Tree Damage:
Trees and large shrubs can cause major damage to your home, garden and boundary walls. This is especially true on the Witwatersrand where most areas and soils have some clay content. Without care and control, they may cost you a lot of money and no small amount of effort to fix.
Furthermore, shrubs should not be planted too close to the masonry walls either. The building regulations specify a minimum distance of 1,2 m for normal soils and 1,5 m if you have clayey soil.
Roots
Roots can also grow beneath your foundation footings, lift them or leach water from the ground beneath your house during dry spells and sink or settle the house unevenly.
They will cause the soil to dry out and in the case of clay soils, cause soil shrinkage.
Excessive watering or extended rain periods will cause the clay to swell. Subsequently, trees and large shrubs can cause movement in clay soils and damage your home and walls.
The movement amount depends on the percentage of clay content, the depth and extent of the root system and the efficiency of the roots to extract moisture from the soil.
When underground sewer and water pipes develop small leaks, roots quickly take advantage of those leaks. Before you realise it you have a blocked sewer line and pools of water and sewage in your yard.
What not to plant
All trees should be regarded as a potential source of damage. The following varieties are, however, particularly prone to causing damage:
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