Young trees are permanently affected the worst. Just two or more inches of mulch/soil and three years time screws tree severely. How bad is this mulching fad for us arborist, we don't climb trees we can't see the rootflares on. Not because it's hiding damage, because it's most certainly causing damage we can't see. But doesn't it figure how everybody boasts that trees make oxygen for us to breath. Yet very few know that trees need oxygen too. So when folks are busy trying to save the environment, nobody even notices how surrounded by strangled trees! I mean thank God trees can't talk, no one would be able to hear above their wheezing.
And that's a learning institution, hope they don't teach science! Now landscapers found even quicker way of killing trees, by cutting sharp edge around ring mound and tossing soil inward toward trunk. And people thought wood chips suffocated roots, adding soil exponentially worse. _You folks down south so lucky to have those octopus limbed live oaks, Enjoy!_
Contrary to the myth promoted by this video, the cheapest commercially produced bark mulch (1 year) is colored with harmless minerals. Black comes from carbon, and red comes from iron. Adding anything else would cost more, so manufacturers simply do not do it. The discoloration found under colored bark mulch beds is tiny bits of those minerals. Its still there exactly because it is NOT a chemical that will dissolve into the ground water. That's another well debunked myth, and pretty obvious. Unfortunately, the free bark mulch mentioned in this video may have been sourced from residential yards sprayed with weed killers proven to cause cancer in humans. Commercial bark mulch is always sourced from forests. What Lumberjacks spray in a forest is nothing like Monsanto's Roundup.
Great video, I found that first putting down a layer of leaves before your wood chips to mulch is a good way to get the worms to come up to eat the mulch layer and add a good start of beneficial life and worm castings to your planting hole. I'm curious if you had any died back of your fig or pomegranate?
MIgardener | Simple Organic Gardening & Sustainable Living Aww bummer! I hear alot of cold hardy fig's roots will over winter and send out new shoots if they're mulched well at the base so could try mulching thicker (or try planting the Fig next to your heated house which would radiate out more heat than your unheated shed, mine is close to my Brick House which the bricks are good at pulling in heat and radiating it out). I planted five cold hardy figs this spring and mulched thick and I live near you, and I'm planning to take cuttings of all of them in the fall so by the next spring if any have died I still will have rooted cuttings that I can grow in pots or try overwintering again in the ground.... I'm growing a pomegranate as well along my brick house, I've seen these cool designed greenhouses that would go back behind the pomegranate connecting to the wall that can be pulled down and over your pomegranate for protection which might be an option to try... Good luck and keep pushing the limits of what can be grown!
Luke thank you so much your Video was Exactly what we needed. Tio late we purchased the red mulch from our Local Hardware Store. But I did learn something. Not too close to the base of the 🌳. I tried to tell my husband. Now I will just share it. Thanks.
best way to mulch 1 inch of leaves. 1 layer of cardboard 2 inches of pine bark mulch. the cardboard will help keep moisture in and weeds down and the leaves will feed the soil. leaves and cardboard will feed worms and break down in a year or 2. i have used pine cones on top the mulch also they do not hold water, or hurt the tree. but do shade the mulch underneath so it stays longer.
In the forest, the natural mulch is bunched up around trees, sometimes more than a foot. Dense forests have super thick mulch. I know many people who thickly mulch up against their trees, and the trees flourish. Wood chips allow air flow. And I live in a hot, arid climate. Thick mulch is what works here.
I agree...I also do thick mulch and don't have issues...my mulch isn't very fine, thus very airy...The closer you get to the soil, the more moisture there is....great habitat to feed the fruit trees.
I grew up in a forest. And I observed what I observed. Thick mulch, no roots exposed, unless it was a clear, downhill area exposed to wind and rain. Or the trees were growing from rocks, which rocks hold in moisture and provide minerals.. There are many different types of forests. Dense forests produce dense mulch. The point is most of nature, if left alone, produces its own mulch, whether it’s leaves, fallen limbs, bark, grass, and grasses. And it falls where it falls and can be dense and thick up against any tree, shrub, plant, etc, and it flourishes from the added eventual and continual compost and moisture. I don’t see how you don’t know this about nature. When’s the last time you’ve been in the forest? Lol!!!
Mulching right up to tread allows the critters a clean path to the trunk. Also a thick mulch tends to trap moisture, preventing water from getting to the ground. This moisture tends to harbor bacteria and is responsible for house fires yearly. This is the same way a wet bail of hay will ignite.
