Good morning from Montreal - I am a new member to the UBC Botanical Garden and I have been directed to the Maple Forum. I have a specific question about my silver maple which is about 4.5 ft in diameter. What would be the safe distance from the trunk of the tree to dig for the installation of an in-ground pool? We want to preserve that tree forever as it is majestic in back our yard. We have heard about the AirSpade technique for making a clean cut to the roots before the heavy machinery come to dig the whole, but still want to be sure about the minimal safe distance from the trunk Any tips or advices on this question is greatly appreciated. If you know of a specific service or department I should address my question, thank you for letting me know.
@JohaneL, good afternoon and welcome to the maples forum. Your question is indeed specialised and can bring with it a great deal of trepidation. The most important thing is planning ahead and I mean a 'year' ahead. If you already have contractors ready to start your pool now, then moving a large specimen will bring the odds of survival down greatly. The air spade technique is the best and probably the only option in your case. I would not contemplate this until September at the very earliest or when your tree is dormant. I have copied a link that I think you should read before making the decision. Tree and shrubs: moving plants In the UK there are not a lot of specialists that will carry this out and it is probably the same in Montreal. Sorry I cannot offer any advice that will quicken the process. This takes time.
Thank you for this quick reply. I do have time on my hand. I was hoping not to have to move the tree - this would be too costly. Wondering however what is a safe distance to make the AirSpade root cuts. I will look into your link. Thank you again and have a good rest of the day.
Hi @JohaneL , glad to hear you're not going to try and move a large Silver Maple. That would be difficult to impossible unless you really had unlimited funds. I'm afraid your question is akin to "how long is a piece of string." The good news is Silver Maples take quite a bit of root damage and bounce back, so you're in with a good chance. The thing is that, when you cut them, this maples roots grow back with great vigor, and are aggressive and damaging to underground installations. Therefore you'll want to be careful to install a serious root barrier between the tree and the pool. You don't say how close you _need_ to dig, which I guess is as big a factor as anything else. But I'm guessing that 10-15 ft would probably be enough to let the tree survive, anyway. You do have to be careful not to destabilize the tree with the cuts, so I totally agree with @Acerholic that a good arborist on scene will be worth the cost. HTH, -E
Thank you very much - very helpful information. Will send pictures if we decide to move ahead and will definitely hire an arborist!
