One Texas homeowner recently turned to the r/arborists subreddit for advice about what to do with some inherited trees that weren't looking so hot.
"Prior owners did the landscaping. Is mulch at the base of trees like this bad for the tree?" the poster asked. "The tree looks terrible and I believe [it] is getting worse."
The landscaping choices here appear to be some deadly mulch volcanoes. Although mulch volcanoes are a popular landscaping technique, they are terrible for the trees they are ostensibly meant to protect.
Piling mulch around the base of a tree and packing it tightly against the trunk can confuse the roots, causing them to grow up and around the base of the trunk, essentially suffocating the tree while depriving it of the nutrients it was supposed to get from the soil. They can also cause fungus and rot.
Despite the fact that it is common knowledge among arborists and committed gardeners to avoid these techniques, they still constantly pop up in suburban areas, often installed by professional landscapers who do not seem to understand their massive drawbacks. Those drawbacks can even cause the tree an early death, which is a shame considering how trees are among nature's best methods of keeping the air and atmosphere freer of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, along with often serving as home to many other species.
The verdict from the comments section was swift and decisive: get rid of the mulch volcano.
"Texas loves their tree rings. Tree rings and mulch volcanoes kill trees. Remove them ASAP," one commenter advised, referring to the ring of stones bordering the mulch volcanoes. Tree rings (not to be confused with the rings inside of a tree trunk) are a popular landscaping technique used in conjunction with mulch volcanoes.
"Volcano mulch, super popular with landscapers here in CT, basically begging for girdling root and fungus though. Gotta dig that mulch up and expose the root flare. Not sure if your state does free soil tests, but you can bring a sample and it'll tell you if it's lacking nutrients," wrote another.
"Tree with a burial mound beneath it. Eventually for the tree itself," a third commenter added poetically.
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