Good trees to plant near a pool and house

[treetoronto]

Hi there,

I have 2 areas in my backyard that I want to plant trees.

The one area is at the corner of my in ground pool, about a foot away from the edge of the border of the pool which is about 3 1/2' and about 8' from the corner of my house.
Do you think a Purple Fountain Beech would be a good tree for there?
Any other suggestions?

The other area on the other side of my yard, it is about 7' away from the house and patio. There is currently a very sick and I'm sure dying Sand Cherry there and want to cut it down.
Behind the tree there is a 6 foot fence and my neighbours patio, so I would like something that serves us as privacy.

Input is appreciated!

Thanks!

[treetoronto]

Forgot to add that I am located in Toronto. I believe the growing zone is around a 5...

[Eeyore]

According to this link http://www.garden.org/searchqa/index.ph ... hade&adv=0 the root spread on the Purple Beech could be an issue that close to the pool. It would probably be better suited to the other location. Close to the pool you might want to consider something with a tap root.

[Countryboy]

IMO, most 'trees' are very dangerous to plant anywhere near a house. Any roots reaching the drainage tile around the outside of a basement wall will swell to the full 4" to fill the tiles and block them completely.

If u need screening from the neighbours, and need to do it with a tree, I would stick to Cedar. Their root ball does not go as deep as yr weeping tiles. There may be others with similar root systems but I would be VERY careful with yr strategy.

In fact, I wouldn't do it...

[B_BQ]

Another reason I wouldn't plant trees anywhere near a pool is - the leaves, which inevitably fall into the pool, are a darned nuisance. Often trees have other debris which is constantly dropping, i.e. seeds, berries, etc. Been there, done that, wouldn't do it again.

As Countryboy says, cedars are fairly shallow-rooted so wouldn't be a problem planted fairly close to a house, but beware that cedars attract nesting birds, including grackles, and grackles love to pick up the poop sacs from the nest and drop them into the pool! Again, have had that happen and tried to discourage nesting but it was next to impossible. But cedars would be great screening from the neighbours.

~BBQ

[Heidi S]

The other posters are right that you don't have enough room for tree roots in the pool area as it stands today. My suggestion is that you consider using a very large container planting with shrubs that are much hardier than your zone - ie Zone 3 or 4 which have a better chance of surviving your zone 5 winters. The act of placing a shrub in a container creates a bonsai-type effect and will keep the shrub 'smaller' but the height of the container will help you with the lift to give it some visual impact.

You can investigate using some of the hardier bamboos which need to be kept restricted anyway, or one of the ninebarks, a small hardy japanese maple or any number of small trees or large shrubs that will give you nice coverage and interesting foliage.

I am also concerned that if your sandcherry is dying in its location close to the house, you would have troubles growing anything else either. Sandcherries are quite hardy, and should be thriving in your zone, so the soil in that area so close to the house may be compacted, poor quality or suffering from too much or too little water; none of which is good for any new tree. Frankly, putting any shrub or tree that close to a house, especially in the rain shadow of your eaves, is a recipe for disaster. Regardless of what tree or shrub you choose you will need to ensure you have a good watering plan, regular food and maintenance for both these planting areas.

Good luck!

[treetoronto]

Thanks for your responses. I am not worry about the leaves, I have a large Chokecherry and Ash both at risk of dying, the Chokecherry has Black Knot and the Ash tree has the looming issue of the Emerald Ash Borer (I find it odd that our ash looks 100% healthy yet all the Ash trees on the neighbours and the street behind us are heavily infested and half dead with the EAB) but both have been shedding many leaves for a long time. Its a way of life now.

The Ash tree is quite large and about 7 feet from the corner of the pool at the back of our property and the Chokecherry is about 3 feet from the pools border. Neither of them have caused damage to the pool.

I think the Sand Cherry is dying from a severe infestation of aphids and the trunk is rotting in two places. My neighbours Sand Cherry is as sick as mine.