Building near gum trees

3 posts
Wed, 08/22/2012 - 18:29 #1

Member for

12 years 4 months
sandy
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 08/22/2012 - 08:18

Building near gum trees

Hi all,

Just wanting to know if anyone has built a shed or simular near gum trees and had problems down the track?

l have a few acres and my building envelope is clear for the house, but where l would like to put a double garage is a few metres from mature gums. some say it doens't matter, some say it does.

l would like some advice from people that have built near or under gums, so that l can make an informed decision.

Many thanks,

Sandy.

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Fri, 08/24/2012 - 09:36 #2
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Sandy,

Welcome to Farmstyle, I hope you find the site informative.

There are a few problems that come to mind when building so close to gum trees, these include:

  • Tree roots cracking the cement floor
  • Leaves constantly filling the guttering up, impacting on the ability of the garage to handle a heavy down pour
  • Risk of termites living in the trees (especially if they die or have dead branches) and moving into the garage if it is a wood frame
  • Increased fire risk
  • Chance of the shed being damaged by a falling branch or tree during a storm

Do you know what type of gum trees they are? I understand that some species of gum trees are worse than others for dropping leaves and branches. Also, have you checked with the council to see if there are any building restrictions close to trees?

My parents built their home about 30 metres from some large yellow box gum trees and they constantly had problems from leaves, branches, termites etc. During one summer storm lightning hit one of the trees, a large chuck of wood ending up logged in the wall of the house. It was funny now but not at the time.

Have any other members had experience building close to gum trees?

Charlie 

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Thu, 09/20/2012 - 21:29 #3
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Sandy,

I agree with Charlie. From my experience it's probably  not a good idea to build near eucalypts (or native fig trees such as Ficus Benjamina) because of root damage from both  and also because some types of Eucalypts have shallow root systems such as Sydney Blue gums or big branches that are prone to snap and fall during storms e.g. Red Gums.  My brother had (had being the operative word) a large Sydney Blue gum growing in his back yard and during a storm it was uprooted and fell straight across the bedroom of the next door neighbour.  Luckily it was during the day and no one was injured. The slab under my grain silo was cracked by the invasive roots of a ficus tree who's roots can travel 200-300 metrees in search of the calcium in the concrete- expensive lessons for both my brother and myself. So I would say, make sure that any houses or outbuildings are well away from Eucalypts.

cheers,

Barb Vincent

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