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Overheard a guy at the lumber yard say you should never plant a silver maple near a house

I never really thought about it before, but I had to remove a silver maple last spring that was less than 10 feet from a foundation and the roots had actually started cracking the basement wall. Has anyone else seen that kind of damage from a tree they thought was harmless?

2 comments

2 Comments

jackson.max7d ago

Yeah, I gotta push back on that. The guy at the lumber yard was probably thinking of an old silver maple that was planted way too close, but that doesn't mean they're all bad. A lot of that root damage comes from poor soil or the tree being super stressed, not just the species. I've seen plenty of silver maples planted 20+ feet from a house that did just fine for decades with no foundation issues. Plus they grow fast and give great shade, so for the right spot they're a solid tree.

gibson.troy7d ago

People just love to blame the tree instead of the person who planted it three feet from the house.