Welcome to this post about how close you can grow a eucalyptus tree to a house. Since it’s a pretty fast-growing tree, coming in at around 8 feet per season it can be a real competitor in your garden. But it does generally grow taller and doesn’t spread its branches very far. So if you keep it about 4 feet away from the house you will be perfectly fine.
Having it regularly pruned at the end of the season will also help in making it grow the way you want it to. We always recommend doing this, as it gives room for new growth the next year to more easily come forth. The result is a bushier and prettier eucalyptus tree.
If you are concerned with eucalyptus being a difficult or hard tree to grow at home then we have written an article that talks about this specific topic. You can find it right here, Is Eucalyptus Hard To Grow.
How Close To A House Can You Plant A Eucalyptus Tree
Just like we said in the beginning paragraph of this article, the best length to plant a eucalyptus from your house is 4 feet. This will create a sufficient amount of space for it to thrive and grow as it should. It can grow as a stand-alone tree and not bother your house with lengthy branches.
But you can grow it closer but then you need to be a lot more aware that you should be pruning the tree a lot more. This will keep it in check and make it grow the way that you want it to. We have a guideline that says you should never cut it down by more than 40 %. This is a sufficient amount to give room for new sprouts to come forth the next year. Although, you might think that this number sounds very high to cut down. The argument we have for this is that you won’t have to worry about killing the tree since it’s such a hardy species.
Given the speed that we said eucalyptus grows at then, you will see it returning to its former self before you know it. If you choose to grow a eucalyptus tree at home then you should also be aware of the environment it really likes. It should be a sunny spot in the garden and a place where the water doesn’t stay on the surface. Instead, we want it to drip down and get to the roots quickly. But on older trees this is not an issue, the roots are so deep that they can easily find water themselves.
Do Eucalyptus Trees Damage Foundations
This might be the biggest concert that we see when looking to grow eucalyptus. The tree can in fact spread its roots about 100 feet wide and damage either pipelines or in some instances the foundations of a house.
But it hasn’t seemed to happen at such a vast amount to alarm you from not growing it. But with this number and length, it spread you should make the decision yourself if you want to grow it or not.
Let’s reiterate again a little bit of the question and topic we have been talking about here. If you want to grow eucalyptus at home in your garden then keeping about 4 feet away from the house should be sufficient. We say this even though it can spread its roots almost 100 feet wide. At that point, it’s a very very old tree however and the likelihood it will stay around that long is pretty slim.
If you want to read up on the best soil to be growing eucalyptus in then we have written a dedicated guide to just this topic. You can find the article right here, What Type Of Soil Do Eucalyptus Plants Like.
