hey

how about we start with a description of your foundation .. how old.. what technology .. etc ...

as far as i am concerned ... its more about the integrity of the foundation.. rather than the plant itself ...

you are spot on.. in regard to making it phobia-level ...

as to hoopsi.. and probably FAalbert ... at 6.5 feet.. [and you are a bit vague here ... whether that it the whole bed.. or whether you will plant on center??? ...] .. will outgrow that space within 5 to 7 years ...

refer to the world famous pic below ... that plant started as a one gal [i suppose you dont do gallon pots .. whats the equivalent??] .. second year graft.. at the date on the bottom ... even w/o a scale.. i hope you can appreciate ... that the skirt is nearly beyond your 2 meters ... now.. if you are willing w/in 10 years.. to harvest and have the coolest xmas tree ever ... then your options are unlimited.. but if not.. then i think Hoopsi in not a real viable option..

i dont do FA... so others will have to chime in on that one ...

anyway... again.. its the foundation that is the real variable.. not the plant ...

good luck.. and happy new year ..

ken

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You need something thinner.... in 30 years 'Hoopsii' might be 15'+ feet in diameter. On one back edge of my home (at the garden entryway)... I have Picea abies 'Farnsburg'.

@Ken,

Thanks for your answer.
The place I mean is next to our house, about 3 meters (9.84ft) wide and I think 10 (or a bit more) meters (33ft) long.
I have the intention to make a small path (1 meters wide) next to our house, and to plant the cultivars next to it.
I used my professional MS paint skills (lol) to make a quick drawing:

Our house was built about 20 yrs ago, so I presume the foundations are quite "modern".

@ricksample,
thanks for your answer.
I know some may indeed get too wide, but I can always remove it if it gets too wide. I'm more afraid for real damage which might be done.

Liop, you need to plant there two columnar growing conifers.
Only these will bring you joy for a long time.
The others will outgrow it's space sooner then you think...
I'll recomment you the two following one's:
Picea abies 'Columnaris'
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Picea pungens 'Iseli Foxtail'
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Oooohh...never seen that pungens before. It's a nice one!

I've read that Picea abies 'Columnaris' can get 15-20 meters high. Won't it give any problems if such big tree is planted that close to our house?

Liop, it's possible that they will reach that hight, but then we're 50 years further from now... :0)

Most tree form spruces can reach 15/20 metres easily, but the positive thing of columnar forms is that they won't get wide, and hight won't be a problem either because there's plenty of it in the sky ;0)

Would it possibly be dangerous for the foundations if they would reach that height (considering it would be planted 2 meters from our house)?

you are spot on.. in regard to making it phobia-level ...

==>>> let me rephrase what i meant to say ... and HOPE language does NOT get in the way ... of me joking around with you ...

you are insane on this topic.. lol ..

unless you have a 150 year old field stone basement/foundation.. that has been crumbling for 100 years ... there is no basis to make this an issue ...

a tree will not lift your house.. like it might lift a 4 inch sidewalk ...

your tree will not break open a septic pipe ... in search of water and nutrients .. unless the pipe is already broken.. then it will invade ...

presuming you have a basement wall or foundation.. that is INTACT..a tree will grow a root to the cement.. and turn 90 degrees and continue on its way ...

it will NOT somehow.. 'force' its way in ...

YOU defined such as a phobia.. which is: An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something [mer web dict]

the irrationality being key ...

and my key in this process .. is.. PLANT WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.. and dont worry about it eating your house ... that is what saws and shovels are for.. in 10.. 20.. or 30 years ...

OK?.. got it????

now.. based on your sublime art work.. you need a plant.. that will NEVER be wider than 2 meters total ... and that is still too big as you wont have a bed anymore .... and that is hard ...

lets start .... in case we havent before.. at the link. and read about CONIFER SIZES ...

you should.. right now.. rule out EVERYTHING in the LARGE [hoopsi] and intermediate ranges [FA including Picea pungens 'Iseli Foxtail' of which mine at 12 years.. is > 2 meters wide ...] .. and pungens is NOT one you want reaching into a walkway.. and literally.. making you bleed when you brush against it ...

and start looking in the dwarf category ... dwarf in 'annual growth' ..

but also.. we want to favor fastigate.. or columnar growth pattern.. rather than typical xmas tree shape ...

for example.. in the pic below.. is juniper 'gold cone' .. [and it has a 2nd name] ... its at 3 o-clock .. on the right margin ... thats its natural shape.. barely a meter wide.. never been sheared ... and very interesting in close up ... shape.. growth rate.. and form ... all tied up in one ...

{{gwi:326682}}

and this is where the suggestions need to be for you to fill your VERY SMALL AREA ...

now.. all that said.. in that very small area.. i could fit something like 20 to 30 MINI sized conifers.. and i will tell you.. that will be a lot better than 2 ... here is a pic in that regard ... the planting beds are just barely more than a meter wide

{{gwi:211254}}

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sooooo??? .. can we get you past roots making your house fall down.. and move on to the more important issues??? .. like enabling you into the world of MINI conifers ....

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: intro

Ken, thanks for the answer, however, I'm still not fully cured from my phobia; as I said, the place where I want to plant them used to be some kind of bamboo grove, (don't know what species, but about 4 meters high and as thick as my thumb).
Used to because I cut off all poles and dug up quite some roots, but because the job would take me very long (and would probably have costed me my back), we're going to let someone come with specialized equipment.
We have a veranda as extension to our house and I could clearly see that the rhyzomes did destroy something mortar. I don't think it was the actual foundation (too thin); but who knows what that monstrous plant may have done to the actual foundation.
As far as I'm aware of our house didn't subside, but that's why I'm very afraid of possibly (if they exist) making the cracks worse.
I hope you can still assure me nothing can go wrong and cure me of my phobia. :)

For the amount of plants; the drawing was just to illustrate where plants would come (At which vertical line they would be planted), so probably a lot more than 2. :)

Oh, and you have a beautiful garden by the way. ;)

I hope I'll get into the world of the mini-conifers soon too!

This post was edited by liopleurodon on Thu, Dec 20, 12 at 16:47

Some trees change their root system according the soil depth and/or the phreatic level depth. Araucaria angustifolia has a "default" pivoting root system that allows to plant it near to buildings and walls, but it can develop a difuse system with strong radial roots if the soil depth is shallow or the phreatic level is near the surface. In the first case, I know a few histories serious damage to foundations and walls.

Liop, 2 metres from the house is pretty close.
If I were you I planted 1 columnar form instead of 2.
I would plant it at the second spot, most far from your house.
To surround it with some dwarf conifers is a very good idea, the result could be amazing if you're planting the right dwarfs which will grow really slow...