Don't plant so close to me!!

We were recently in Chesterfield, Derbyshire undertaking a Level 3 Building Survey report with particular emphasis on the structural cracking to the front elevation of the pretty impressive residential house.

The moral of the story is, don't plant trees too close to buildings, especially in areas of clay sub-soils (as most of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire) otherwise this is likely to happen!

Give trees room to grow, as a general rule trees should be planted at least a distance equal to their mature height away from any building. So if they grow to 10m high,  they should be 10m away from foundations.

Distances for some tree species can be found in the book Tree Roots and Buildings by Cutler, D F and Richardson (Further reading) Happy reading

Author

James Wragg our Principle Building Surveyor with 23 year experience of residential and commercial surveying, working for The NHS, international property consultancies, national property developers and local practices in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. 

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March 2024