After a campaign by the Beautification Committee and the Parks and Recreation Department
to inform the public of problems with improper mulching, actions were taken to rectify
this problem with trees on Main St. Last year Bob Shipman and I wrote an article about
mulching trees for The Citizen. We included a photo of an over-mulched tree on
Main Street. In the article, we warned of the danger to trees of mulch that is too deep
or piled around the bark of the tree.
This spring the Town Parks and Recreation Department removed mulch from some of the
over-mulched trees on Main Street. The town crew used compressed air to loosen the
mulch. The condition of the roots was much worse than anyone had imagined. Instead
of growing downward and outward in a normal manner, huge roots remained within the mulch,
circling the trees. If these roots had been allowed to remain, some years down the road,
they would have strangled the tree. The trees had not yet shown any signs of distress,
but the over-mulching was like a time bomb. By the time the trees began to decline, it
probably would have been too late to save them.
One reason we mulch is to retain soil moisture so that the trees can take up nutrients
from the soil. With so many roots contained in the deep mulch near the surface, the
trees were getting fewer nutrients than if they had had no mulch.
In the last few years, it has been the "landscape fashion" to pile mounds of mulch
around trees, actually killing them with kindness. Please don’t do this or allow it
to be done to your trees.
If your trees have been over-mulched and you find they are root-bound, it is important
to do some research before you act. We recommend that you contact
The University of Connecticut Home & Garden Education Center
at (860) 486-6271 and ask for their Fact Sheet
on this topic. They will also discuss your specific problem with you.
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