Trees come in all shapes and sizes, and so do their roots. Choosing a tree for your landscape based on certain characteristics such as bloom time, leaf color and mature size are all very important but picking the wrong tree with the wrong root type can cause a plethora of problems down the road.
Larger trees will obviously have large root systems but some large trees, such as Willow, Poplar and Elm have aggressive roots and they are not a good choice for smaller yards.
Strong roots can also probe into pipes or cause cracks and damage to foundations and underground structures. Choosing the right tree can help to reduce any damage to a basemenjt wall, septic system or sewer connection.
Many tree problems are accidental, by understanding more about the tree root system, these problems can be avoided.
Trees Suitable for the Home Landscape (shallow, non-invasive roots)
The list of trees below are safe to plant near a home foundaion. Keep in mind they must be planted far enough away from the home to accomodate it’s mature width:
Cherry – Prunus
Crepe Myrtle – Lagerstroemia
Hawthorn – Crataegus
American Hornbeam – Carpinus caroliniana
Lilac Tree – Syringa
Magnolia (most)
Japanese Maple – Acer palmatum
Paperbark Maple – Acer griseum
Dogwood – Cornus
Fringe Tree – Chionanthus virginicus
Birch – Betula
Golden Chain Tree – Laburnum
Beech – Fagus
Mimosa – Albizia julibrissi
Purple Leaf Plum – Prunus cistena
Redbud – Cercis
Seven Son Flower – Heptacodium
Silverbell – Halesia carolina
Snowbell – Styrax japonicus
Stewartia – Stewartia pseudocamellia
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool
Trees Suitable for the Home Lawn (shallow roots)
The list of trees below are safe to plant in a home lawn area (not too close to the home). Keep in mind they must be planted far enough away from the home to accomodate it’s mature width:
Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum
Tulip Poplar – Liriodendron
Willow – Salix
Red Maple – Acer rubrum
Elm – Ulmus
Spruce – Picea
Silver Maple – Acer saccharinum
Norway Maple – Picea abies
Dawn Redwood – Metasequoia
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool
Trees with Lateral Roots
The list of trees below known to have lateral growing roots that may peak up through the soil. Growing and/or mowing grass is usually tough under these trees:
Maple– Acer
Ash – Fraxinus
Cottonwood – Populus
Box Elder – Acer negundo
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool
Trees with Agressive Roots
The list of trees below are known to have an aggressive root system. Keep these away from the home foundation or any other structure, water lines, septic, etc…
Poplar – Populus
Dawn Redwood – Metasequoia glyp.
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool
Trees with a LONG taproot
Taproots grow straight below the trunk of the tree. Most trees will not devlop a lng tap root but will grow woody and feeder roots that sprawl across the footprint of the tree, sometimes up to four times the canopy size of the tree. Below are trees known to have such root systems:
Sweet Gum – Liquidambar styraciflua
Sassafrass – Sassafras albidum
Yew – Taxus
White Oak – Quercus alba
Walnut – Juglans nigra
Bald Cypress – Taxodium distichum
Black Gum –Nyssa sylvatica
Hormbeam – Carpinus
Oaks – Quercus
Maidenhair Tree – Ginkgo biloba
Koelreuteria paniculata – Goldenrain Tree
Japanese Zelkova – Zelkova
Most Conifers
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool
Septic Safe Plants
The list of plants that are safe around septic systems is very short:
Non-woody herbaceous perennials
Small growing ornamental grasses
For more information on these trees, use our Plant Finder Tool