Every spring I cringe when I see freshly mulched landscapes. The more is better principle gets beaten silly and mulch spread with reckless abandon.
This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed how to mulch and it won’t be the last. How to mulch correctly is a topic worth repeating.
Volcano mulching is when a mound of mulch is spread around the base of a tree (See photo top of page). The cone grows yearly with each new layer. The sooner we can stop volcano mulching the better.
Below a tree thrives in the forest with no volcano mulching ‘help’ from man. There’s moss growing at the base of the tree because leaves only begin to cover the ground six inches away.
Mimic how mother nature mulches. She doesn’t dump piles of leaves against the base of trees. She spreads a light coating of leaves over the entire forest.
Why is this so hard to understand?
The illustration below shows how to mulch a tree incorrectly by volcano mulching. Mulch spread against the bark creates a moist place that encourages rot. Further, tree roots grow into the mulch making them drought prone. Finally, the mulch is so deep rain runs off and doesn’t reach the roots.
The illustration below shows how to mulch a tree correctly by spreading 2-3 inches or less of mulch 6-12 inches from the trunk of the tree. Mulch doesn’t touch the trunk.
If a tree has over 3 inches of mulch carefully remove it without injuring the bark or roots of the tree.
How to Mulch a Tree Correctly Samples
Below a tree I mulched last year has some dirt and moss around the base of the tree. It would be a shame to slowly kill this beautiful tree by over-mulching.
Another tree mulched the right way. You can see dirt at the base of the tree and that’s good. A few weeds may grow but it’s worth the effort.
How to Mulch a Tree Incorrectly Samples
I often see trees so over mulched you could mulch several more trees with the excess. I’m not kidding!
More volcano mulching. It doesn’t look natural and it’s no good for the tree. The madness has to stop!
Same look, different parking lot.
A beautiful oak tree sentenced to a slow and painful death.
Why would someone do this? I can’t make this stuff up.
Please help stop the volcano mulching madness.
Comments
2 responses to “How to Mulch a Tree Incorrectly”
Hi John. Yes I agree that incorrect mulching i a problem but not only in your area. For many years I lived and worked in Western Australia. While there mulching, trickle irrigation and planting natives became popular in response to the water shortages. Combined they are good answers to the problem but only if done correctly. Many people pulled out their lawns and covered the whole area in pine or Jarrah bark chips. They looked so nice that councils soon followed up on the idea. Native plantings then soon followed with nurseries overloading the mind of the uneducated with so many weird and wonderful species (yes Australia has strange plants).
Now you have to remember that both of these gardening developments happened at about the same time so naturally home gardeners combined the two without thinking. Some so called landscaping companies and nurseries were no better. Volcanic piles of mulch started cropping up all over the place.
Now add to this the wonder of trickle irrigation. Trees and shrubs started dying off like nobodies business. Too much water was being held against the trunk, by the mulch, which let rot set in and insects attack the weakened bark. Australian natives, mainly, grew up being drought tolerant and developed the habit of dropping their leaves throughout the year not just for a short period so they needed less mulch. This did not go well with the mindset of the Australians who wanted their mulch so deep that it kept the weeds away. So over-mulching, 6 inches or more, was common.
The other problem with mulch as a replacement for grass was the idea of putting down a sheet of plastic first but that is another topic that I am sure you have covered earlier on.
Wow Mark. With the exception of you living in Western Australia I could have written a very similar story with the exception of using natives. I loathe improperly used irrigation systems as well and the majority of them are used improperly.
It’s taken me a long time to realize how awful over mulching is and I admit when I started I was guilty of putting a little too much mulch, though nothing like the pictures in this blog. I hope I can educate homeowners and contractors how to do it right.
I’ve had more than one job where i had to remove over six inches of mulch before I could place mulch. That’s very disheartening.