We are trying to decide where to plant a couple of fruit trees, on semi- dwarfing root stock.
One location is by a West facing wall which has a soil pipe (and power and water) running fairly close to it.
I will be searching the usual suspects, but is there any reliable guide to how close to underground pipes and cables you can safely plant trees and shrubs?
We may want to plant a Wisteria at the back of the house as well, with similar constraints.
Cheers
Dave R
How close? If close enough that a root could get between the wall and it, then it's a potentially serious problem. It's amazing how much force growing roots can exert.
Other than that, the type of soil makes a difference, because friable soils move more easily, but semi-dwarfing rootstocks work by having a feeble root system, so are not a major problem.
No. All simplistic rules are nonsense, anyway.
They are rather more vigorous, so I would be more cautious. But there are a zillion planted in similar locations.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
cables can flex - no issue. Pipes can flex a a bit, but not that much.
I would be happy planing near a well laid-in-shingle *continuous* section of soil pipe - up to a foot or so.
Main problem is if the constant angle of drain gets disturbed and you get pooling.. of sewage.
I would say with dwarf stock leave a meter or so, and if you have decent access for a minidigger leave it. You might need it.
As a general rule of thumb a tree's roots extend to the periphery of their leaf canopy. There are exceptions of course. I suppose you could keep it pruned back on that particular side
I had read at the time I planted one that their root systems are relatively benign. I planted one about 3m from a drain about 5 years ago and it's gone pretty mad - maybe 5m in 2 directions along walls. Any comments welcome . . .
They do., but those are not *structural* roots.
They are water and nutrient gathering roots and don't exert much pressure on anything.
Tell that to the man from building control when you try to carry out any building work needed new foundations.
Depends on the state of the pipe. If you suspect its old and might have some cracks, hen avoid it. Electricity seems not to be an issue, but gas on the other hand and potentially water, if still the old metal pipes can lead to embarrassing issues, like a rose tree fracturing a gas pip with its roots, since the pipe was more rust than metal at that point! Took 20 years though. grin. Brian
Soil pipe, water pipe and electricity cable all relatively recent. Installed 2012 IIRC.
Cheers
Dave R
So will be PVC, and unlikely to suffer from root ingress unless mightily disturbed,
Also probably quite deep - roots do not go deep, unless to seek a water table that exists at a lower tevel
Oh - to answer my own question, quite aggressive it seems, from a web search. I'll trim it back next spring.
If you're talking about trimming the top by pruning/lopping, that will make it worse! Wisteria sends runners underground some way from the main trunk. If you cut down or damage the main plant, it will respond by boosting activity in those runners.
t can be done
Type this into google ' sewers for adoption tree planting ' and the go to images. It gives distances related to tree species.
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