Question

Proposed tree location   Hello,

Thank you for offering this wonderful service. I have 5 feet and a few inches between my house and my neighbor's fence.  I long for an aspen tree next to my 2nd story bedroom window to shield me from an ugly parking lot and morning sun.

Can I plant a Swedish aspen in this space or am I just asking for trouble? I would be willing to do any amount of maintenance to be able to have a tree in this spot.  I see Aspen this close to homes in my town, Durango CO. Yet I worry about the foundation, which is concrete walls with a dirt crawl space.

Attached is a picture of the desired location.

Thank you!

-Julie

Answer
I am sorry this is not a good idea due to a couple of things. The space is too small--this tree grows to a width of 5-10 feet and at that width the limbs will be rubbing your house. The root system will expand to about 2 1/2 times the width of the limbs, which would mean they would invade the foundation. It also will sprout suckers from the roots and in this sense becomes invasive. I also think there would be an issue with moisture--it looks like the soil is dry in this area and during rains maybe wet. In that case the tree would not do well. Sorry but some spaces do not allow a tree to grow.