Tried planting oak trees along my driveway 8 years ago and now I'm dealing with roots cracking the concrete

I planted 5 oaks back in 2016 thinking they'd give nice shade in 20 years. Fast forward to now, two of them have roots pushing up the asphalt near my garage in Portland. Learned the hard way that oak roots spread way wider than the canopy, so keep them at least 30 feet from any hard surfaces. Has anyone else had this happen with fast growing trees they planted?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_charlie3d ago

8 years ago I planted six silver maples along my fence line in Portland. Last summer I found a root had pushed a two foot crack through my neighbor's driveway slab and I had to pay for half the repair. Oaks and maples are both notorious for this. My buddy calls them "concrete finders" because they always seem to grow right toward any hard surface. If I could go back I would have stuck with smaller ornamental trees or just built a trellis for shade instead.

zarapalmer3d agoTop Commenter

Yeah @the_charlie, I feel your pain. I planted a silver maple in my backyard years ago and now there's a root sticking up through my lawn like a snake. Those things are relentless. My driveway slab has a hairline crack running straight from the tree's base too. Wish I'd just gone with a dogwood or something smaller. Live and learn, right?