Mulch isn't always good for trees

Treemo

Not sure on how long it took, but it certainly wasn't the best positioning for the mulch.

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Eric Frei

LOL, just a little OD.

Correct mulching techniques in your gardens folks, 50mm to 75mm thick, keep it away from the trunk of the tree.

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sueann

I do that now but I never knew you had to. I thought trees liked to be warm and if I mulched up close that would stop frosts killing them.

Done it

That looks a bit like one place I dump my mulch, a landscape supplies place.

They've killed a few trees like that, now they have Caster Oil plants growing everywhere.

second-gen_monkey

landscapers love mulch, any mulch. if they can sell someone a pallet knowig the person only needs two bags they will. the same goes for "yard sand" they love that stuff down here. i stopped working for a few companies after being forced to over mulch trees and shrubs and knowing that the boss was well aware of the fact that they were essentially killing everything i had designed and put sweat and sometimes blood into.

one case was a "palm forest" i'd drafted up using Chinese fans, coconuts and queens with a couple stands of arecas for colour with river rock paths and white rock ground covering. put in twenty seven trees and three areca stands of decient size as well as a couple dozen orchid plants only to have the boss decide to use red mulch (which he convienently made from whatever debris hauled from random jobs, never quality controlled or even checked for peasts or disease) and managed to convince the customer that 6 inches would not hurt the trees as they "have very horizontal roots and arial roots above the ground". dishonesty cost him a very hard working employee as well as a coustomer. i couldnt find it in me to let him destroy my work as well as essentially waste the money that the couple had worked hard for to make their dream yard. i made a huge fuss about it and they opted for the rock ground cover of 1/2 inch thick small rock and i've been maintaining the trees for five years now. to be honest i've grown tired of seeing it and i'm thinking about jacking the price up or suggesting they hire a landscape maintanance crew as the trees can all be done with poll tools still.

Paul Toivonen

Recent studies show a thinner mulch (1"-2") to work better in most applications.
It makes sence, thinner mulch allows the water to penetrate, still suppresses weeds (not as well as 6"!!) and will not cook the plants if applied "green"
I have been forced to apply my mulch thinner on most jobs as I have never got the correct m3 which was paid for.
At least if you price the job at 100mm thick you can apply 20mm and get away with it.
Dont quote your job at 20mm cos you will only have 10mm coverage at best!

George Valentine

Geezzz, people, those are very bad examples from people working in this industry...!

Mulch, is just not mulch and it can very easily make more damage than good. What is mulched, when is processed and used as ground cover, is not all what it seams and unless, some controls and cautions are put in place, the very "thing" that one is trying to protect, it will simply kill it...!

Now, the dishonesty or unethical behavior from some of the people mentioned above, is something that I find quite idiotic, after all, if I have paid for a 4" quality mulch over, it wouldn't be that difficult to check with a ruler or tape or simply a stick with a mark at the 4" point and poke it at different places to see what was left as mulch cover.

There are also ways to check what was used in that mulch, depending on the specifications requested by the customer, I don't think that one could get away that easy by spreading gum and other common trees mulch, if the customer has requested Olive tree or trimmings mulch...!

That's only one example of many mulches available out there and if the person (company/business) gets way with getting paid to spread 4" of mulch and on spreads half or less of that, good luck to his/hers business practices, sooner or later he/she will get bitten up the ass, only a matter of time BUT, for the customers that allows this person to get away with it, shame on him. You have to be able to make a simply check to verify that the job was done according to the quote/payment, is not that what we all do...???

For those, rejecting to work under those fraudulent conditions, goodonya mate, you are my kind a guy...!

Cheers
George

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"Never do to others, what you don't like for yourself...!"

Paul Toivonen

I should have made it clear what I was talking about.
I dont want to name names, but I can tell you, in this town you never get what you paid for.
Is it not my fault the suppliers short change me (and everyone else).
Every single time I have measured and worked out exactly how much I need, allowed a bit extra (to avoid another delivery charge) and still come up short!!!!!
I have worked out if I allow a 100mm layer (THAT IS WAY THICK!!!!) most times I would have enough.
When I talk about mulch, I mean the stuff that is either composted or of dry material.
I stopped using the tree removal mulch, once had a trailer load of flax in it and guess who had to pay the tip fees!!!!