Pedestrian frustrated over disastrous trend taking over local college campus: 'It's the biggest mistake'

A pedestrian at the University of Charlotte shared a frustration they have with the school's landscaping decisions, snapping photos of a commonly used technique that does more harm than good.

Posting in the r/arborists subreddit, they shared photos of the school's trees, with the title "At UNC Charlotte Every. Single. Tree. has a mulch volcano."

And sure enough, the photos show multiple trees, each with its own unique pile of mulch underneath.

"I counted over [a] hundred trees buried in mulch volcanoes while I was walking around," they said. "Make it make sense."

Mulch volcanoes are a landscaping technique in which the base of the tree is surrounded by a large pile of mulch, supposedly to help keep the roots at the tree's base safe and help the tree retain water where it needs it. However, the truth is that mulch volcanoes do far more harm than good.

According to the University of New Hampshire, while mulch volcanoes do trap moisture near the trunk of the tree, that's not a good thing. This constant state of moisture can lead to rot and mold in the trunk of your tree, and in young trees, it can prevent the root flare necessary for trees to grow and thrive in a variety of wind conditions and weather patterns.

If that's not bad enough, a mulch volcano can encourage a tree's roots to wrap back around the tree itself, rather than spreading outward into the soil, choking the plant and depriving it of water and nutrients, and eventually killing it.

A proper way to mulch around trees is with an even layer of several inches of mulch (typically about three inches), with a space of several inches between the mulch and the trunk of the tree, especially in younger trees.

Commenters were quick to share the poster's annoyance.

"Bottom of the root ball just below the surface of the soil," said one. "Tree will grow for about 10 years then blow down in a tropical storm."

Do you think your lawn has enough greenery in it? Definitely 👍 I'd like a little more 🙂 I want a lot more 😞 Not at all 😢 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"It's the biggest mistake in landscaping," the poster said in the comments.

"Why are mulch volcanoes even a thing?" said another. "Why do so many people think this is correct?"

A former university employee explained that while the grounds department was headed up by a real arborist, the work of planting and landscaping these trees was contracted out to a third party because the grounds department was "wildly understaffed."

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