Take a good look at the pictures below and see how many you know. Answers are below.
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A Liquidambar styraciflua
B Gleditsia triacanthos inermis
C Pseudotsuga menziesii
D Quercus palustris
E Paulownia tomentosa
Yes, we have all seen them and most of us have made them but they are detrimental to the tree’s health. Why? Because piling mulch against the trunks of trees and shrubs creates a dark, moist, low-oxygen environment to which above-ground tissues are not adapted.
Fungal diseases require a moist environment to grow and reproduce; piling mulch on the trunk provides exactly the right conditions for fungi to enter the plant.
Also, opportunistic pests are more likely to invade a plant whose bark is wet due to excessive mulching.
Instead of creating mulch volcanoes (see pictures), instead, taper the mulch down to nearly nothing as you approach the trunk. This donut-shaped application will protect the soil environment as well as the above-ground plant tissues.
Now you know.
Source: Washington State University Extension Fact Sheet FS160E
If you are like me, you park your car and rush to do whatever is on your to do list. Perhaps it’s a sale or a Zumba class. But stop and look at the hard-working bioswale. The plants in it remove your vehicle pollutants, capture carbon and cool the surrounding air. Paved surfaces tend to heat up and act as heat islands.
Water is captured by the plants and slowly soaks into the ground and eventually reaches local streams the way nature intended.
Note that while periodic weeding normally happens in bioswales, the one pictured below is covered with arbor-chips (free and effective) and Horsetail (Equisetum) is NOT an enemy in this setting.
Have you ever wondered why city boulevards are dominated by male Ginkgo biloba trees? My first field encounter with a female Ginkgo biloba specimen only happened last summer and I wondered why that was.
It turns out the females produce seeds in a fleshy covering (the sarcotesta) which contains butyric acid. Once fallen on the ground the fleshy parts produce an unpleasant odour; not exactly the best thing for city boulevards. I have seen various descriptions of the smell but why not find out for yourself? If you can find a female Ginkgo.
Aeration allows more water and oxygen to enter the root zone and thus leads to a healthier lawn. If you only do one thing to your lawn, aerate it!
The picture shows a core sample with minimal rooting. Aeration with proper fertilizer and irrigation schedule would be the recommended course of action.
The best cut is at (B) just above the branch collar (C). The stub (A) dies and can introduce disease into the tree; the tree cannot close the wound until the stub is removed. The branch collar houses repair cells which means we also do not want to cut into the collar.
Practice making Proper cuts and your trees will be that much healthier for it.
Tree wells are important for the tree’s health. They direct water and nutrients to the roots, keep the soil cool and moist, and help protect the tree from lawn mowers and trimmers.
