Thread: Tree identification question

There are many differing varieties of these and it should be slow growing and by the looks of it that should be about it. Its not heavilly rooted and I doubt it could destroy anything. They usually are not a natural tree but are grown from cuttings. the parent tree had a disease or injury and grew what is known as a witches broom, a genetic abnormality. Nurseries grow these on to see what emerges. I would suspect this is one of that type.

Looks like Cupressus sempervirens (Italian Cypress) but as rrober said there are heaps of cultivars. If you showed the top of the tree in the photo it would be easier to know if it's still growing. But ID is not important it is a cypress so it has smaller roots than most trees ie not long running large roots. So physical damage from roots is unlikely, unlike Liquidambars and ashes etc. All trees use water so if you are on clay the soil will shrink as it drys and swell as it gets wet. It is uneven shrinking that causes cracking. So areas near trees are usually drier than areas away from trees and this is the cause of most "root problems".
The location of the tree to the step would be helpful. It could be the tree it could be the soil under the step was not compacted. Soil type is more important than tree type. The only real way to tell is measure soil moisture levels near tree and away from tree near the house. There has been little work done on water usage of trees that are not used for timber as who would fund it?
If the things go to court the trees always loose. Some stupid magistrate once said no tree should be planted within one and a half times its eventual height to any building, now others refer to it. Which means no tree should be planted in suberbia. Also if there is a crack and on digging a tree root was found then it did it, in one case I know of a broken sewer expanded the clay and cracked a wall the tree owner had to pay as there were roots there trying their hardest to dry the soil and return the soil to lower moisture levels.
Hope this helps Glenn