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Tree growing too close to house?

12 years ago

Hi everyone, my neighbor has a bunch of these trees growing on his property line. They grow quite tall but I'm not sure what they are.

Recently one of them took root on its own next to our house, just off the corner. It's growing pretty close as you can see in this photo, I'd guess about six to eight feet from the foundation and just a couple of feet from the corner of our deck. I've got the sinking feeling I'll have to cut it down just based on how close it is, but I thought I'd post a picture and see if anyone can identify the tree and maybe confirm whether or not I should remove it.

Thank you in advance ...

Becki

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Comments (5)

Iris GW
12 years ago
Would like to see a close up of a leaf. And where are you located (in general)?
flora_uk
12 years ago
Looks as if it could be a poplar species.
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Again, I can only offer generalities. But tree roots generally grow outward more so than downward. There are rare cases in extremely porous soil, of people finding tree roots at crazy depths, so it's not impossible. But the usual pattern is outward, away from the trunk, the basic idea being that tree roots, like all of life, respire, using oxygen in that process. Not much O2 down in the depths of soil. I can't say whether you will or will not have problems with roots impacting your foundation. Let's see, you're in Cali, so I'm going to guess no basement, the house sitting on a poured slab. As a great lover of greenery in general, I want to tell you not to worry, so I will tell you that....don't worry! Of course, I could be wrong. But yes, I'd prune away branches which are actually in contact with any part of the building, again using proper technique and only target cuts. At least, I'd start with that and reassess later. I'd not think there's any aspect of this which crosses the line into emergency status. And please, I'm not there looking at it, so if some qualified person on site makes a recommendation, listen to them. Don't say this guy on the internet said such and such...lol! +oM
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It is a common problem for underground storm drains (usually poorly engineered to begin with) to clog. I agree with Ken to abandon the underground portion and get the rainwater draining away from the house and yard on top of the ground. Also agree with him to cut the tree flush with grade. Paint the cut surface with undiluted herbicide to keep it from resprouting. Let it rot and forget about it. You will plant other things in different locations and the cut trunk will be covered up. It would be good to allow more space for plantings so they aren't so close to the house. Consider redoing the walk and pulling it farther away from house.
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giddyupgo
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you, I'll post a photo of the leaves, and I'll also post one of my neighbors trees (which strangely don't have any leaves on them right now, though it's summer). After poking around on the internet I thought they might be cottonwood, which would be bad news for the tree I think.

Thanks again,
Becki
fatamorgana2121
12 years ago
I thought a poplar too from what I could see of the leaves.

Cottonwoods are a common "self-planted" tree. In fact, the cottonwoods here are right now spreading their fluffy seeds. Kind of looks like snow when they really get going!

Cottonwoods get big. Way too big to be any where near a house. And I do not know if ice is a concern where you live but poplars take a huge beating and break pretty easily in the killer ice storms we have about once a decade. In the big storm before last, all the youngish cottonwoods that were near to full height but not yet to full girth broke like matchsticks and dropped across the front and back lawns at my parents' house. They were sooooo lucky not to have any drop on the house. Good thing it was all ash and hickory nearest to the house.

Cottonwoods are nice trees, but in my opinion, never near a house.

FataMorgana
giddyupgo
Original Author
12 years ago
We don't have any ice storms here, our winters are pretty mild with temperatures rarely getting into the 20s and snowfall just once or twice a year. I would be concerned about keeping this tree where it is if it is a cottonwood, though, just based on what I've read, ice or no ice.

Was wondering though, if it would be possible to dig this tree up and move it? It's not very tall, but I don't know what the root system is like. I just really hate to kill a tree, you know? I don't even buy cut Christmas trees, LOL.

Thanks for all the input!

Becki

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