Question
QUESTION: I have recently bought 2 sugar maple trees and planted in the middle of our lawn. One of the two trees is located on the front (35 feet from the house foundation) and the second tree several feet farther from the first tree but only 14 feet from the house foundation. Both my above trees are very small and slim as of now. After reading several information online, my biggest concern is that, can these tree grow abnormally to 50 to 100 feet and become a big concern for the house during bad weather? (I live in Michigan). The second tree since it is located only 14 feet from the foundation, would that be a major threat? Is that a blunder I did? Please advise me. I much appreciate your timely help in advance. I have put lot of effort planting those trees and now much concerned. I like large trees but not a tree that is several times taller than the house and smash the whole house to ground zero. Can the roots of the above trees be a problem for the foundation? Please let me know your timely and valuable suggestions.

ANSWER: The 14 feet should not be a problem for root damage to the foundation but will be a problem with the branches. The sugar maple can grow to a height of 100 feet and have a spread of 70 to 80 feet.The spread means the branches will grow out about 30-40 feet from the trunk meaning they can rub the house. Now you can prune the branch off on the house side until the tree is tall enough for branches to grow over the house. I do not think there will be a problem with the tree falling on the house unless it became hollow with decay fungi--which would be many many years down the road if at all. IF you like the tree enjoy it knowing you will need to prune the branches as they reach the house. I hope this helps.  



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What I am noticing:
  In one of the two sugar maple trees which I planted two weeks ago, I am noticing leaf scorching (leaves turning brown on the edges and some slight curls).

What I did:
  I heavily watered the tree every day morning and evening. I later realized that it is a blunder as it can very well cause significant damage to the root system.

  I did notice some compact soil. But when I digged the hole duing planting, I digged approximately twice the width of the tree base. Furthermore, I also, added gypsum, lawn lime, pete moss and compost manure along with top soil to cover the hole. I also digged few holes with a core aerator.
  I applied a good fertilizer called tree tone.

Concerns:
1) The tree is located right in the middle of my lawn.
  1.1) When I was filling the hole during planting, after filling parly with the amended soil, I put the grass turf on top of it to cover the hole (this is the turf I cut from the lawn as a part of digging the hole). Is this correct? or should I dispose the grass turf and leave the hole open (with just the filled up top soil).
  1.2) Yesterday, I applied cyprus mulch around the trunk of the tree. Is this correct? Or this mulch will kill the grass as well as make the soil unbreathable and make the situation much worse?

2) Because I heavily watered, every morning and evening (inspite of the hot weather), do you think it might have rotten up the roots and the tree must have already started dying?

Is there anything I can do to fix the above mistakes and still save the tree? Assuming that the roots are rotten, if I stop watering how can the leaves get water? If I continue watering, that will continue rotten the root. What would be the right course of action in this situation?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Rog

Answer
I miss read "recently bought" IF you planted the trees two weeks ago you planted in the very worst time for survival. The weather is too hot and dry for the tree to not have some dieback . The root system can not supply enough water for the foliage to maintain itself. and the tree starts to drop leaves. Also fertilizer around a new planted tree will burn the roots and cause more problems especially compost manure.
You can over water. What I would suggest is to water once a day with 1 inch of water--place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Do this daily for a month then every third day until the Fall.. water unless you get a good rain storm of 1 inch or more. I would remove the grass from around the tree. The mulch will help hold moisture around the roots. Do not pile the mulch on the trunk and keep it less that 3 inches deep. Do not expect too much if you keep it alive you will have suceeded. May not get much growth the first year. But if you keep green leaves on the tree you will have won.