we have 3 large Hornbeem trees in front of out condo. they are 35 to 40 ft high & quite bushy.they are located aprox 50 ft from the building & there are no power or telephone lines near them. we have been told that unless they are pruned regularly their root systems will spread excessively & will eventually pose a threat to the building. is this true? one influential resident seems determined to cut the trees down; citing as reasons that it is too costly to have them pruned often & if they are not pruned their root systems will pose a threat to the building. any opinions?
No problem at that distance. Reference: Cutler & Richardson, Tree Roots and Buildings. Longman Scientific & Technical. PS hornbeam ;-)
Your building is lucky to have such trees out front, funny how some people don't see it as a feature though.
yes that is the way i see it too. they really are very nice trees & very rare in these parts. can you think of any reason that they would need pruning every year or two? there are no wires or cables anywhere near them. Ken
thanks for information Michael. can you think of any reason that would make it necessary to prune them every year or two? there are no wires or cables near them. Ken
Impossible to say for 100% certain without seeing them in person, but I'd think it is very unlikely that any pruning will be needed.
I agree, they are best left natural looking. Maybe ask the "trouble maker" what they think should be planted there instead for esthetic purposes? You might learn the true reason as to why they want to cut the trees down. Check to see if your area has a tree by-law also.
Condos may be additionally prone to containing tree haters. Much of the appeal of a condo over a single family house is freedom from all that awful yard work and all those icky plants.
yes that is probably true to some extent. to be fair to the lady in question i'm sure she was genuinely worried about the trees.we have several japanese cherry trees at the back of the property, only about 10 ft from the building & their roots have blocked our main sewer pipe as well as causing some of the concrete in our underground parking area to heave & crack.
With blocked sewers, what's needed is a sewer repair, not tree removal - tree roots can't get into sound sewers, only into cracked and broken ones.
