CITRUS PLANTED NEAR WALL FOUNDATION EFFECTS? (forum)

Emilio starts with ...
HI Guys,

Online I notice lots of people are planting citrus near brick walls of their house. i.e. espalier.

My Question is how safe is it to do? Will it damage house foundations??

I was thinking of duo planting a eureka and Tahitian lime about 1m from foundations. Is it safe to do if trees kept trimmed to a little over 2m??

Time: 4th August 2015 4:51pm

Reply | LIKE this Answer(0) | LIKE this Question (0) | Report
About the Author Emilio
PENSHURST,2222,NSW
#UserID: 11423
Posts: 7
View All Emilio's Edible Fruit Trees

Manfred says...
At 1 metre out I would consider it safe. Much less than that I would still consider it safe, but add the caveat-don't sue me if I'm wrong.

I dug a trench for a water pipe once through the roots of a mandarine on citrange and there were no big roots out from the trunk. What you hear about feeder roots out to the dripline was certainly true for mine.

If you are nervous about it you might get a eureka and a lime on trifoliata, which will be semi-dwarfed anyway. I have never heard horror stories of anything on trifoliata, except that some literature tells us that the fruit will have an inferior taste. I admit a general prejudice against trifoliata except where frost might be a consideration.

I don't know if there are special considerations in your case, such as pedestrian traffic, the age of the house, surface or sub-surface drainage patterns or specific soil conditions. For instance, a double brick house built before about 1960 on clay soil might need more specific considerations.

Time: 4th August 2015 7:18pm

Reply | LIKE this Answer(0) | LIKE this Question (0) | Report
About the Author Manfred
tully
#UserID: 9565
Posts: 243
View All Manfred's Edible Fruit Trees

Waterfall says...
You may have seen the photo of mine which I have just finished building planter boxes for.

The reason I did it this way is to avoid having to keep the soil against the house moist which is not a good idea for a number of reasons including termites. It also contains the roots to some degree which should help dwarf the tree a little.

The lower box which has a Imperial Mandarin in it is off center a little because the driveway prevented me centering it. The next one up is a Cara Cara orange and is cantered in the box. These cost about $15 each to make.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 4th August 2015 8:12pm

Reply | LIKE this Answer(0) | LIKE this Question (0) | Report
Original Post was last edited: 4th August 2015 8:10pm

About the Author Waterfall
WATERFALL,2233,NSW
#UserID: 10026
Posts: 422
View All Waterfall's Edible Fruit Trees

Emilio says...
Thanks for all the advice.


Time: 4th August 2015 8:24pm

Reply | LIKE this Answer(0) | LIKE this Question (0) | Report
About the Author Emilio
PENSHURST,2222,NSW
#UserID: 11423
Posts: 7
View All Emilio's Edible Fruit Trees