Garden coach Amy Powers of Powers_Plants (@power_plants) posted some great tips on dealing with mulch volcanoes and girdling roots to TikTok.
"It's time to carefully remove the mulch and soil volcanoes from the base of your trees!" Amy wrote in the video caption. "As you remove the soil and mulch, you can cut small rootlets that have developed."
@powers_plants It's time to carefully remove the mulch and soil volcanoes from the base of your trees! As you remove the soil and mulch, you can cut small rootlets that have developed. As soon as you come across a root, that is thicker than your thumb that is a good time to call an arborist not a landscaper. When new roots are put out from the tree and they are going in a circular manner, this is called root girdling, and those circular roots will choke out the other roots underneath them overtime. This can damage, weaken, and sometimes kill your tree. it is always a good idea to have an license certified arborist come out to your property and inspect these types of root girdling situation's. They can give you the appropriate advice for how to manage the situation and they can help. if your tree belongs to your village or city, call the village, and they will send an arborist out to inspect your tree roots. #Zone5 #Zone5Gardening #Zone5B #Zone5BGardening #Garden #Gardening #GardeningLife #BeginnerGardening #gardening101 #gardenhacks #gardeningtips #gardeningtipsforbeginners #GardeningForBeginners #chicagogarden #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardentok #gardentiktok #gardentiktoks #learnwithtiktok #learn #mulchvolcano #tree #trees #treerootremoval ♬ original sound - Powers_Plants
Amy made a point to recommend talking to an arborist about cutting roots wider than your thumb. Small roots grow back quickly enough, but cutting larger roots could present challenges.
Secondly, she recommended using a small hand trowel rather than a heavy shovel for clearing the mulch around the base of a tree. This is because the bark and the cambium layer beneath the bark are vital for nutrient transfer. Damaging that with aggressive digging may prove fatal for the tree.
TCD Picks » Uplevel Your Yard
💡Save money, cut pollution, and impress your neighbors with the best yard on the block
Unfortunately, it has become fashionable to pile mulch high at the base of trees. This is harmful because roots are supposed to flare outward near the ground. Covering that flare causes an explosion of root growth as the tree tries to find air.
That root growth can include encircling roots that eventually come into contact with the growing trunk and strangle the tree just below the surface. Fixing this requires moving mulch away from the base of the tree and clearing any of these so-called girdling roots.
Trees offer vital support for ecosystems, even in yards or elsewhere. They prevent the harmful heat-island effect, support biodiversity, reduce soil erosion, improve local air quality, and sequester carbon.
These benefits depend entirely on mature trees surviving, however, and that means protecting them from mulch volcanoes and girdling roots. TikTok viewers appreciated Amy's advice.
"My ex insisted on mulching this way. Ended up killing 3 fruit trees. Thank you for sharing this information!" one user said.
"Root girdling. Feeling strangely passionate about this one. Off to save the trees!" another wrote.
TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight
💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands
|
If you have a lawn, what aspect of it do you value most? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
The way it looks 🤩 
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
