Question by Janci: Young Camphor Tree 3 Feet from our House – what should we do?
Leaves and bark match camphor tree description. Leaves smell of camphor when crushed. Tree is currently 6 feet tall (was 3-4 ft. a year ago, when we bought the house). Planted in a walled bed, next to a magnolia. We’re in the Tampa Bay area, coastal Florida.

Questions:

1 – Will it damage our foundation, or cause other problems with our house, if we just let it grow?

2 – If it’s only 3 feet from our foundation, and we keep it well-pruned, can we keep it from getting big?

3 – Right now, the tree is branching a LOT, down low. Nobody ever pruned it, and it has about 6 “trunks,” each the thickness of a finger or smaller. Right now it looks more shrub-like, and i can’t imagine it looking like the photographs i’ve seen of mature camphor trees. Are there other, smaller varieties of camphor? Could this be one of those?

Every “expert” we talk to is telling us to dig it up, but we’d rather not. What do you think?

Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Joanne A. W
Be sure to read all of this website, diseases at the bottom:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST167

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Cut a long small branch with leaves and take it to a nursery to find out what kind of tree you have. Not a garden center, go to a true nursery.

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Tagged as: Camphor, Feet, from, House, should, tree...., Young