Topic: Willow roots

[Andy H]

Has anyone had problems or heard or problems for willow roots too near a house or pond liner?

[saddad]

The larger ones ,like weeping willows are reknowned for it... a small specimen like "Kilmarnock" is less likely to be a problem..  :-\

[valmarg]

With trees close to your buildings you need to asses the possible damage.  One point you need to take into account, for all the top growth (ie above ground level) you potentially have the same root spread underneath.

As saddad says it depends on which variety of willow it is, but if it was a weeping willow, I wouldn't want is anywhere near my buildings.

My dad used to say that in a dry Summer willows would go through foundations to get to water.

A pond liner would be child's play.

valmarg

[Andy H]

Thanks for that, not sure what type it is, maybe take some pics.

[Robert_Brenchley]

What sort of soil do you have? If it's clay, it'll shrink as tree roots remove water, and that's when subsidence occurs. If there are no tree roots, or you have another type of soil, there's no need to worry. It's a problem which occurs in specific situations, so you need to know whether it's likely to affect you, plus you need to know whether the tree roots actually do run under the house.

[Andy H]

Its clay......