New homeowner concerned after seeing what previous owner did in their yard: 'That's a literal ... nightmare'

Sometimes you wish your instincts were wrong when you notice something potentially problematic with a recent purchase. Unfortunately for one new homeowner, their hunch was bang on the money when it came to a tree planted in their yard.

Posting to the r/landscaping subreddit, they shared a photo of the troublesome tree and titled their post: "Too much mulch? Just bought a house and worried it's suffocating tree."

The picture showed a concerning amount of mulch stacked high all the way up to the tree's base. One user backed up the original poster forcefully, writing, "Yeah that's a literal tree nightmare."

Someone claiming to be an arborist chimed in and asserted that "most landscaping companies don't know how to mulch or even what a girdling root is." They told the OP to mulch "two to three inches max with it tapering down towards the base of the tree so that it's just a light dressing around the root crown/basal area."

Another user clarified even further, writing, "You basically want to create a 'donut' of mulch, where it's not piled directly up against the trunk." 

The community's advice was a direct antidote to the common landscaping mistake of mulch volcanoes.

Mulch volcanoes can wreak all sorts of havoc for trees, whether that's by locking in moisture next to the trees or dehydrating them. The OP noted in a follow-up that after digging up their mulch, they saw girdling roots aplenty, which can spell doom for the tree, as Southern Botanical explained. As the community prescribed, keeping the root flare visible is critical to trees' health and protecting against decay.

Unfortunately, whether it's because of bad DIY projects or landscapers' ignorance of their problematic nature, mulch volcanoes spring up all over, leaving some trees too far gone.

There was one user who suggested the OP stay put and accused the subreddit of being "extremely alarmist." They claimed they had "seen tons of trees with worse setup than this with no issues." That person got heavy pushback.

What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard? Mowing the lawn 🏡 Controlling weeds 🌿 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️ I don't have a yard 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

One commenter called their position "an odd line of reasoning," and suggested "it would be in OP's interest to maximize the likelihood that their tree will survive and be healthy."

Another Redditor was having none of it: "Hell nah. Remove the bricks and dirt. That's not alarmist, it's common sense."

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