Best tree for the job?

[Adam1990]

Hi Guys, 

 

Currently we have Prunus royal burgundy planted to the side of our house between the wall and boundary fence. (approx 7 ft wide) This was obviously planted by the previous owner to block the view from the house opposite into the prime seating area in our garden.

 

A very lovely tree and does a good job of blocking the neighbours looking into that area of our garden.... However when it was planted the previous owner planted it directly over a drain and less than a meter from my house wall.

 

So I'm planning on removing the tree and setting up a raised bed digging down slightly and putting a root barrier in place to protect the drain underneath, so that I can replant another tree and have peace of mind knowing it wont be able to damage the drain below.

 

So the question is what should I replace it with? At the moment I'm thinking to either replant a Royal Burgundy or a Silver Birch Snow queen variety or possibly a Japanese Maple If there is one that can reach 10ft tall in a couple of years.

[openspaceman]

Why? Have you put a camera down the drain to see if it is vulnerable? Is the tree causing other damage?

 

Most ornamental cherries don't get very large so why not enjoy it for a while more?

[Khriss]

Pic would be good - and yes to the above, plus how old is yr house?  K

[BonzerBob]

Definitely not the birch!

[Adam1990]

So I've attached the only Photo I have which does make it look smaller than it actually is. 

 

Part of the reason I want to remove and replant something contained is because when we replaced the gutter due to leaking and overflowing in heavy rain, we discovered that the roots had made their way into where the gutter enters the drain below causing a blockage. 

[nepia]

Might sound a silly question but you're sure the roots in the drain belonged to the cherry plum and not the neighbour's bamboo?  The roots are very different; the plum's obviously would be fine and irregular in shape, the bamboo's thicker, straighter and white/pale in colour.

[Adam1990]

1 hour ago, nepia said:

Might sound a silly question but you're sure the roots in the drain belonged to the cherry plum and not the neighbour's bamboo?  The roots are very different; the plum's obviously would be fine and irregular in shape, the bamboo's thicker, straighter and white/pale in colour.

Funny enough I was hoping it was the bamboo roots .... Thats a long story though.

 

But no it was actually the Tree roots that found their way in.