Consider Your Plant Placement
Having a garden around your home takes work, but the results always bring out the best in a house. If you have a green thumb, this can be an especially gratifying activity, but in raising garden around the house, you should take care not to have the plants set too close to the home itself. It may not seem like it, but over the years, plants can have a negative effect on the foundation of your home, eventually leading to possible water damage.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s always best to set plants at least 12” away from the foundation of your home. One reason for this is the health of the plant itself, as it will receive far less rain water directly beside the house thanks to the overhanging roof and eavestrough. The other reason is for the welfare of your home itself. Depending on the type of plant, the roots may eventually damage the foundation, or the plant itself may absorb too much moisture from the soil, causing it to compress and leaving the foundation more vulnerable to direct exposure to water, which can lead to leaks.
You should also be careful about vine plants, such as Virginia Creepers. Although they can look quite spectacular when allowed to cover a home, they also require a lot of maintenance to keep them under control, especially once they reach the roof level. When plants like creepers hit the roof, they inevitably start to grow along the downspout or eavestrough, and may congest them to prevent water flow, or even push the eavestrough away from the roof, negating its entire protective function.
This isn’t to say that a home shouldn’t have a beautiful garden. It just means that in addition to the work you put in to grow the plants, there should be some effort to ensure your roof and foundation are also protected from growth efforts of the plants.