Rich Laue - lol you’d need an awful lot of mulch stacked up pretty high in a mound for a fire to ignite, and that’s pretty unlikely at that. I often get loads of wood chips that sit in 4’ heaps and never do these ignite, tho it gets hot indeed. It’s just mulch. And look up the Back to Eden guy, Paul Gouchie. He mulches his orchard thickly up to the trunk and his trees are thriving. Where are you getting your information from?
I just realized, that my gardener by mulching year after year killed my 40-year-old Japanese maple. 5 years ago the leaves started turning brown. Then branches started dying slowly. Then the bark stated falling off, and this year is dead! I wish I would have seen this video sooner I'd be 900 bucks richer. I'm planting 2 maples and I won't' let him go near them!!
Ive been using free woodchips the past 2 years with mycorrhizae and its amazing! Here in zone 8b they break down so fast i often mulch with well over 6 inches and its down to 2 in no time.
A very nice video. You should also mention that an orchard should not use mulch which is produced from orchard trees. This is because on that way you can spread diseases on you own trees.
Uhmmmm my apple tree's root are far beyond the drip line I noticed when I dug it to transfer😆 I mulch way up the trunk and it produced more roots and you tree grew faster😆
Mulch flat! By always raking out most of the old mulch before it turns into suffocating soil artificially raising grade over existing Roots which need air to breathe.
Naw dude we mulch very high over here in phx Arizona. Microbes and worms eat a foot of mulch down in a month in my soil. I mulch 2 ft high sometimes it’s gone in 6 weeks. It completely depends on your microclimate and what you’re growing. It’s not cut and dry with mulch you can absolutely benefit from mulching higher.
I'm not doing it for the tree...I'm doing it because its pretty on my landscape....going with color....no color mulch looks like a wood shop outdoors 👎
My newly planted trees has grass and weeds growing at the base. I'm going to add mulch as you show. But before I add mulch do I need to clear the area of weeds and grass? Should I add "Landscape Fabric" before I add the mulch?
Sorry, but this is only partially correct. Avocados are surface feeders and therefore thrive with heavy (organic) mulch. Not on the trunk, agreed, but other than that when it comes to Avocados mulch away!
Can you tell me about cypress mulch on apple new grout trees. I’m hearing is hard wood but now I’m worried about the cypress mulch I put down because now I’m reading that has too much acid. Any answers?
I highly doubt vegetable-based dyes (which is what is used on many dyed mulches) is actually guilty of any of the dangers being suggested here. But yes, natural mulch looks nicest and is healthiest.
One caveat with mulch...beware of artillery fungus! This nasty little thing can develop on fresh ground mulch and it will shoot little black tarry fly speck looking things (spore packets) on everything around it. And, amazingly, it can shoot them up to 30 feet away! We had some near the house that covered our siding with black specks that are almost impossible to remove even with solvents. So be careful and alert because if this stuff takes hold you will be having to get rid of all your mulch and start over with new stuff. You really don't want tens of thousands of black tarry specks all over your house, your cars or your edible plants.
Hi there! Is the mulch from redwood tree good for mulching the garden? We plan to use it for our landscaping. We have big yard and don’t want grass Do we need to put anything under the mulch so that the weeds won’t grow. Thx!
Not knowing about the colored mulch mine has red around it now.. I did move some away from the trunk will it be fine for the week until I get payed or does it need to be removed immediately? Thanks for the tips!!
Just because someone uses the word chemicals does not mean that they are all toxic. It’s OK to buy dyed mulch. Just look on the label to see what type of dye is used. Some are bad most are good.
Just because someone uses the word chemicals does not mean that they are all toxic. It’s OK to buy dyed mulch. Just look on the label to see what type of dye is used. Some are bad most are good.
I am using wasted hay with some goat poo in it. Im assuming this is ok. I am 3-4 inches deep and it is a couple of inches away from the trunk. Any advise???
But this tree is planted too deep lol. How can u give advice if u dont know how to correctly plant a tree? This can be much more detrimental to its health, just like volcano mulching
Hi I enjoy your videos and all of the information you provided it helps me a lot. I watch your how to videos but I don't see one on Eggplant. There are several types which is better for them in the ground or containers. Have a Great Day!!
Water by the Trunk goes down due to gravity, there are roots below the trunk. Mulch should never be mounded next to the trunk, it should be shaped like a crater with the tree in the center, or you might visualize a cup. When you mound the mulch next to the trunk the water runs away from the tree, you want the water to stay as it would in a cup next to the tree. Do not fertilize or use weed killer next to newly planted trees or shrubs.
