Tree Wellness

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How to Mulch Around a Tree

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By Enrique Arayata
ISA Certified Arborist® OH-7252A
April 7, 2021

 

Mulching is an important aspect of tree maintenance that is both functional and decorative, adding to your tree’s lifespan and helping it look its best. The main benefits of tree mulching are that it deters weeds, improves soil quality, protects trees from lawnmower damage, insulates soil from extreme temperatures, and retains moisture during hot weather. Today, I would like to talk about some tips and tricks on how to properly mulch a tree. At the top of this article is an instructional video hosted by ISA Certified Arborist Lindsey Rice that can be used to follow along while mulching your own tree!

Example of a properly mulched tree

Example of a properly mulched tree

To mulch a tree, you will need organic wood chip mulch, a shovel, a rake, and personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, gloves, and boots. A wheelbarrow or air spade may potentially be needed depending on the situation. The best time to mulch a tree is in the fall or spring. Many trees are incorrectly mulched when the mulch is too high or when it covers the root collar of the tree, which is where the trunk and roots meet. The mulch only needs to be 1 to 2 inches deep and the root collar should be completely exposed in order to properly receive oxygen. This will help prevent girdling roots, which are roots that wrap around the trunk in search of oxygen. This can suffocate a tree and add unnecessary stress. If your tree has girdling roots or a mulch volcano, you will need to resolve these issues prior to mulching.

If there are no girdling roots, the first step is to pull out any weeds surrounding the base of the tree. Then, you may begin applying mulch in a wide and evenly spread area. For younger trees, it is ideal to mulch all the way out to the canopy drip line, which is where the majority of a tree’s roots extend, but you may have to compromise depending on your landscape.

Example of a canopy drip line

Example of a canopy drip line

For older trees, this is not as important. You should still see similar results when bringing the mulch out about 3 to 5 feet from the base. You can use a rake, shovel, or your hands to evenly distribute the mulch. The mulch only has to be about 1 to 2 inches deep at most, so make sure you avoid mounding, Leave about 2 to 3 inches of space between the mulch and the root collar in order for the tree to properly receive oxygen and to prevent girdling roots. This will also help prevent any moisture issues, which can lead to disease and rotting. Afterwards, you are all set!

For maintenance, water your mulch whenever it looks dry. Ohio can have inconsistent weather, so there is no need to water it on a scheduled basis. Also, only add mulch whenever it is looking sparse and below that 1 to 2 inch needed depth. Make sure you break up, turn over, and mix in the old mulch to prolong the mulch’s lifespan, prevent any clumping, and to allow maximum movement of oxygen and water. If there are any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below and be sure to watch ISA Certified Arborist Lindsey Rice’s video for a visual guide on this topic! Good luck on your next mulching project!

Additional Reads!

Below are two excellent articles written by our ISA Certified Arborists related to mulch volcanoes and girdling roots.

”Mulch Mounds! Oh My!”
by ISA Board Certified Master Arborist José Fernández

“Are Your Trees Being Suffocated By Their Own Roots?”
by ISA Certified Arborist Chris Gill

Enrique Arayata Headshot.jpg

Enrique Arayata I Media Production Manager, Russell Tree Experts

Enrique is an ISA Certified Arborist® and FAA Certified Remote Pilot. In his free time, he enjoys working out, hanging out with his family and girlfriend, video production, photography, cars, technology, and cooking. Enrique has a BA in moving image production with a double minor in film studies and studio art specializing in photography from The Ohio State University, and an AA in web graphic design from DeVry University. His favorite tree is the Kwanzan cherry tree.

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Best Practices for Watering Your Trees

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Last Fall I planted a Nikko maple (Acer maximowiczianum) for one of my neighbors. Somewhat uncommon, Nikko maple is a small statured, 20 - 30’ at maturity, trifoliate, hardy tree with nice fall color. It has good urban tolerance and was a good fit for its location with overhead utilities. I have been watering this tree somewhat regularly with a large watering can that I can easily carry across the street and have been pleased with the healthy appearance and good amount of new growth that has emerged this year. As far as I could tell the tree looked great so you can imagine my surprise when I came home recently from a long weekend getaway and discovered that the top half of the tree’s canopy had turned brown.

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Worms by the Bagful

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Worms by the bagful. Bagworms, that is. This interesting insect is not really what we would usually call a worm, but is considered a caterpillar instead. While most caterpillars pupate into a flying adult (moth or butterfly), the female of this species never emerges from her mobile home. The male does, and he flies to the female so they can engage in activities that ensure the species does not die out.

