Experienced arborist makes a bewildering discovery after inspecting a dying tree: 'First time seeing this'

An arborist encountered something baffling after slicing into a client's tree: concrete. 

"First time seeing this," the Redditor wrote in the subreddit r/Arborists.

An accompanying photo shows a large hole that, sure enough, is filled with dark gray concrete. 

"That's an old school move," one person commented, to which another replied, "From a time in America when man was trying to be so dominant as to leave no room for squirrels, birds, or any wildlife whatsoever…"

Other Reddit arborists were similarly irritated. 

"The concrete provides zero benefit for actually helping the tree stay alive," one person wrote. The reason behind this? "Trees move, and concrete does not," another explained. 

Indeed, the practice of filling tree cavities with concrete was eventually dismissed as harmful by several tree-care authorities, including the International Society of Arboriculture. 

One person summed it up well. While the use of concrete may have been popular years ago, they wrote, "We know now [those] methods were not successful."

Unfortunately, this isn't the first example of a well-intentioned — but ill-informed — tree-care decision that ended up causing harm. From the piling on of "mulch volcanoes" to the usage of harmful pruning paint, excessive trimming, and more, many people end up involuntarily killing trees every year.

Trees, forests, and rainforests help to provide shelter, resources, and a means of survival for nearly every species on the planet, so preserving trees is critical. 

And trees have an important role to play when it comes to air pollution. 

According to the Arbor Day Foundation, a single mature tree absorbs as much as 48 pounds of air pollution each year. This is the equivalent of providing clean, breathable air for up to four people. And while scientists are racing to find supplemental methods of absorbing carbon and other air pollutants, the continued absorption from trees is crucial to our atmosphere's future. 

For all of these reasons, it is imperative to take better care of trees and yards — starting by ditching the concrete.

"We have grown in our knowledge of proper tree care," one Redditor observed. "Still growing I might add." 

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