Willow Tree & a Pool?

SudsMalone

Hi,

We have a willow that's approximately 2o years old and in great condition (to our untrained eye).

We are about to put a fibreglass pool in and we are concerned about the root system. Will the roots get through the fibreglass and cause havoc with the pool? (The pool will be approximatly 5 metres from the trunk).

We also wanted to know the approximate life span of willow trees.

Thanks heaps in advance.

Drouin Tree Service

Pictures Suds

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SudsMalone

Sorry about the lack of pics, here you go





Having a closer look 'she' has thinned out a bit. We took 2 pictures, the scragly one shows the color and how thin she is 'side on' and the dark picture (sorry we couldn't take a better one) shows the shape when we look from the house, much fuller than side on view........

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The Tree Whisperer

fibreglass is generally a little more flexible then free formed concrete pools and so tree roots do not ususally affect them, the main concern would be the tree roots getting into you underground piping back to your filter and pump etc and causing you trouble. I suggest running a flexible impermeable plastic root barrier down to a depth of about 1200mm along the tree side of your pool. This is a lot less expensive then having to dig up all your pipie work later. Willows are quite long lived so at 20 years it is only a pup (although they are prone to severe infestation of wood borers,(great bait for that weekend fishing trip) so I would get a qualified arborist to assess the tree first just to ensure that it is healthy. (if it needs to go it is easier to remove it before a pool blocks your access.)

SudsMalone

Excellent thanks for that! (I'm glad she is a pup, I do love sitting underneath on a hot day, so relaxing! )

Can you point me in the right direction of where to get the barrier mat? Our pool goes in Tuesday so I got to get the skates on! Is it a simple trip to Bunnings or do I need to go somewhere a bit more specialist?

Eric Frei

You'll need to go a more specialist.

An arborist supply store, also there's Nylex root barrier so perhaps if you contact them.

Basically it's a thick plastic sheet, comes on a roll, various heights (depths) like 600mm, 900mm, 1200mm etc ... rolls are usually 30m

I'd suggest you go 1200mm deep.

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heartofhush

Would anyone have some free willow cuttings or branches they could post to me please.
I will pay for postage of course.
Thank you

Garry Brockley

I have to say that putting a pool even with a root barrier 5 meters from a weeping willow is dodgy at best, i have dug these roots from peoples foundations 30 meters from the tree from 500mm to the surface they are like figs at times, they are designed to be planted around water courses in the uk they use them to dry out wet areas.
they are also very messy at leaf drop which will infest your pool at 5 m just my 0.02cents worth

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