Trees that can be planted a metre away from a garage?

[porterlizz]

Hi there

I have a backyard that is predominently patio, with raised borders that are approximately 2 metres wide (maximum) - the rear of which butt up against a garage.

Are there any trees (preferably fruit, but not essential), that have a reasonably compact root system and will not damage the garage. I'd like it to get reasonably tall - say 8-10 feet if possible.

Thanks

[FB.]

If you stick with nothing larger than semi-dwarf rootstocks and prune them correctly you should be able to grow a wide range of fruits.
If the soil is really poor or the variety grafted is slow-growing, you may even be able to grow fruit trees on vigorous rootstocks; I have two D'Arcy Spice apples (a very slow-growing variety) on M25 rootstock (a very fast-growing rootstock) growing against a sunny South wall.

The best rootstocks for your purpose would probably be:

Apple: M9, M26.
Pear: Quince C
Plum/peach/stone fruit: Pixy, VVA-1
Cherry: Gisela 5

The roots if any tree will be roughly in proportion to what's above ground; the bigger the tree the more roots it will need to grow to find the water and nutrients to support the big tree.
So a tree that is allowed to get very large will have a very large set of roots. If the tree is not allowed to get large (using correct pruning/training techniques) then its roots will not get too large.

A small tree growing against a garage will use no more water than any other similar-sized plants growing there; often bushes are allowed to grow alongside building and bushes can become tree-sized, with tree-sized needs for water and tree-sized roots to match.
Most fruit trees - even on vigorous rootstocks - are, in fact, medium-sized bushes; even vigorous wild seedling apple trees are no more vigorous than common hazels (commonly used for hedges and bushes).

[Two_Sheds]

I have 12ft tall trees planted 2ft from the house: they're in big strong pots, sunk in the ground.


I'll be digging around and investigating whether their roots have broken through the pots, but I doubt it