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Get Rid of The Mulch Volcano Around Your Trees!

While most tree owners realize the many benefits of applying mulch to trees throughout the year, many make the mistake of having too much mulch applied to their trees, creating a volcano-like pile of mulch. These large piles of mulch can actually cause significant harm to trees, nearby landscape gardens and turf, so it is vital to have professionals remove the old mulch and correctly apply fresh, organic mulch that will actually benefit the health and beauty of your trees.

Volcano mulch piles are common in the Houston area for several reasons. First, many property owners do not handle their own landscape maintenance or tree care, so they hire others to handle these services for them. Many of the cut-rate, amateur landscapers opt for a short-cut method of applying a large mound of mulch in the hopes it will help maintain the tree’s health and minimize weed growth. They believe that the volcano mulch pile will remain throughout the year and reduce their need to maintain or tend to the tree.

Additionally, amateur tree care crews that apply volcano mulch piles to healthy shade trees do so in the incorrect belief that it improves the beauty and value of trees and property. Finally, some property owners choose to have volcano mulch piles in an attempt to save money, thinking that because mulch improves tree health, a large pile of it will help the tree even more and reduce the need for costly maintenance down the road.

In reality, volcano mulch piles harm a tree’s health by significantly impairing the tree’s ability to take in vital nutrients, oxygen and water. As a result, these nutrient deficiencies can make the tree become highly susceptible to tree diseases or insect infestations because of their weakened health. The damage caused by volcano mulch piles actually increases the overall time, energy and costs of tree maintenance to the property owner than if they just had Landscape Professionals apply correct levels of mulch in the first place.  The mulch piles around the buttress root can actually cause the tree to produce secondary roots because the existing roots are being suffocated with no oxygen.  These secondary roots are not advantageous to the tree and cause a weaker tree in the end.

While a fresh, well-maintained application of healthy mulch can add aesthetic value and color to a lawn, too much mulch can end up being an eyesore and detract from the overall beauty of the property. In addition, large mounds of mulch can result in excess moisture in the root system, leading to root rot, or become a habitat for young rodents looking for tree bark to chew. Although proper mulch levels can suppress weed growth, a thick layer of mulch can actually become matted over time and act as soil for weeds to grow and flourish. 

If you are a residential property owner with volcano mulch piles around your trees, contact the Landscape Professionals of Embark Services to get those piles removed to preserve the life of your tree. Embark Services will gently and safely remove existing volcano mulch piles in order to examine the health of the tree and surrounding soil. Embark Services’s team will then carefully apply a proper layer of healthy, organic mulch to the area around the tree to ensure maximum benefit.

Embark Services is Houston’s leader in top-quality tree care and maintenance, and can help protect the health, beauty and value of trees for years to come. Embark Services’s team of Certified Arborists and Landscape Professionals provides exceptional care for lawns, landscape gardens and trees through their full range of services, including tree trimmingmulchingdeep root fertilizationsoil aerationtree plantingtree removaldisease and insect treatmentirrigation services and cabling and bracing of unstable trees. Contact Embark Services for more information about their mulch and tree maintenance services, or go online to request a free consultation today.