How tall do Aspens get? Can I 'top' (clip) my Aspens? Root Q's.

17 years ago

Just joined this forum.

We planted our 8 Aspens 14 years ago. Most are now 27' tall. Our house is 25' feet tall at it's roof peak. But, we live on a steep lot where the foundation level of the house is already 12' up from the street level. It's a small HOA neighborhood with narrow streets. The lot isn't very deep either. The result of all this is that while we love our house, it "looms" over the street somewhat. The Aspens in the front yard were meant to soften that appearance, and.. we just plain love aspens! We think they're the most beautiful trees.

However, we did NOT know that they could get so huge. Our mistake. These amazing plants were growing 2 feet a year until recently. Scaring the heck out of us for over all height. How tall are they going to get?

I know you're not supposed to do this, but I don't know why you're not; Can we have the trees "topped" (cutoff the top one foot), to try and stop them from getting taller?

Secondly, We have a friend going through the nightmare right now of digging up his front yard to replace a sewer line that a tree (no aspen) crushed. Can Aspen trees do this with their roots? Do they break sewer lines and break up concrete foundations?

These trees put out dozens of surface roots with suckers popping up. We have no problem with cutting the baby suckers. But it never ocurred to me that the roots might run deep and crack foundations.

Thanks so much folks! :-)

Featured Answer

bpgreen

17 years ago

Aspens reproduce through their roots. So if you plant an aspen in your yard, it sends feeder roots out, and new little aspens sprout up all over the lawn. You can mow them with the lawn mower, but like the terminateor, they'll be back. If you really like aspens, though, you can let the suckers grow, dig them up and replant them elsewhere in the lawn, or simply let them spread around the original tree.

Before planting any aspens, search this forum for aspens to see if they're really a good fit for you. Below a certain altitude, they tend not to thrive, but refuse to die, so some people consider them almost the same as weeds. I don't call them weeds, but only because I don't want the weeds to think I'm insulting them.

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Comments (8)

david52 Zone 6
17 years ago
If they have adequate nutrients, moisture, and sunlight, aspens will easily get to 70-80 feet. If you would like to keep them more in check, you can have them 'pruned', but I wouldn't 'top' them the way they do under power lines and such, its pretty ugly. A good, professional arborist can do a pruning where in they lose several feet in height and still look like a decent tree. This would need to be done every three years or so. It can get expensive.

As far as crushing pipes and such, any tree can do that. This may have more to do with the way the pipe was placed, proper bedding and backfill on the pipe, than the variety of tree. As far as foundations go, again it has more to do with the quality of the foundation than the tree.
turnaround
Original Author
17 years ago
Uh oh. That's a problem. 70' would look ridiculous.

We have a fantastic arborist friend of ours. I think I'll have Bob prune them in that case.

Another option would be to cut them down and start over. Unlike other trees, Aspens are really easy to take down without creating a danger to structures. I'm able to get 4' high sapling aspens in town for only $25 each. They put on two feet a year.

We learned too late, but last year when we had them ground treated with a systemic that kills aphids, the guy said do NOT water them. They're like Gremlins (the movie). If they get water, they grow super fast.

Thanks for the advice. Oh.. almost forgot; Yeah, when I said "top" I was thinking of just nibbling off the top one foot. Just enough to send the signal to the tree to stop growing up. I agree that taking off 5 or 10 feet would look really bad.

- T
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bunkers
17 years ago
My aspens eventually ruined my entire back yard with suckers when they started to die off. Beautiful leaves, but the long term story for me was a sad one ...
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bpgreen
17 years ago
"I'm able to get 4' high sapling aspens in town for only $25 each."

An even less expensive option is to let a few of the trees that sprout from the suckers grow.
0
celadonminx_gmail_com
17 years ago
Hello~ I am new to the Aspen tree and we are planning to plant some in our yard. I have read the concerns but still do not understand what a sucker is. Would someone please explain these suckers a little more?
0
Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
17 years ago
LOL, bp! Well, I'm not afraid to insult the weeds! Actually, I consider Aspens on a residential lot WORSE than weeds! Especially my neighbors dying Aspen---which is completely taking over my entire front yard!

If you have a standard size residential yard, Bradamante, and would like to stay friends with your neighbors, don't plant Aspens---or cottonwoods. It'll take a few years, but they will eventually be coming up 50' away from the original ones you plant. And when they start coming up in the lawn, if you don't mow VERY regularly, they look really awful since they seem to grow faster than the grass.

Do research it and carefully consider the consequences before you decide what to do.

Welcome to GW,
Skybird
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jentess70
4 years ago
I lined the side of my house with Aspens, love the look! But I have always planned to keep them short and thinned out so they don't look like a thick bush. I can't believe how fast they have taken off....a little concerned about the gas line underneath tho....
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How tall do Aspens get? Can I 'top' (clip) my Aspens? Root Q's.

bpgreen

Comments (8)

david52 Zone 6

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How tall do Aspens get? Can I 'top' (clip) my Aspens? Root Q's.

bpgreen

Comments (8)

david52 Zone 6

turnaroundOriginal Author

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