One tree lover recently spotted something concerning outside of their work and sought advice from the members of the r/arborists subreddit about how to deal with it.
"There are 4 of these cherry trees outside of my work and this mulch job gives me heartburn," the original poster wrote. "I plan on going through and letting those beautiful root flares breathe but what is everyone's favorite method of de-volcanoing in a public parking lot? Rake? Shovel? Hands and knees clawing wildly?"
A "mulch volcano" is a landscaping trend in which mulch is piled in a tightly packed mound around the base of a tree. Although its practitioners seem to think that they are protecting the tree, the reality is that they are harming it instead.
Mulch volcanoes increase the temperature and water retention around the roots, leading to the growth of fungi and bacteria that can kill the tree. Experts caution that while mulching the ground around a tree can help the tree grow, overzealous mulch volcanoes do far more harm than good.
Mulch volcanoes are bad, so the question still remains: How should one remove a mulch volcano that has appeared in a public place?
Luckily, the members of the r/arborists subreddit had plenty of helpful suggestions.
"Wear a neon vest so people think you're official," suggested one commenter.
"It's basically Harry potters invisibility cloak in real life. I always wear one when I guerrilla garden," another commenter responded.
One commenter even claimed to have done this type of work before, writing, "You can just use your hands with gloves. The mulch only needs to come back a little bit from the trunk, just slide your fingers down along the trunk and pull it back 6 inches or a little more. Then you can kick the rest of it back to smooth it out with your foot. I've done it lots of times, it's like a 2 minute job per tree."
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