Homeowner reveals costly landscaping mistake that nearly destroyed their garden: 'A roll of the dice for longevity'

A gardener tried to backtrack after being told his mulching methods would end in tragedy.

In r/gardening, a post explained how a fellow gardener's warning helped to reverse a costly mistake that would have taken a tree's life.

After being called out for volcano mulch around their trees, two photos show the homeowner's efforts to pull it back. 

"Roots were already going around the trunk!" the OP wrote.

Wanting to ensure the plant's survival, the post asked if the mulch was properly dispersed this time around.

Not only is using that much mulch a waste of money, but it can also disrupt root growth, which can kill trees. Knowing how to fertilize a tree without over-mulching is super important to the tree's longevity and surrounding ecosystem.

Gardening comes with a bit of trial and error, but luckily there are tons of communities on platforms such as Reddit to make the process and getting advice a bit easier. Knowing how to mulch and what types of plants to put in the garden might seem like no-brainers, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

It makes a huge difference when you incorporate native plants into your lawn. Native plants thrive in their natural environment and don't require nearly as much water, maintenance, or fertilizer. Natives make your life easier and the ecosystem healthier since they attract pollinators — the unsung heroes of our food supply responsible for one in every three bites we take. We need pollinators to survive, so giving them a space to work with is beneficial to you, too.

Even transitioning to a natural lawn little by little still comes with benefits. You can start with a small patch of lawn and grow from there. There are all types of native lawns to be inspired by. 

You can rewild with clover, vegetables, wildflowers, buffalo grass, or even xeriscaping for super dry landscapes.

If you were to switch from a grass lawn to a more natural option, which of these factors would be your primary motivation? Making it look better 🌱 Saving money on water and maintenance 💰 Helping pollinators 🐝 No way I ever get rid of my lawn 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

The gardening misstep was a huge learning lesson for the OP and proves that gently calling out mistakes can make a big difference and even save a tree.

"The practice of burying the flare can also lead to girdling and future issues for the tree," the concerned gardener warned in the original post.

"Street trees in concrete cutouts generally have a hard life between trash, dumped drinks, road treatment chemicals, and the limited space it really does become a roll of the dice for longevity sadly," another Redditor wrote.

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