Your siding plays a key role in the integrity of your home. It offers insulation, comfort and protection from the elements, not to mention the beauty it adds to your curb appeal. Since your siding greatly impacts both your home’s interior and exterior, it only makes sense to protect it as best you can. You may not realize it, but plants like trees and shrubs can affect and damage your siding in a number of different ways. It’s imperative to learn about and prevent these problems before they take a toll on your home.
The Effect of Trees and Shrubs on Your Siding
Scraping
If the trees and shrubs near your home grow too long, their branches can scape your siding, effecting its strength. When the surface of your siding is worn away, the scraping of the branches can cause the failure of paint, vinyl, and aluminum.
Cracking
Trees and shrubs that push up against your siding can also lead to cracks from the pressure. Cracks are a serious problem since they allow insects and pests into your interior.
Rot and Mold
Rot and mold are other serious issues to look out for when you have trees and shrubs near your siding. They can prevent air circulation and evaporation, leading to rot or mold on your siding, and bushes specifically can trap moisture near the foundation of your home, resulting in mold in your basement.
Rips and Tears
Rips and tears are problems you have to look out for if you have larger trees in your yard. Dead branches are prone to falling off, which can rip away a big chunk of your siding.
How to Protect Your Siding From Trees and Shrubs
Now that you know how trees and shrubs can damage your siding, it’s time to put a plan in place to protect your siding the best you can! Here are 3 steps you can take to protect your siding from trees and shrubs.
1. Regular Inspections
Make sure to do regular inspections of your siding to make sure no damage has been done. If trees and shrubs have damaged your siding, it’s important to get it taken care of right away. At the start of each season, pull away branches to look for scrapes, cracks, rot and mold, and make sure to check on any big trees to see if any branches are dying.
2. Pruning
If you have trees and shrubs in close proximity to your siding, make sure you’re alert and prune as needed. All trees grow at a different rate, but you’ll generally need to trim them every 3 to 5 years. As for shrubs, you should prune them once a year in late spring immediately after they finish blooming. If your plants are located extremely close to your siding, you may need to trim them more often. If you’re diligent about checking up on them, you’ll be fine!
3. Plan Ahead
If you’re planning on planting trees and shrubs in your yard, make sure they have lots of room to grow. Find out what size each place will grow to when it matures and leave significant space around it. A good rule of thumb is to leave about 10 feet between trees and shrubs and your home.
Trees and shrubs can elevate the landscaping of your home, but if you’re not careful, they can also affect your siding. Take these preventative steps to ensure your plants and siding can live in unison!