cherry blossom tree close to house

kevin67

hi all

my wife wanted a tree next to house and we put cherry blossom about 5 foot from house

it is only 4 foot high, but i was told this is too close and when it grows could cause problems to foundation

is that correct as i thought roots would divert when it hit concrete etc

as you can tell i know nothing about gardening

Wyldwood

Cherry Blossom can do serious damage to property. A house nearby had a huge crack down the side of the garage and an engineer blamed a large Cherry tree growing a few feet away. I also had one at the end of my driveway and when cracks started to appear in the concrete driveway I was told it was probably the roots of the tree so out it came.

mr chips

Five feet is way too close - not only in terms of roots, but also in terms of the spread of branches and scraping against windows/paintwork as it grows. It's small now, but what will it be like in 10-15 years? Depending on the size it reaches at maturity, it could even become an issue in terms of the risk it poses in a storm - insurers usually ask if there are any 5m high trees within 5m of the house and if unchecked, the biggest ornamental cherry trees can grow more than double that (and up to 9 or 10m wide). Plus if it's in line with a window it'll end up blocking your view out and only being partly visible from indoors, whereas having it a bit further away means you'll be able to see all/most of it even when it's mature.

This is the right time to act, when it's small. Wait until the leaves have fallen off in the autumn, then transplant it to at least 5 times the distance away if you have that much space available - if you don't, you'll need to learn about pruning it in the future to prevent it getting too big. Firstly, dig the hole where it's going to be put, water it well and maybe sprinkle some bone meal in (you can get this in any garden centre etc). When digging the tree out, you should take care to avoid damaging the roots, especially if it has been there long enough to get established. A good rule of thumb is that roots will generally spread as wide as the branches have - so with a spade, cut a rough circle into the soil all the way round the stem/trunk, making it at least as wide as the span of any branches.  If you can, use the spade to lever the tree - and the big sod of soil it's still attached to - out of the ground, making sure not to break the main roots. Gently work it free with a fork, then maybe use a wheelbarrow if necessary to transfer the whole lot to its next location. Don't worry if the soil falls off the roots, just use loose soil to replant it. Place it into the new hole, fill any gaps and heel them in. Water again. You can use the soil you dug out from the new hole to fill in the one the tree was previously in. Job's a good'un!

kevin67

superb advice and will dig it out and replant.

it is only about 4 years old but not taking off as not seen any buds yet.

so branches are only a few inches in width and as stated only 4ft high so job should be easy enough

thanks again

kevin67

just checked and distance is more like 10 feet but still too close so will move

kevin67

btw how far does tree need to be away from house when i re plant

Lumen

kevin67 wrote: »

btw how far does tree need to be away from house when i re plant

How much space do you have?

endacl

kevin67 wrote: »

btw how far does tree need to be away from house when i re plant

Don't forget, it'll also have to be a good distance from any paving/sheds etc on any neighbour's property.

mr chips

Like I said above, it depends on whether you plan to learn how to prune it in order to keep it smaller without harming it, or if you want to let it grow unchecked to whatever size it eventually reaches.

If the former, it's entirely up to you - pruning every couple of years or so would probably keep it under control and you might be able to have it say 4 or 5 metres from the house. If the latter, then you'd need to put it at least 8-10 metres from any building, paths, walls etc. It's not just about how far the roots might extend - the bigger the tree becomes, the bigger/thicker the roots and the more capable they'll be of damaging structures.

kevin67

mr chips wrote: »

Like I said above, it depends on whether you plan to learn how to prune it in order to keep it smaller without harming it, or if you want to let it grow unchecked to whatever size it eventually reaches.

If the former, it's entirely up to you - pruning every couple of years or so would probably keep it under control and you might be able to have it say 4 or 5 metres from the house. If the latter, then you'd need to put it at least 8-10 metres from any building, paths, walls etc. It's not just about how far the roots might extend - the bigger the tree becomes, the bigger/thicker the roots and the more capable they'll be of damaging structures.

i'm a lazy git so won't be doing anything.

big garden at back of house so 30 foot will be ok and away from house and septic.

now garden is raised, about 5 feet above driveway with no wall but a sloping bank. so i presume roots will go down and out and not straight out from bank.

anyway will do that and see what happens.

Lumen

My big cherry trees have very shallow roots, like visible from the surface shallow.

kevin67

Lumen wrote: »

My big cherry trees have very shallow roots, like visible from the surface shallow.

now that has confused me

kevin67

BTW should i replant now or wait till Oct/Nov??

Lumen

kevin67 wrote: »

BTW should i replant now or wait till Oct/Nov??

Wait.

baaba maal

When you are mowing the lawn in years to come, you will notice a few speed ramp appearing! The roots are very near the surface- not a problem but just to say it.

kevin67

baaba maal wrote: »

When you are mowing the lawn in years to come, you will notice a few speed ramp appearing! The roots are very near the surface- not a problem but just to say it.

have that anyway as garden so uneven

BTW just noticed a crack on pavement areas that goes around the house.

so should i dig up tree now as worried that it may cause damage?

kevin67

so how far do these roots go out, not down

reason i ask is if i am re planting (and need to do it now as worried that they are already causing damage) place i was going to put it has soakaway for septic so roots might go through trench (about 5 foot from tree)

TBH i don't think that makes any difference as water from septic should be clean as bio filter and may help tree grow, but i am not 100% if that is the case, and if i need to keep stuff away from soakaway

i have another place in mind so will do there and it is about 30 foot away from neighbours so should be ok

any idea why it doesn't flower?

jippo nolan

kevin67 wrote: »

btw how far does tree need to be away from house when i re plant

About 2 miles!

kevin67

jippo nolan wrote: »

About 2 miles!

so you don't know?

looksee

kevin67 wrote: »

have that anyway as garden so uneven

BTW just noticed a crack on pavement areas that goes around the house.

so should i dig up tree now as worried that it may cause damage?

A four foot cherry tree will not have damaged pavement. Move it certainly but there is no panic.

As to distance, it depends on what it is, what will be its full size? In ball park figures you should be thinking of maybe 20ft, making sure there are no paths or walls within that distance.

Having said that I have a columnar flowering cherry about 3 ft from a rather poorly built small garden wall - they fall down at regular intervals all round the estate - and it has made no impression at all.

jippo nolan

kevin67 wrote: »

so you don't know?

Had one removed from grass verge on pathway outside house,
Roots came into garden breaking front wall as someone else posted, front garden had speed ramps across it.
Flowered for about two weeks a year until first breeze.
Sap destroys car parked underneath,
so I do know!

Shaunoc

jippo nolan wrote:

Had one removed from grass verge on pathway outside house, Roots came into garden breaking front wall as someone else posted, front garden had speed ramps across it. Flowered for about two weeks a year until first breeze. Sap destroys car parked underneath, so I do know!

Settle petal

kevin67

jippo nolan wrote: »

Had one removed from grass verge on pathway outside house,
Roots came into garden breaking front wall as someone else posted, front garden had speed ramps across it.
Flowered for about two weeks a year until first breeze.
Sap destroys car parked underneath,
so I do know!

ok i have dumped it after reading that.

TBH i had two and neither flowered, i had one in anothert house and flowered for a good few weeks and looked great but disappointed with these ones

anyway deed is done, close thread