Except in Phoenix at 115 degrees and up in summer more mulch helps save our fruit trees. Of course loosely mulch and we have to clean out every spring and start over. I do learn from you even though you are in a different zone. We are 9B
I’ve planted 1000s of trees and heavily “mulched” most. No issues. Conifers, deciduous, shade, hardwood, softwood, ornamental and fruiting trees. The depth of said trees planted and the relation of the crown to the ground level is the most important. Know your species and their moisture requirements and plant accordingly. This is non- debatable. This wood chip revelation and back to eden thing is not new. Many people have been employing these techniques for hundreds if not 1000s of years.
Thanks for the video. Was feeling the need to add another layer of mulch to my peach tree but according to you it's doing fine. I did know not to go too high but not to keep it pushed back from the trunk. Thank you.
should i put a weed barrier around the circumference of the tree and then put the mulch on top? i have grass around the tree now but i want mulch instead. thanks
appreciate this. The house we just moved into has everything way overmulched especially the trees. The problem is that one tree has so much mulch probably from the start that the root system is in the mulch up towards the top. I am concerned that if I dig out the mulch it will look ridiculous with roots in the air.
Luke, can you make a video about growing fruit trees in pots pretty please?!!! I have a grafted plum, grafted cherry🍒, grafted apple🍎, and grafted peach🍑 tree all in pots (because I don’t own my home, I rent), and I’m thinking about getting a fig tree to put in a pot. I’m in the DC metro area. I would love a tutorial about growing fruit trees in pots.
bmclark82 I have the same thing. Got them last year, they're growing beautifully but still wonder how large a pot they will eventually have to be moved to. Do you move them in winter? I live in a zone 7 and moved them to our large hallway in the entrance but think they suffered more with the dry air indoors.
MIgardener | Simple Organic Gardening & Sustainable Living Thank you! That’s so awesome of you guys ❤️. Unfortunately, nothing really in the horizon yet but I’m hoping, we’ll see :-D
Ok so I go to my town Free Mulch lot and load up on tree mulch that most likely has some wood chips in it from diseased trees that were cut down and chipped up for FREE MULCH. Now what? I put diseased wood around my precious trees. NO THANK YOU. I use baled clean straw. Cheaper and safer.
2:15 Does this “tree expert” think that rain comes straight down every time? Also, all these points about mulch really does not matter... if the soil is good and there is sun, the tree will thrive just about 100% of the time.
Something certified as not containing pressure treated wood. Other bagged mulches could have recycled wood treated with arsenic. Or, you can contact a local arborist. If you're looking for large quantities they'll usually let gardeners have their leftover chips for free or cheap.
I would say a layer of chopped up leaves, they are free. A lot of the colored wood is simply ground up wood pallets, full of all kinds of nasty chemicals that they where transporting.
Those things are so invasive I've got them popping up all over my property due to the church next door not wanting to clean them up so they just keep on spreading
I use clay buster that's a natural pine bark mulch that's very fine. I use it making tree circle gardens. I don't have anything small like you're showing. I have newly planted bushes. It's around 3" deep. Too thick, you can't get water to it. 🐀🐾
LUKE, I live in northern Ohio, almost Michigan area. WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR FRUIT TREES? I'm especially interested in the peach trees. It's so hard to find good nurseries around here, can you share some of the nurseries you go to. I'm getting very discouraged because I can barely find worm castings let alone peach trees.
Hi I agree with keeping mulch away from the tree trunk. Also the coloured bark on any edible fruits or veggies. I do like to put down a lot of cardboard before topping with any natural bark substance. As using any form of weed mat or plastic… kills the natural organic underneath…eg.. worms, they can’t get to through the top to breathe. And the weeds seem ok for a while but then in wind, the seeds and bird droppings sit on top and dirt is blown on top and you get weeds between the top and the weed mat still. Cardboard is the best before adding any bark. If some weeds pop up, they are so easy to remove. And you know you are doing good to underneath as the worms eat cardboard. 😊
Cold? Wish you were here. It’s in the low 90’s here. A real scorcher for the past week. And, we really need rain. I’m watering everyday. But I have harvested my potatoes, they really don’t like the heat that well. Probably gonna be a long hot dry summer. I’ve always use grass clippings. Will that be alright?? It rots as it hold the moisture in.
Oh my gosh, I did it all wrong. I will correct. Thank you. Also, I love Migardener Trifecta, bamboo gloves, nail brushes, and seeds (they are sprouting now). Fair prices too for the quality.
