There are countless types of things that could cause damage to your house. One of those types are trees. Trees have the ability to cause damage in a number of ways such as falling, breaking off, roots and debris. Blue River Restoration has a few tips for you this spring to prevent any trees from damaging your house.
Falling Trees/Wind Damage:
When planning your house on your property or when planting a tree in a yard, there are a few things that need to be considered. It is important to consider how close trees are to your house and how can effect it. A tree can drop limbs in a storm or high winds, which can damage your house, what is inside, cars, or a neighbor’s house. There are a lot of variables to keeping a tree or branches from falling on your house, but the key it to not having the tree too close, a lot can be solved by keeping trees or big plants away from the house. Landscaping can be its own animal.
Trees (Susceptible/Resistant to wind):
Pear trees, willows, sycamores, eucalyptuses, silver maples, and American Oaks commonly drop limbs in windy conditions. These trees have weak bark that does not support the tree well, which leaves them exposed in windy conditions. Some of these trees, like silver maples and oaks, also grow to be very tall. While some trees do not handle wind well, there are others that can withstand some of the most powerful wind speeds. Live oaks, live maples, crepe myrtles, and cypress trees are all safe bets when considering wind damage. These trees have strong roots to keep them in place and thick bark that supports then in windy conditions.
While most trees’ roots are not invasive enough to cause damage to your house or pavement, some will. If trees with invasive roots are planted too close to your house, there roots can disrupt your house’s foundation which can be costly to repair. Some homeowners deal with intrusive roots by grinding down or removing them. This can be expensive and is very harmful to the tree. Wounding a tree’s roots creates points of entry for pathogens, leaving a tree vulnerable to disease. Because of this, it is important to know how root damage occurs and what trees have invasive roots. Tree roots do not outright destroy the foundation but instead shift the soil underneath and around houses and pavement, which causes them to become unstable. A general rule is that you should not plant any trees within 20 feet of your house.
Trees to Avoid Planting:
While most tree root systems will not grow wider than 20 feet, some trees roots can stretch for acres. Select trees for your landscape that cause less damage, match species with site conditions, and do not plant large shade trees within 12 feet of hardscapes. Aspens, willows, American Elms, and silver maples all have root systems that can stretch for acres. With these types of trees, there is no way to control their roots that can stretch and disrupt the foundation of your home.
Whether it be wind that causes a tree to fall or branches, a dead tree that fell over or root damage, let your friends at Blue River Restoration be the ones to help restore your home and get it back to the condition before the accident.