Neighbor Growing Eucalyptus: Does This Affect My Land?

[basilic13]

Hi there...

I just bought a great piece of land.

Very next to my land border, two of my neighbors are growing eucalyptus trees, at different stages:

side 1) bigger, older trees, that seem to have been trimmed and regrown several times

side 2) smaller ones, that seem to be in their 1st growth

On my land, the trees (cashew and mango) growing next to 1) are moribund and not in good shape, whereas those next to 2) look fine and happy.

considering all that is being said about eucalyptus (soil depletion, roots invasiveness, nutrient competition....) could anyone advice whether this is coincidental or :

a) could the eucalyptus trees on side 1) inhibit / prevent the proper growth of the trees on my land (say about 3 meter away from the eucalptus)?

b)if yes, can we assume the same fate will happen with time with the trees on side 2)

c) if yes, can anything be done against it and insulate my land and trees from the neighbor's eucalyptus (say digging a trench and building some sort of underground wall)?

Many thanks for all your insightfull pieces of advice!

Edited May 19, 2009 by basilic13

[ozzydom]

Hi there...

I just bought a great piece of land.

Very next to my land border, two of my neighbors are growing eucalyptus trees, at different stages:

side 1) bigger, older trees, that seem to have been trimmed and regrown several times

side 2) smaller ones, that seem to be in their 1st growth

On my land, the trees (cashew and mango) growing next to 1) are moribund and not in good shape, whereas those next to 2) look fine and happy.

considering all that is being said about eucalyptus (soil depletion, roots invasiveness, nutrient competition....) could anyone advice whether this is coincidental or :

a) could the eucalyptus trees on side 1) inhibit / prevent the proper growth of the trees on my land (say about 3 meter away from the eucalptus)?

b)if yes, can we assume the same fate will happen with time with the trees on side 2)

c) if yes, can anything be done against it and insulate my land and trees from the neighbor's eucalyptus (say digging a trench and building some sort of underground wall)?

Many thanks for all your insightfull pieces of advice!

My first observation is that somebody erred in planting trees 1.5 metres from the boundary , there is no guarantee that the soil conditions are identical in both areas so maybe your fruit and nut trees require more fertilizer or water on the side that is not doing well .

It sounds like your neighbour is harvesting on a cycle so the euca are not going to get to big ,whereas your trees are going to end up with a 6-8 metre wide canopy at maturity so your trees are going to overhang the boundary giving your neighbour a legal access to free mango and cashews.

[basilic13]

thanks Ozzy...

so you think that basically, better care (water, fertilizer,...) of the trees on my side should be enough to improve their conditions and that the eucalyptus themselves are not directly responsible for their poor state (through their root system or any other biological process)?

Alternatively, does make any sense, in order to plant closer to boundary, to consider some sort of separation between the two land?

thanks...

[ozzydom]

Boundaries can be a bone of contention anywhere and in many cases a cause of conflict.

In an ideal world property owners would give thought to whether or not the crops they plant can have a negative impact on the crop of their neighbour but a land poor Thai farmer usually has little consideration to others and tries to utilise every square foot of his holdings.

The goings on around my area would make your hair curl, such as moving boundary markers ,diverting water, purposely letting cattle onto neighbours crops etc.

You say the separation between your trees is only 3 m so I take it that both plantings are only 1.5 m from the boundary line ,this is to close for this type of crop .

If you had the room to run a large tractor between your trees and the boundary I would suggest making a run with a deep single ripper down your side of the boundary to cut any roots invasion but if there is no room then maybe you could negotiate with your neighbour to rent a strip of his land (say 5 or 6 metres ) and remove the eucalyptus in that area.

Diplomatic negotiation is always the best way to go when these type of problems arise,

[basilic13]

Thanks Ozzy,

I think I will go down the ripper route....

[Crushdepth]

considering all that is being said about eucalyptus (soil depletion, roots invasiveness, nutrient competition....) could anyone advice whether this is coincidental or :

A lof of what is said about Eucalyptus around here is false. Soil depletion is a myth - many species are adapted to nutrient-poor soil so people deliberately plant them on poor quality land. Root invasiveness is something that really varies by species, but most of what you're likely to encounter is shallow rooted and prone to blow over if planted in a moist soil (don't put them next to your house).

[garyh]

Eucalyptus also release a chemical from leaves on the ground that inhibts the growth of other plants.

[walterego]

i have a dip in hoticullture from Australia (the home of the said gum tree (aka Eucalyptus) and i have to concur with crushdepth most of what i have read about Euc. Sp. is a myth.

The are extremely intolerant of rich soils and die when given continual treatments of fertilizers. (a possible solution to your problem)

Many species thrive on poor soils that suffer extremes in climate from very hot and dry one season to very hot and flooded next.

Yes the roots can be somewhat invassive as can any large tree be.

I dont know but just from driving past most of the species i can see out the bus window in Essarn, look at passing glance as Yellowbox (possibly Viminalis) (any one know pls enlighten us?) They also tend to drop their boughs in storms, and can be extremely flamable (high oil content and a lot of dead wood suspended in the canopy). If your neighbours larger trees are near a structure (boughs overhanging) i suggest you get rid of it.

Usually the Euculyptus tree is not the problem, crap soil is the culprit.

[ozzydom]

i have a dip in hoticullture from Australia (the home of the said gum tree (aka Eucalyptus) and i have to concur with crushdepth most of what i have read about Euc. Sp. is a myth.

The are extremely intolerant of rich soils and die when given continual treatments of fertilizers. (a possible solution to your problem)

Many species thrive on poor soils that suffer extremes in climate from very hot and dry one season to very hot and flooded next.

Yes the roots can be somewhat invassive as can any large tree be.

