertical grower or very acceptable pruning like the crapemyrtle. I'd prefer it be a very fast grower so I can reap results more quickly.

I currently have a bunch of crape myrtles in the yard and I'm >< close to planting one in the middle of the 3 windows. The *only* thing stopping me, since that tree has everything else I want, is the horizontally spreading root system. I already have a very mature crapemyrtle planted against the front of the house (not by me) that has caused some chimney foundation/footing damage.

I've been searching online but can't seem to find much information on the direction roots grow on trees. I find just about everything else I'd need to know but this one is important. Three trees I've found that I like visually, and that seem to be able to remain managable in terms of mature height are:

Smoke Tree - Royal Purple Redbud Weigela

Unfortunately I don't know about their roots. Any suggestions are welcome.

Reply to
scfundogs
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I forgot to specify that I'm on the border between zones 8 & 9 (Charleston, SC).

Reply to
scfundogs

Have you considered a columnar evergreen?

Compact habit No leaf litter Year-round privacy screen

Reply to
TQ

a trellis with a vine?

Also, if there is a 'utility easement' through there, there is a possibilty of destruction or request of removal - be careful about planting something expensive if so.

Carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

When you do plant, here are some suggestions.

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the time comes for pruning, here are some suggestions
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are some other links which may interest you.

  1. Techno Tree Biology Dictionary
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    . Look up "logging".

  1. Articles written by DR. ALEX L. SHIGO, one of the foremost authorities worldwide on tree systems today online at
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    Literature Available by Dr. Shigo is here:
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    Hard to get Documents
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    If you have any suggestions please let me know. 610-864-5251

Sincerely,

John A. Keslick, Jr. Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!

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fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss. Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that will give them understanding.

Reply to
John A. Keslick, Jr.

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