One homeowner was ready to start a crusade when their HOA botched a new tree planting in the neighborhood.
"Wondering if it's finally my time to shine," they said in their post on r/arborists. "HOA paid to have street trees planted in our neighborhood. I assumed going into this that I would get the volcano treatment, but I think I got so much more."
The original poster is referring to volcano mulching — the practice of piling mulch high around the trunk of a tree. While some gardeners like the way it looks, it's actually extremely harmful to the tree, which needs its root flare exposed to the air. Volcano mulching can lead to rot and bug infestations and can also cause girdling, when a tree is strangled by its own roots. The situation can easily lead to the death of the tree for several reasons.
According to the original poster, though, the problems in their case were worse. "This is a Northern Red Oak, about 10 feet tall," they said, attaching several photos of a freshly planted sapling.
In the photos, the original poster digs away a shallow mound of loose dirt to expose the roots of the tree — or at least, they would be exposed if they weren't still tied inside the sack that the tree came in.
"Of course, no soil prep was done of any kind," said the original poster. "The burlap was left on, clearly wrapped against the trunk. Wire is still around the burlap. It appears they removed some turf, dropped the tree in the spot, and 'backfilled' with the turf just flipped upside down. Almost the entire root ball is above grade. … Is this correct?"
Commenters didn't like the look of the setup any more than the original poster did. "That's disgusting," said one user.
"They 'half-a****' it hoping nobody would be the wiser, and when the tree craps out in three to four years, they are well past the year warranty," said another commenter.
That would be a loss for the neighborhood, since trees provide clean air and shade while helping to prevent heat islands. Hopefully the original poster can push the HOA to redo the job correctly.
🗣️ Should HOAs be able to force homeowners to change their yards?
🔘 Absolutely not 💯
🔘 Yes — it's part of the deal 🤝
🔘 Only in extreme circumstances 🏚️
🔘 We should ban HOAs 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
If you need to work with your HOA on a similar issue, check out this guide.
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