Proper Mulching: This is Very Important in Successful Landscape Management!!!

Proper Mulching
I have been in the landscaping industry for over 25 years and it never ceases to amaze me how companies that call themselves "professionals" still cannot mulch properly. If you see piles of mulch, also known as "mulch volcanos" you should question the knowledge of those individuals, their training etc. Over mulching can cause some serious long term problems to your landscape. Especially trees. This is one of my "pet peaves" as a professional. Click here for a great link from "Over Mulching" by Diane Relf from the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.  Great insight on the effects from overmulching. I believe it is also available in Spanish.
         Sometimes you still end up with trees that have piles of mulch around them.  If overmulching has been going on for a long time; the roots begin to grow in this mulch layer and it becomes more difficult over time to get these piles down.  In extreme cases you may need to cut out some of the actual roots away from the tree.  This is not something that just anyone should do and it may not be worth doing as you can cause more harm to the tree than good.  That is why the initial planting of trees and the relationship of the root flare to the existing grade is so critical.
Professional landscapers know this!  In fact many trees are actually grown with the root flare to deep and we have to remove soil from the rootball.  As a point of refereence, if you ever walk into the woods and look at the trees naturally growing there you can usually see there root flare right as the soil and base of the tree meet.  Usually after the first year of planting you may even want to remove any excess soil that was piled on the perimeter of the planting hole which is typically done if the soil settles around the area between where the rootball and the outer region of the actual hole.  This soil should be removed, sadly this excess soil is often left and this is where the "mulch volcano" begins.
       If you are not sure if your trees were planted correctly give us a call here at Sunrise Landscape + Design.  Whether you live in Herndon, Reston, Great Falls, Ashburn, Leesburg or any of the surrounding areas it is important to make sure your trees live a long healthy life.  And we want to help.  Remember properly planted trees add value to your property, poorly planted trees can actually bring down your property value or cause great headaches as the landscape matures.  As they say "You can pay me now (to add value to your property) or pay me later (to remove the problems someone else did not appreciate).  It is your choice!
Thanks
Joe