Trees with Shallow Roots

Getting ready for fall planting trees? Near a deck, patio or pathway? Here are some general guidelines to allow for adequate space root growth: (All info. from: Roots Demystified, change your gardening habits to help roots thrive.)

- It’s best not to plant trees between paved areas with less than three feet of soil to grow.

- Use trees that mature at less than 30 feet tall when you have a space with three- to four-feet between paved areas, such as between a sidewalk and the street next to a patio or foundation.

-If you’re lucky enough to have a space of five to six feet between paved areas, you can plant trees that mature as high as 50 feet tall.
With trees higher than 50 feet you’ll need at least eight feet between paved areas.
[in the March 31, 1995 issue, p. 36. Prepared by Sherry Rindels, Department of Horticulture Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. ]

Trees Incompatible With Paved Areas:
Common Name, Latin Name, Cultivar, Zones, Size (H’/W)’.
Red Maple, Acer rubrum ‘Franksred’. Zones 3-9, 45’x 35’.
Sugar Maple Acer saccharum. Zones 3-8, 70’x 45’. (Pictured here.)
European Beech, Fagus sylvatic. Zones (4)5-7, 55’ x 40’.
White Ash, Fraxinus americana. Zones 3-9, 60’x 60’.
Tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera. Zones 4-9, 80’x40’.
Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua. Zones 5-9, 70’x 45’.
Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora Zones 6-9, 60’x 50’.
London Planetree, Platanus x acerifolia. Zones 4-8(9), 80’x 70’.
American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis. Zones 4-9, 80’x 80’.
Poplars, Populus nigra. Zones 3-9, 80’x 12’.