Mature camphor tree planted 8 ft from home

C

Christine

Location
Concord
Greetings
I need some help thinking through what to do about our beautiful camphor tree that is planted next to the driveway very near the house. It is lifting our driveway slab to the point it is a trip hazard. We can't replace the driveway surface without killing the tree. Are there creative driveway options, for a sloped driveway, that allow the tree to stay? Should we worry about the tree lifting the home slab foundation too?
I am heartbroken and conflicted. We have planted our whole garden with fruit trees, about 40, and perhaps it is better for them to get more sun. The camphor is an old friend. I am very sad with the prospect of killing it.
Thoughts, tree people?
 
Concord California, I presume? If you'd like to be guided toward legitimate options to preserve that tree, invasive weed though it is, contact an ISA Certified Arborist at a minimum, specifically one with experience preserving trees during construction and with experience mitigating tree/hardscape conflicts.
 
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guymayor said:
Pictures, tree owner?
Click to expand...
Christine said:
Greetings
I need some help thinking through what to do about our beautiful camphor tree that is planted next to the driveway very near the house. It is lifting our driveway slab to the point it is a trip hazard. We can't replace the driveway surface without killing the tree. Are there creative driveway options, for a sloped driveway, that allow the tree to stay? Should we worry about the tree lifting the home slab foundation too?
I am heartbroken and conflicted. We have planted our whole garden with fruit trees, about 40, and perhaps it is better for them to get more sun. The camphor is an old friend. I am very sad with the prospect of killing it.
Thoughts, tree people?
Click to expand...
hi all,
Do the pictures show?
 
Might be an opportunity for a different type of paving system. Perhaps a suspended pavement will work. Structural soil came to mind first but that's usually for young trees to grow roots into rather than existing large trees.
 
Even and uncracked driveways are vulgar. Round it out and you'll have cute little speed bump.
hundertwasserhaus-19to1.jpeg
 
Nice camphor! I bet you like the shade from it in the summer. Camphors aren't invasive here in the bay. Never seen one seed. Many didn't do so well in the drought, though.
I agree with southsound - see if you can get someone to grind that walkway edge flat. You'll probably have to do it again in a few years.
I wonder if you could pull the part of the slab out that goes to the crack and do a soft-set surface (base rock and fines with flat stones/pavers on top) in that spot. It would look silly, perhaps, but keep the tree going for a while.
 
Hi tree people, is there a danger that our camphor will lift the house foundation as it has lifted the driveway? That is the biggest issue of concern.

Also, if we end up taking it out, what urban tree planting can I do to address the overall need for reforestation? I want to leave this world with more trees than when I got here.
 
Even if your house is built on grade, there would be a trench footing for the slab, around the perimeter and under any load bearing interior walls. The depth of the footing will vary depending on local codes, which are different for various parts of the country, depending on frost line depth. It is very rare for tree roots to damage a good house foundation... even those built on grade, if it has proper footings. If you know when the house was built, you can check at your city offices to see what the building codes require and ask them if they were the same for the year the house was built.

If the trench footing is more than six inches wide and more than a foot deep, you can probably stop worrying about the tree's roots affecting the house.
 
Another related question: we have a 2-car driveway and only have one car in the garage. The tree currently only lifts the unused half. If we redo the driveway to half its current size, will the tree eventually lift the other half too? Or, will it concentrate its roots into newly available aerated and watered soil?
Thank you for your advice.
Christine
 
I imagine air spading along the foundation of the house and the remaining driveway half, root pruning as needed, and then dropping in a root barrier would be effective, especially in combination with aerating and improving the soil elsewhere (Harris et al. says, "Between the building and the tree trunk, treat only that half of the soil area that is nearer to the trunk. This should increase root branching in the improved soil and minimize root growth toward the building.").

Other relevant considerations from Harris et al.: apparently most problematic are clay soils that "shrink and swell due to moisture extraction and subsequent rewetting". It's the younger, vigorously growing trees with "rapidly enlarging roots" that "usually cause more damage than mature trees." "Cutting down a large tree that has been creating subsidence problems may cause more damage due to heaving as the soil rewets." "Shrinking and swelling are greatest near the surface, where most roots are located...."

Last weekend I met a group of climbers from A Plus tree service in Concord. Seemed like a neat group. Maybe they could help and advise on the local options.
 
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Nish, A Plus sounds like a great company. I am calling them. I love that they make furniture if the tree can’t be saved! Beautiful philosophy. Thank you for the referral!
 
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