One Utah homeowner recently turned to the tree experts of the r/arborists subreddit, seeking advice about their neighbor's questionable yard care practices.
"Neighbor's trees: only the Spruces(?) have this done," the poster wrote. "7k' altitude, in Utah. Bad idea?"
The other members of the subreddit were quick to jump in with the confirmation that: Yes, piling a volcano of mulch several feet up the base of a tree is indeed a bad idea.
"It is a very bad idea," one commenter wrote.
"Seems like an easy way to get a tree to fall on your house," another wrote. "He must have great insurance, or maybe he's got a good life insurance policy on his wife. Depends on what your endgame is. But I have crap insurance and love my partner so I wouldn't do this to my trees."
"Bad idea. I would print out a little article about root flare and mulching and politely chat about it. I'm sure they're not eager for one of their trees to fall on a neighbor's house or their own!" a third commenter suggested.
Overmulching the base of a tree so that the mulch appears to form a volcano is an extremely common practice, even among some professionals, so it's understandable that so many people seem to think it's the correct thing to do. However, as any true tree-care expert can tell you, it is actually very harmful to the tree.
Mulch volcanoes can confuse the roots into growing up into the mulch instead of down into the dirt, at which point they can wrap themselves around the trunk, effectively strangling (or, girdling, as it is called) the tree. The mulch around the trunk can also trap moisture against the bark, leaving it susceptible to fungus, insects, and rot.
Instead of creating a mulch volcano, the best practice is to spread a bit of mulch around the base of the tree while leaving the root flare exposed.
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