Homeowner disappointed after seeing major landscaping mistakes during drive through neighborhood: 'I don't even understand'

A homeowner was frustrated to see mounds of mulch surrounding a row of maple trees. The mulch was piled up high, covering about a third of the trees' trunks. 

"Why? This seems criminal," wrote the Redditor who shared the photos. "This is on my drive in my town. About 7 maples all like this."

Redditors agreed the excessive mulch was a landscaping mistake that actually does more harm than good for the trees.

"I don't even understand. I'm a landscaper, occasionally there will be a tree that someone mulches too much for a few years before someone who knows what they're doing says to knock it off, but the only way I see this happening is if someone was getting paid depending on how many yards of mulch they spread," commented one user. 

"It's bad for the tree, but does it even look good?" wrote another Redditor. "I'll never understand how heaping mulch on a tree is 'aesthetic' over a 1 to 2 inch layer evenly spread near the trunk. All I can figure is it's lazy and a waste of mulch."

Overmulching your trees and plants limits the oxygen supply circulating in the soil, causing the roots to suffocate and eventually die. Too much mulch piled against the trunks of trees can also trap excess moisture, which can attract insects and diseases.

One way to help your garden and trees thrive is by installing a native plant lawn. Instead of spending time and money mulching your yard, consider growing plants local to your area. 

This is an easy way to save money and time on lawn maintenance. By switching to a native plant lawn, you can save $275 on water, $50 on fertilizer, and $50 on pesticides and weed control each year.  

Growing native plants in your yard also supports the health of the local ecosystem by attracting key pollinators, such as bees and butterflies.

Redditors were disappointed to see such wasteful amounts of mulch being used and discussed how problematic it is for the trees.

"Beautiful trees…sad demise," wrote one user.

"This is one of the numerous posts here that have me thinking we should, as a sub, write up a letter template that folks can use to try to inform the owners of volcano-mulched trees of the risk/death sentence. I'm sure no one wants their trees to die," responded another Redditor.

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