[Cob] foundation near trees

[Yun Que]

   Cat here, just a story about trees!

    A client of mine had her house built by a contractor in a lovely
   grove of trees ( her main reason for buying the lot) It cost her more
   because it had mature oaks.  A year after the construction all the
   oaks died.  they had to be cut and cleared away.  The reason was that
   oaks apparently have very shallow delicate root systems that are
   vulnerable to disturbance.  The construction destroyed the balance.

    I never found out what exactly happened I can speculate that the
   foundation was too close too deep, that earth was moved over the root
   system and pounded down half the roots were just removed and all
   manner of ignorance was involved with the loss of her little forest.
   She completed the disaster by removing all the stumps so there was no
   chance of any rebirth and the hill side became a barren slip of clay
   that slid into the back patio first good rain.  This sorry tale ended
   with an expensive retaining wall and a lousy view.  So when one
   considers trees, do a reasonable amount of investigating as to the
   welfare of your closest neighbors, The Standing People!!
   for the good of all C.
   >From: "Amanda Peck" >To: coblist at deatech.com >Subject: Re: [Cob]
   foundation near trees >Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 07:19:46 -0600 > >
   >Looks like Elizabeth sent this just to me. So I'll pass it on,
   >especially since she agreed with me. > >I'd never seen that Israeli
   pattern language site before. Glad to. >Even if I do rather enjoy the
   classic diner coffee cup design. > >She's right the Pattern Language
   site is a totally disorganized >mess, almost as bad as my favorites
   list. > >The Small House bit is available to non-subscribers. If that
   >doesn't get it, I can fish it out for you. >.....................
   >Orion: I think I agree with Amanda here: > > >Consider Christopher
   Alexander's idea. Are you trying to build >your house > >next to the
   trees because it's the "most beautiful place" on your >property > >and
   the house would look great there? Not, according to him, a >wonderful
   > >idea because you'll still be inside looking out a lot. Better to
   >site your > >house so that you will be LOOKING AT the most beautiful
   place from >INSIDE > >the house. > >Make the trees a focal point for
   the landscape and garden. Think of >them as the focal point for an
   "outdoor room". > >Or is the lot so small that you have to build up
   against the trees? > >She mentioned Christopher Alexander--take a look
   at some the >information on the Pattern Language site (which expands
   on the >concepts in his book "Pattern Language"). >Some of the
   material on the site is only available to subscribers >but I know the
   first link at least is available to anyone (but the >$5/month
   subscription is quite reasonable, and it gives you access >to all the
   "patterns" from the Pattern Language book, which is very >expensive in
   print. The site does have broken links and missing >pages in sections,
   which is disappointing. > >MOSHAV SHORASHIM: HANDBOOK FOR HOUSE DESIGN
   >http://www.patternlanguage.com/leveltwo/archivesframe.htm?/leveltwo/.
   ./archives/israel/israel.htm > >Placing house volume:
   >http://www.patternlanguage.com/volume/volumeframe.htm?/leveltwo/../vo
   lume/volumetable.htm > >One Small House
   >http://www.patternlanguage.com/smallhouse/smallhouseframe.htm?/levelt
   wo/../smallhouse/smallhousetable.htm > >Elizabeth in WA > >
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