General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Home (as in single, double) Owers; a question. How do you feel about Tall Trees... [View all]meadowlander
(4,951 posts)The other thing to keep in mind is the roots. If you plant the wrong species too close to water pipes you can stuff up your plumbing big time because they will break in and clog them. They will also tear up sidewalks and driveways which can be a consideration for older people, wheelchair users, kids, and anywhere else you need to maintain an even surface. Don't know about the US but in New Zealand you are legally liable if the roots of a tree on your property damages your neighbour's plumbing or the public stormwater network and that can run to $10-$15K to repair.
And depending on the species they can drop a lot of litter/rotten fruits and berries/etc. which you may also not want to inflict on your neighbours. They stain, smell, attract rats, and are a tripping hazard.
But I do think where feasible we have a moral responsibility to plant things and promote biodiversity. The first thing I did when I moved into my house was plant 10 trees and only one of them I kind of regret and might end up having to get rid of (the rowan tree). It's got lots of berries which the birds go nuts for but at its full height its going to be too big and will drop about half of them on my elderly neighbours' patio. I was trying to get a sense of how big it was from Google images and the only picture of a full grown tree had extremely misleading perspective so it looks about a third as big as what they actually get to. I feel kind of guilty too because I found out after I planted it that it's on the pest species list for my region. But other than that, after you've taken in all the variables, if you do have space for it and can afford to maintain it properly, I'd say do it.
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