I want to plant trees to give my two storey house some shade but I don't want the roots invading the foundations - can anybody recommend some types?

Try ตันตีนเป็ด or Finished or Finished Sea Water, Cepberaodollem.

Or ตันหูกวาง , English Sea Almond , Terminalia.

My misses said these would do ,I do not know how long you are planing to stay where you are ,but shallow tree roots could be a problem if they are any high winds,might up root.I would have thought roots would not be a problem ,they tend to go down ,looking for moisture,more than out,unlike our Willow tree,which will make a beeline for water,foundations,ect.where ever it grows

We have bamboo round our house gives good shade,and grows quick also you can eat the young shoots,but the leaves are a problem ,they get all over ,we have to clean out our gutters every few months,and the house most days.

ps.Hope I got the spelling right

Kickstart has a good point about shallow rooting; I don't think that is what you should be looking for.

In order to shade a two story building you will need to plant fairly large growing trees. Large growing trees can and should have large, expansive root systems for structural anchoring and stability.

The key is to plant far enough away from the building so that you have plenty of space for root development; I would suggest 4 to 5 meters minimum from the foundation.

Don't choose very large growing trees like Raintree, Dipterocarpus, larger species of Eucalyptus and Ficus (fig).

Shallow rooting has more potential for conflict with structures and pavement than deeper rooting trees. Deeper topsoil can encourage deeper rooting and less conflict. Root barrier installation can help to deflect roots away from structures.

A landscape architect's services can be a valuable investment. There more factors to consider than just species selection: soil and water management, drainage, compatible plantings, etc should be considered.

Chiang Mai landscape architect Khun Pin of Thamalangka landscape services. Office at Kamtieng plant market. My last contact with her was a few years ago, but try thamalangka at hotmail

Or contact Ricky Ward of Gum Hak Doi Suthep and ICCM. http://ourchiangmai.com/

Ricky, formerly with Austalian Dept of Natural Resources is an awesome expert in Northern Thailand native trees, and a dedicated tree planting project organizer. He would probably welcome your inquiry and help you select suitable tree species, know where to find them, and help you plant them. He travels around northern Thailand so be patient if you don't hear back right away.

Whoops, I don't know why I thought you mentioned Chiang Mai, but now I see you didn't.

I am thinking about some shade trees. Up the back of our garden we have really really long grass/weeds which proving exhausting to deal with. I think the best option may be to plant lots of very shady trees up there which should (i think) prevent anything else from growing, am i right?

If so, i would some recommendations as to what we should plant. I think they should be big enough that we can walk underneath and still enjoy that part of the garden, and if they have some fruit great!

I was thinking maybe tamarind, longan, roseapple, mango? (some of these may work for the OP?)

I am a novice so would appreciate any advice from the experts here. Is there something i am missing? Will this indeed solve our problem with the long grass?

This from another forum. I believe you are describing a "Tah-Kaw" tree. My Thai friend brought over two 18" saplings about nine months ago, telling me, "These will give you shade, very quickly." OMG, in 9 months, they've grown higher than my house roof (17-18 feet/5-6 meters). It's unbelievable. And, I now have the little red berries (about as large as a small marble, right?) but didn't have the courage to see if they were poisonous or not! Apparently you survived. The berries were preceded by small white blossoms about 1/2" to 3/4" across.

Mulberries are about the fastest growing shade you can plant and are shallow rooted.

They do grow in Thailand...mulberry leaves are the only thing silk worms can eat!

As previous posters have mentioned, shallow rooted trees may not be what you want!

Your foundation is "shallow" no?

Something with a deep tap root, rather than a shallow diffused root system would probably be a better bet.

*** fruiting Mulberries can make a mess, the fruit stains concrete, but there is a fruitless variety available.

The photo is of a fruitless mulberry, I believe it is "Morus alba stribling"