Bit fed up... well very fed up !!!

Hello all
Does anyone know how far a Plum tree's roots can go ??? I bought a tiny Plum tree from Tesco ( about 2ft). Planted it in the garden and my neighbour stopped me today and asked ' how far the roots go down' . Seemingly about 30ft under the garden is a waste pipe that is encased by clay ? He doesn't want my tree's roots growing into the pipe and fracturing it. He pointed out how expensive this job would be to put right should it happen...I thought it would take about 20 years to reach that far down ? Should I be worried

 

Done a bit of googling and they appear to have a shallow root system, in fact suckers from the roots will cause a nuisance.

 

Its my understanding that a tree has about as much mass below ground as it does above, but usually flatter.

Its also my understanding that very few plants of any kind get to 30ft down.

I think your neighbour is just being persnickety for no good reason.

 

I think your neighbour just doesn't like trees!

 

I think your neighbour is a pain where the sun doesn't shine and I would ignore him. Plant your plum tree and enjoy! ... but please do NOT give him any plums when it fruits ... even if he begs ...

 

Thanks for the answers. Personally , I think he was just making a' fuss' because he can. Last year my son came over and was cooking steak and onions. He had the back door open a it was a hot evening... The same neighbour went inside and slammed his back door... We are about 15ft away from each other and there is a big fence too...

 

Waft the steak and onion smell his way ... make him suffer ...

 

Sounds to me like your neighbour just needs to lighten up a bit.

If he has a go again about the tree, just tell him you're getting some quote from some builders to bring in some great big JCBs to excavate a 30ft deep trench to install a root barrier for your plum tree, to protect the pipe. Just tell him there wont be too much disruption and the diggers will only be there for a week or two, if everything goes to plan, and there wont be too much mess, it wont be more than a couple of hundred tonnes of subsoil that they have to pile up temporarily, and you'll tell the builders to be careful with their diggers so as to not undermine the foundations of his house or anything.

 

How does he know the pipe is 30ft down and exactly where it is.

I'd hardly think anyone in their right mind would put a pipe that deep, I assume you live on the top of a hill, as getting a fall on a wastepipe that was that deep would be very difficult, if not.
And why is it encased in clay?

Just tell him that its shallow rooted, and he only needs to worry about the suckers.

 

... are you talking about the neighbour Pete ... ... what a plonker he is ...

 

I've two plum trees in my garden and i've been here 20 years and they'd been there 10 years before me...no problem what so ever...so i think said neighbour is just being awkward....i could understand if it was a 40ft leylandii

 

Ah, that's a good one,
Tell him that in response to his request not to plant a plum tree you have decided leylandii would be more suitable bearing in mind its shallower root system.

 

Tell him to "Tree" off

 

Thanks and especially because it has made me laugh and given me a few ideas