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A Word of Caution

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Earlier this year I attended a talk on plant disease diagnostics as part of my continuing education as an ISA Certified Arborist. The talk was given by a highly respected individual whom I have had the pleasure of learning from since my early days as an arborist in central Ohio. This time, one of the first statements spoken caught my attention immediately. I paraphrase it into something like this:

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When and How to Prune Lilacs

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Common lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) are a favorite landscape shrub here in Ohio and beyond, with flowers that provide beauty and an unmistakable fragrance every spring. Other cultivars of lilacs offer different habits and uses in the landscape, but provide the same display of flowers that we all love. In order to ensure you get the most flowers on your lilac year after year, it’s important to know when and how to prune them.

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Bend So You Don’t Break

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Last summer, I had the opportunity to introduce our field staff to the practice of yoga. In heavy work boots and on a hard concrete floor, we made our way through Triangle Pose, Downward Facing Dog, and even a few Sun Salutations. Practicing yoga for 20 years and teaching it for the last 10, I’ve learned that the stretches and postures of yoga can help keep the joints and soft tissues of our body, like muscles and tendons, healthy and functional.

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Growing Degree Days

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This semester I am enrolled in a class called Integrated Pest Management, taught by Dr. Luis Cañas at The Ohio State University. One of the first lectures we had was centered around the effects that the environment has on insect populations. As we explored this theme we soon came across the concept of “growing degree days”, and I was reminded of how useful this idea is to increase awareness of what is happening in the natural world around us and to be aware of when potentially damaging insect pests are about to emerge.

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Identifying & Managing Rhizosphaera Needle Cast

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Rhizosphaera needle cast (RNC) – quite a mouthful, especially when one is an arborist in training, still green in the green industry.  My supervisor had just handed me a photocopy of a fact sheet on the disease since I had asked him about spruce trees I had been seeing with defoliating branches.

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Soil Compaction = Not Good for Trees

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Soil compaction is a big no-no for trees. When soil is compacted (above left graphic), water and oxygen cannot get to the vital root system of the tree. Water will collect on the surface and evaporate since it is unable to penetrate the soil. Seeing as trees need water and oxygen to live, compacted soil can quickly and severely impact the health of a tree.

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New Research: Boxwood Blight Update

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If you read my first installment on this relatively new disease, you will know the major difficulty of this pathogen (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) is that it infects otherwise healthy plants, and once it is at a site, removal and destruction of the infected plants is recommended, with no plant replacement for 3-5 years.  This is because the spores remain in and on the soil to infect new plants.  Existing asymptomatic plants were to be sprayed with fungicides to help prevent infection.

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That "Stuff" Growing on Bark

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As Central Ohio moves further into winter, and the majority of deciduous trees have dropped their leaves, bark becomes increasingly visible. Bark is an interesting and important characteristic for trees and tree identification. It doesn’t take long for a novice naturalist to distinguish certain tree species based almost entirely on the bark of a specimen (Beech, Hackberry, River Birch, etc.). Upon further inspection of a tree’s bark an observer might notice organisms growing on the trees bark. A large variety of fungi can be seen on the bark of deadwood in trees and is usually associated with poor health of that particular branch or the entire tree. However, fungi are not the only organism to inhabit the bark of trees.

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A Boxwood Bummer

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I wanted to dedicate this installment to Boxwood Blight, since this is a disease which has the potential to disrupt formal landscapes all across the state. The disease is fungal, and affects boxwood, especially the cultivated varieties ‘American’ and ‘Suffruticosa’. It is relatively recent in the United States, and was found in Ohio nurseries in 2011.

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Don’t get Fooled by the Fall Color of Conifers

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Every fall I get calls from folks concerned about yellow needles on their evergreen trees. Often times I’m told that the trees are sick or that they appear to be dying from the inside out. There are some disease and insect problems that can cause yellowing and premature loss of needles in conifers but most often what people are reporting is just normal fall color.

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Test Before Treatment: Soil & Tissue Testing

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I find it interesting that test procedures recommended in the medical field for human health have become part of the expected methodology, but not so much in arboriculture, for tree health. As arborists, we are trained that a soil test should be done prior to recommending fertilization, for example, but I don’t know of many outfits that make soil sampling a part of their modus operandi.

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Fear no Weevil (With Fall Systemic Insecticide)

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As we prepare for another season of Fall Tree Wellness, another important insect pest to take note of is the White Pine Weevil. White Pine Weevil is a damaging pest to a broad range of conifers, including White, Scotch, Red and Austrian pine as well as Colorado blue, Norway, and Serbian spruce. Douglas-fir can also be attacked.