Are my crape myrtles too close to the house?

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Marylyn_TX Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2008

The previous house owners planted 2 crape myrtles in the beds right in front of the house, and kept them pruned (butchered, in my opinion..) very short. Since we bought the house 6 years ago we've let them grow out, which they've been very happy to do. I was nervous about them being so close to the house and possibly causing foundation trouble, but all of the research I've done suggested that crape myrtles have shallow roots and won't hurt the foundation, so we've let them stay and have just pruned the branches away from the walls and gutters, and kept them clear of little suckers. Today I read a post in another DG forum suggesting they will harm the foundation, and I'm nervous again.

So... do we need to pull them out?

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Marylyn_TX Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2008

They're probably a yard away from the house, and are a good 15-20 feet tall now.

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Marylyn_TX Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2008

The other tree...

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2008

Should be OK, it isn't like they're large trees.

Resin

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graceful_garden Hahira, GA(Zone 8b) Jun 21, 2008

Marylyn - I had a similar problem when my mom moved to our area - the crape myrtle in question was about 10 "trunks" - each about 1 - 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and planted about 3 feet from the house! I hired a guy with a mini bulldozer to move it in the winter time, while it was dormant, & it came back like blazes in the summer! But, I did have tons of sprouts come up at the original site from leftover roots - a bonus, if you want more! I've seen crape myrtles reach 25 - 30 feet tall, so, I'd defintitely move them further from the house, especially the first one - the second one appears to be a little further from a wall. The roots (as far as damaging foundation) shouldn't be a problem, unless maybe they were on top of a sewer line or drainfield! Samantha

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Marylyn_TX Houston, TX(Zone 9a) Jun 26, 2008

Ok, thanks, Resin and Samantha. :-) I'll just leave them where they are then and we'll keep an eye on them.

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