Hi,
I'm looking at building a patio in the back yard. One problem is a rather large maple tree about two feet from the edge of the patio and I get a lot of flack when I mention cutting it down. So I'm keeping the tree. What I need to do is change the edge near the tree and make it go around in a semi circle. I'm wondering how close I can come to the tree with the patio? Keeping in mind that will need to dig down six to eight inches to do my foundation.
Thanks
Brian
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Hello bintopo,You may want to check out some of our recent patio galleries for some inspiration:Photo Gallery: Gorgeous GardensPhoto Gallery: Tropical-Inspired Outdoor SpacesPhoto Gallery: Inspiring BackyardsGood luck with the patio!Gwen McAuley (gmcauley at hhmedia.com)
I'm agree with your opinion...
You might want to call your municipal offices and ask to speak to their arborist or planning dept. Those folks know all about which trees will take what when it comes to construction. The reason I say this is because they have a lot of experience protecting city trees during construction of buildings, roads, sidewalks and I know in Calgary I have seem them tell architects and builders 'not so fast' with a few things. Apparently many people think they've done okay with a project because the tree seems fine a year or two later but what they did actually kills the tree about 5 years later. It means watching where the roots are, how compacted the earth around the tree gets, etc. and so on. In Calgary they actually had to stop their own crews when they realized what they had always been doing when fixing sidewalks and roads was the cause of a lot of trees dieing much later down the road.
So, if you really want a particular type of patio, may as well find out the long term effects first as you don't want to go to alot of trouble redesigning and then lose the tree anyway a few years from now because then you have a whole new set of problems. You also may risk the tree sending out new roots where you don't want them going so an expert could tell you what to watch for.