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kindredspiritkevin
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:02 pm Posts: 108 Location: Mid-West, Ireland.
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Tetrapanax roots.
Did a search here but couldn't find the info I'm looking for.
I'm considering planting a Tetrapanax Rex near my watergarden. The "pond" is made of concrete and I'm wondering if the roots of T. Rex are strong enough to fracture the concrete wall of the pond. There's no-one near me, that I know of, growing one so that I could go and check the root system.
The planting position is two feet away from the wall and I cannot plant further away. I sledge-hammered a eight feet long piece of 7" wide aluminium strip curved into the soil between the planting pocket and the pond wall.
Am I tempting fate with Tetrapanax roots? Wall is made of concrete blocks laid on the flat so it's 8" wide.
_________________ https://coolwatergarden.com/
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Fri Jun 16, 2017 4:43 pm |
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Adrian
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:32 pm Posts: 185 Location: Folkestone Kent UK
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Hi Kevin
I don't know about the Tetrapanax roots.................but what a fantastic looking water feature / garden you have, I absolutely love it!!
That's all I wanted to say, hope someone will have the info you need, it would be tragic to pierce that pond.
Adrian
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Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:27 pm |
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Andy Martin
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:58 pm Posts: 1279 Location: Oxford UK
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Think 2ft is close obviously the bigger the trunk the worse it will be. I've just removed all mine in March as it was crowding out other plants Pic of my roots
I did find the roots were quite flexible but obviously near the trunk they are more resilient
_________________ Lover of Yuccas,Palms,Nolinas,Schefflera.
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Fri Jun 16, 2017 11:45 pm |
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kindredspiritkevin
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:02 pm Posts: 108 Location: Mid-West, Ireland.
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Thank you very much Andy. A perfect answer with that picture. All the roots were very close to the surface I presume? (Incidentally, I'm from Oxford originally)
_________________ https://coolwatergarden.com/
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Sat Jun 17, 2017 7:04 am |
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David Matzdorf
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:06 pm Posts: 5321 Location: Islington, London UK
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Tetrapanax wood is very soft and the roots are relatively flexible. I've had mine confined to a tub for years and it has not caused any problems. I'd be very surprised if it could compromise a concrete pond base.
Very few plants cause damage by direct, physical action of their roots. Most tree-related damage to structures is caused by subsidence, which is generally the result of tree roots drying out shrinkable clay subsoil, as opposed to roots physically dislodging or penetrating the structure.
One does see garden walls, etc., pushed over by expanding trunks. So I'd keep the Tetrapanax stem(s) a metre or so away from the pond and then I'd not worry about the roots.
_________________ 51º33'07"N x 0º07'21"W
43m (142 feet) ASL
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Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:04 am |
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Andy Martin
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:58 pm Posts: 1279 Location: Oxford UK
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
_________________ Lover of Yuccas,Palms,Nolinas,Schefflera.
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Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:38 pm |
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kindredspiritkevin
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:02 pm Posts: 108 Location: Mid-West, Ireland.
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Thanks for the extra info David and Andy. I'm going to put on my Mole alter ego and try burrowing back further into the Bamboo, Cordylines, Phormiums & Cortaderia Richardii jungle so I can plant at least three feet, or hopefully more, from the pond wall. Andy, I remember this rhyme from school. "Stow on the Wold where the wind blows cold" Cotswolds winters made us Oxfordshire folk hardy. I have a great, great, great, great grandfather who was born in 1765 and lived until 1855 (age 91) when the average life expectancy in the 1760s was 37 and during that time he also spent 2 years with his family in a dome tent at the side of the road after the Enclosures. (Ramsden, Stonesfield & Bampton.) Tough times then.
_________________ https://coolwatergarden.com/
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Sat Jun 17, 2017 9:44 pm |
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Sue in Ireland
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:38 pm Posts: 72 Location: Ireland
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Hello Kevin
What a lovely pond you have there.
Sue
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Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:15 pm |
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kindredspiritkevin
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:02 pm Posts: 108 Location: Mid-West, Ireland.
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Re: Tetrapanax roots.
Glad you like it Sue. Full of Damselflies today. My garden is planted with local plants, alpines and exotic plants. It steps to the beat of a different drum; very, very little ordinary stuff and most certainly no lawns or borders. http://www.coolwatergarden.com
_________________ https://coolwatergarden.com/
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Mon Jun 19, 2017 6:37 pm |
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