Planting a tree is one of the best long term property improvements that you can make. Trees offer many benefits to you and the community around you including increasing in value as they mature. An improperly situated or inappropriate species of tree can become more of a liability than an asset. Putting the right tree in the right place, this is the golden rule in having a tree that will provide many generations of people and homeowners benefits with fewer maintenance costs and issues.
Before choosing which species to plant, take a look at the tree location as this will influence the decision and list of adequate tree species to choose from. Ideally any tree should be placed in an area where it will have a chance to reach maturity without growing into conflict with other trees or property.
Often trees are placed too close to buildings and require a lot of clearance maintenance or early removal because the tree selected grows too big for the desired location. Trees that often get planted way too close to buildings are columnar aspens, these trees get to be well over 4 stories tall and cause significant damage to rooves and eaves troughs when they bash against them in the wind. Fence lines are also a popular choice for tree placement that can lead to unfavorable results. As the trunk grows the tree may cause damage to the fence. Remember that trees grow to be quite large, if planted too close to a property line a large portion of the tree canopy ends up in the neighboring property.
Trees too close to a property line have been known to cause wars and rifts between neighbors. Trees grow tall, keep this in mind and look up before you plant so that you can avoid future concerns with overhead utilities such as communication and electrical lines. An open area that allows for your new tree to grow in all directions is the most ideal placement to maximize on the benefits provided to you by the tree.
