Plants need maintenance and ongoing care. Whether planting them in your local garden or home yard, ensuring your plants thrive is critical as much as paying attention to what grows around them. When we introduce something new to the community, we risk the opportunity for it to affect all others.
On Reddit, one distressed homeowner sounded the alarm after discovering a dangerous girdling issue with a costly, newly planted tree.
Shared to the r/arborists subreddit, which is geared toward an appreciation for all plants, the original poster sought advice on their newly planted 100-gallon chinquapin oak tree, concerned about the root's flare and whether they used an adequate amount of mulch.
A carousel of photos highlights the status and health of the plant roots from various angles in order to give users the complete picture.
"Tree service planted it with barely any root flair showing (first pic). I did my best to move some dirt away and expose some of the flair but I felt like I was damaging some of the smaller roots… I'm now worried I may have a girdled root and if I need to expose more flair and if I have too much mulch," explained the OP in detail.
Mulch, while helpful, can add to what becomes a mulch volcano, which can damage the overall health of your yard. Not only can it greatly drain expenses, but it may also kill trees and hurt the greater ecosystem.
Native lawns, in comparison, are wonderful examples of adding value to local biodiversity and your wallet at the same time.
By rewilding your yard with native plants, you can create a beautiful, vibrant space that supports local wildlife and requires less maintenance. Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, which allows them to require less water, fertilizers, and pesticides compared to traditional lawns. This is a significant time and money saver and helps reduce runoff to conserve water. It's a win for everyone.
"Larger trees may give an instant gratification, but do not equate to faster growing, not necessarily healthier not more vigorous trees, 5-10 years down the line," wrote one Reddit user.
"The root is not girdling yet—circling though. I think I would cut it if it's not too large of a proportion of the tree," commented another.
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Mowing the lawn 🏡 "Live and learn I guess," the OP wrote in response to the suggestions.
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