I dont know but just from driving past most of the species i can see out the bus window in Essarn, look at passing glance as Yellowbox (possibly Viminalis) (any one know pls enlighten us?) They also tend to drop their boughs in storms, and can be extremely flamable (high oil content and a lot of dead wood suspended in the canopy). If your neighbours larger trees are near a structure (boughs overhanging) i suggest you get rid of it.

Usually the Euculyptus tree is not the problem, crap soil is the culprit.

Eucalyptus camaldulensis is the usual species grown here , but I have noticed many different species travelling around the countryside, even one that looks like an Alpine ghost gum.

[basilic13]

thanks for all your advice...

so as far as root invasiveness is concerned, how best to deal with it now (dig a trench, rip the off, chemical treatment,...) and how best to prevent it from coming back in the future?

Thanks!

[drtreelove]

Thanks Ozzy,

I think I will go down the ripper route....

With encroachment by smaller roots this may work, but I'll tell you from hard experience that unless you are using a track dozer, any roots over about 2 to 4 inches in diameter are going to stop a wheeled tractor as soon as that ripper hooks one. And then you must consider what you are doing to the tree health and structural stability of the trees whose root systems you are destroying on one side. Maybe not a big deal, but depends on the situation, size of the trees, your relationship with your neighbor and if you want a conflict or not. Anyway, if you need to cut roots along a field, I would advise using a trenching machine or hand labor if the roots are under 2 inches, or if larger you may need a backhoe.

And if you really want to be kind to your neighbor and his trees, don't violently dislodge, but clean cut with a hand saw any roots that you encounter over 2" in diameter; this is standard arborist specifications for tree preservation.

Regrowth of roots will be an issue too as you have noted. Your idea of a trench and concrete barrier would be effective but expensive. Other materials like plastics and composites can be used for root barriers, but they will have limitations on effectiveness and longevity.

Something that has not been mentioned is the factor of shade from the eucalypts that close to your trees. This can be a major factor in suppression of nearby growth.

And I hate to stick my neck out to disagree with Australians on matters of Eucalyptus trees, but I'm a California boy and I've done my share of work with E. viminalis and E. camaldulensis, as well as other species of all sizes, and I have to say that I've seen first hand the incredible invasiveness and competative nature of the root systems of these trees in the right (or should I say wrong) situation. I've climbed them, wrecked them, pruned them, ground out stumps, planted, transplanted, and traced/excavated out roots that had encroached into other growing or building zones. I say don't discount the fact that root encroachment, competition for water and nutrients may be a major factor in the suppression of the growth along the borders with your trees.

The matter of allelopathy, the growth retardant property of certain leaf litter is controversial for Eucalyptus. My plant pathology professor at UC Berkeley told us that after multiple research projects on this matter, he was unable to confirm allelopathic properties of E. globulus and some other species. He concluded that nearby plant suppression was not from allelopathy, but from shading and root encroachment. So I'd like to see contrary research evidence if he is wrong. don

[ozzydom]

drtreelove, there is no disagreement with this Oz, if you read my postings in this and other threads re Eucalyptus, we are in complete agreeance .

however in this particular thread , the OP has a problem in that there is only a separation of 3m between his fruit trees and the Eucalypts of his neighbour ,( I presume that both parties have planted only 1.5 m from the boundary).

Unless one party or the other is prepared to remove a row of trees then 1.5 m is not much to work with and root cutting is going to damage the roots of both parties trees.

Crawler tractors and trenching machines are not exactly thick on the ground here in LoS even if the room to work them in is available.

The area of most concern to the OP is where his neighbour is harvesting sucker regrowth and the original butts could be any age or size so root invasion is in most probability a problem as the other side will eventually become .

It may be prudent for the OP to remove the row of fruit and nut trees along his boundary to give himself more room to work with, as his trees in maturity are going to have a larger canopy than say 4 year cycle eucalyptus and the feeder roots of his own trees are going to correspond with the canopy boundaries.

As a rule of thumb, we used to plant our boundary row using an 8 foot headland + 50% of the anticipated pruned diameter of the fruit tree at maturity.

[slapout]

We planted fruit trees several years ago and made the planting distance from our property boundary, 1/2 the distance spacing we used between the trees (10 meter). The exception being coconut trees which are within 1.5 meter between a irrigation canal and boundary line, on a dike. Ozzy's rule of thumb sounds good where you have neighbors who are growing crops also. Ours on a long side are next to a road so we have no problem there but close to neighbor land where overhang will occur, I can see where problems could/will arise without strong pruning.

[drtreelove]

drtreelove, there is no disagreement with this Oz, if you read my postings in this and other threads re Eucalyptus, we are in complete agreeance .

however in this particular thread , the OP has a problem in that there is only a separation of 3m between his fruit trees and the Eucalypts of his neighbour ,( I presume that both parties have planted only 1.5 m from the boundary).

Unless one party or the other is prepared to remove a row of trees then 1.5 m is not much to work with and root cutting is going to damage the roots of both parties trees.

Crawler tractors and trenching machines are not exactly thick on the ground here in LoS even if the room to work them in is available.

The area of most concern to the OP is where his neighbour is harvesting sucker regrowth and the original butts could be any age or size so root invasion is in most probability a problem as the other side will eventually become .

It may be prudent for the OP to remove the row of fruit and nut trees along his boundary to give himself more room to work with, as his trees in maturity are going to have a larger canopy than say 4 year cycle eucalyptus and the feeder roots of his own trees are going to correspond with the canopy boundaries.

As a rule of thumb, we used to plant our boundary row using an 8 foot headland + 50% of the anticipated pruned diameter of the fruit tree at maturity.

I totally agree. don