Mulching Can Be Good Tree Care... If You Do It Right
Posted on: 11 June 2020
Have you ever seen trees with mounds of mulch around them? This practice of mulching around trees is more popular in some areas than others. As it turns out, mulching around your trees can be great tree care, but only if you do it right. Below, you will find a guide to the benefits of mulch and also some tips to ensure you are mulching in a way that helps rather than hinders.
Benefits of Mulch
The main benefit of mulch is that it traps moisture in the soil. Although trees have roots that reach deep beneath the surface of the ground, they can still want for moisture during times of drought. A good layer of mulch reduces the amount of moisture that evaporates from the soil, giving the tree more resources to draw from.
As long as you use wood mulch, the mulch also breaks down over time and adds nutrients back to the soil. This is really important for trees. They are so long-lived that without mulch or a source of fertilizer, they deplete the soil around them of nutrients over time. A tree that is protected by mulch will have the nutrients it needs to develop more leaves and thicker, greener leaves.
Mulching Tips
If you don't apply mulch properly, it can unfortunately do more harm than good. Make sure you avoid piling mulch directly against the trunk. Although this volcano-shaped mound of mulch may look attractive, it makes the trunk prone to rot due to all the trapped moisture.
Another thing to avoid is using any sort of diseased wood in the mulch. Many tree diseases are fungal, and the spores can hide out in the wood for quite a while, eventually infecting the tree. Source your mulch from a tree care company that you know will use clean, healthy wood.
A three-inch layer of mulch is enough. Any more than this, and rain may not fully permeate the mulch and end up down in the soil. It is better to start with a thinner layer and then top it off every couple of weeks than to pile a lot of mulch on at once.
With the tips above, you can use mulch to your tree's benefit. Reach out to a tree care company in your area if you have any questions. They can be very helpful, and in many cases, they can even sell you the mulch you need
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