Hi @emmabaines
Great question. The first rule of planting trees is to make sure that they are situated correctly so as not to cause any issues with neighbours, buildings or case shade in the whole part of the garden.
There really is a suitable tree for every sized garden, and I am glad you're considering where and how far to place them from a fence panel.
As a minimum, make sure you're planting trees at least 50cm or half a meter from fence panels and walls. This is not because of the roots but the canopy. As the tree grows and matures, you need enough space for the canopy or branch structure on the top to fully form. If you plant the tree too close to the fence, then the canopy will stretch over the fence into neighbouring gardens, which is poor planning and can cause neighbourly disputes. It also means that neighbours can cut off any tree branches that overhang their side, which may make the tree look lopsided and cause damage.
As for paving and roots, the main issue isn't roots lifting paving but trees taking moisture out of the ground and causing the soil to shrink, ie subsidence is caused by this not tree roots breaking through walls. Only very mature trees tend to form surface roots that thicken and cause pavingt to lift, usually after 15-25 years or so!
In summary plant 50cm away from fences, take into consideration to ultimate height and width of the tree and you can't go far wrong. Do checkout my top 10 trees for gardens here for ideas!
Hi @emmabaines
Great question. The first rule of planting trees is to make sure that they are situated correctly so as not to cause any issues with neighbours, buildings or case shade in the whole part of the garden.
There really is a suitable tree for every sized garden, and I am glad you're considering where and how far to place them from a fence panel.
As a minimum, make sure you're planting trees at least 50cm or half a meter from fence panels and walls. This is not because of the roots but the canopy. As the tree grows and matures, you need enough space for the canopy or branch structure on the top to fully form. If you plant the tree too close to the fence, then the canopy will stretch over the fence into neighbouring gardens, which is poor planning and can cause neighbourly disputes. It also means that neighbours can cut off any tree branches that overhang their side, which may make the tree look lopsided and cause damage.
As for paving and roots, the main issue isn't roots lifting paving but trees taking moisture out of the ground and causing the soil to shrink, ie subsidence is caused by this not tree roots breaking through walls. Only very mature trees tend to form surface roots that thicken and cause pavingt to lift, usually after 15-25 years or so!
In summary plant 50cm away from fences, take into consideration to ultimate height and width of the tree and you can't go far wrong. Do checkout my top 10 trees for gardens here for ideas!
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