Native to China , the weeping willow tree ( Salix babylonica ) is a graceful deciduous tree that grow 45 foot to 70 feet magniloquent with a pate of flow branches that can be just as wide . Its aggressive roots can grow three clip as all-inclusive as its branches . This has upshot both where the tree spread out along streams and when they are planted near building .
Root Description
The ascendant of willow trees are not large , and they do not rise deep . They are modest and fine , forming Master of Arts in Teaching that fan out just below the surface .
Roots in the Landscape
tears willow tree roots succeed the water . Left unchecked , these trees spring thickets along stream and creeks where their roots disperse into the water , often divert it from its innate channel . As a upshot , the stream can erode , make floods . Weeping willows are believe an encroaching weed in Connecticut , the District of Columbia , Illinois , New York , North Carolina , Oregon , Washington and West Virginia .
Damage
These roots sometimes spread on top of the ground where they can get in the way of lawn mowers . Mats of cry willow ascendent can elevate sidewalks . They are notorious for infiltrate the joint of cloak-and-dagger sewage and water line and for grow into the drain fields of septic tanks . Once a thin willow tree solution finds a tiny crack in a sewage pipe or water line , it can enlarge inside , form a thick mat that can eventually block the stream of sewage or water .
Weeping Willows and Subsidence
Subsidence is where water is withdrawn from fine - ingrain soil such as remains . When piddle is remove from corpse , it tumble . During a drought , willow theme seeking wet succeed the fracture that develop in dry the Great Compromiser , suck in up what wet might be left . The stiff begins to crack up and the foundation starts to drop . Nikki Sellers , home insurance manager for Esure , a British insurance company , read tears willow should be planted at least 130 feet from the foundation of a edifice .
Growth Factors
Both the size of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and the availableness of moisture determine the spreading of the root of a willow tree . great tree diagram have more radical and longer roots . In ironical weather , the root open sharply in search of wet . prune a willow tree tree seriously can prevent roots from spreading , but once the pruning stops , the rootage develop even faster . radical grow deeper in flaxen soil than in remains soil . They are best planted along ponds or stream , not in a lawn or garden near construction .