Do you mulch and what do you use?

[WTNUT]

I am thinking of adding mulch around my trees this spring. Some of them have pea gravel around them simply because I poured a lot of concrete not long ago and the customer wanted pea gravel under it. So I put the extra around the trees. I think it helps hold moisture. Do you put mulch around your trees and where do you get it? I am not buying it from LOWES ha. I have several connections to large right of way maintenance companies. They cut and chip a lot of wood. I suppose I could get them to drop of the chips at the farm. They have to dump it somewhere. I can't see any reason why that would not work. Do you?


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[CrazyEd]

The benefit of pea gravel is it does hold moisture, and it does not encourage nesting for critters that love to girdle trees, and it never breaks down. I like bagged material as it is easy to move around and we don't have a tractor. I bought a semi load (15 pallets?).

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We use pea-sized crushed limestone 4" deep on top of poly landscape cloth. We make a circle of about 3 to 4 ft. diameter around each tree, and pile it around the base of the aluminum window screen we use to protect the trunks. We've had no voles/mice chew our trunks. The ground under this system is always moist - I've checked just to see if it was holding moisture. Keeps weeds down too. One of our members picks it up in bulk on his dump trailer at a local limestone quarry - cheap.

If we used wood chips or some other organic mulch, we'd have thousands of mice/voles setting up shop in it and we'd have critter nurseries. No problems with the stone.

 

[Apple Junkie]

I have avoided wood chips and other forms of mulch for just the reason mentioned above. I have occasionally tried landscaping cloth, but I'm not crazy about the appearance, and it never seems to stay in place in for me. I had not thought of gravel, but now that you mention it, I like the idea a lot! I’ll give it a shot this spring, either covering fabric, or by itself. It pays to keep your ears open… thanks for the idea guys.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

A.J. - ^^^^^ I learned that ( L. cloth & gravel ) from a local orchardist near my camp. I saw the same idea on here by someone ( can't remember who ) and it validated the reason to try it. It's worked great for us.

 

[Barndog56]

I use composted horse manure, with any available organic matter mixed in, topped off by some straw or grass hay. Pile it up to a foot high in a 6 foot diameter circle around the trees. As it breaks down it gives the trees the nutrients they need, so don't need to fertilize. Supposedly, the heat from the organic matter breaking down will keep the area around the tree warmer, helping during winter, and during late frost events.

Check youtube or google for "hugelkultur" to get the lowdown on the details.

 

[j-bird]

No mulch! Mulch invites critters...... I used to mulch, but I had a tree that had all the support roots chewed off by voles that had gotten under the mulch and killed the tree. Now I use a weed fabric to stop weeds, but allow moisture to pass and gravel (just gravel from my creek). I have not had an issue since.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

My soil is fairly sandy, so I use mulch to smother weeds, but more importantly to build up the soil. I put aluminum screen around the trunks and so far it has prevented any mouse or rabbit damage. For mulch I use whatever I can get my hands on and that is usually what I rake up in my yard - leaves, sticks, grass clippings, tree branches, etc. I wish I had a contact at a tree trimming company that would deliver some wood chips. I also keep all my kitchen scraps and throw them around the trees as well. I even use deer bones and raccoon/opossum/coyote carcasses as apple tree mulch and fertilizer. It might smell bad around the trees in the spring when the carcasses thaw and rot away, but the trees really take off.

 

[yoderjac]

I am thinking of adding mulch around my trees this spring. Some of them have pea gravel around them simply because I poured a lot of concrete not long ago and the customer wanted pea gravel under it. So I put the extra around the trees. I think it helps hold moisture. Do you put mulch around your trees and where do you get it? I am not buying it from LOWES ha. I have several connections to large right of way maintenance companies. They cut and chip a lot of wood. I suppose I could get them to drop of the chips at the farm. They have to dump it somewhere. I can't see any reason why that would not work. Do you?


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I stopped using mulch. Rodents like to bed in it making the tree and roots more vulnerable. I put down landscaping cloth (gas and water permeable) and then put quarry stone on top to hold it in place. When I used mulch, it would decompose over time and I have too many trees to freshen it. The quarry stone is permanent. Some folks say they have heat issues with it, but that has not been a problem in my area.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[H20fwler]

I'm in heavy clay and I use wood mulch, I buy whatever is cheapest at Wal-Mart early in the spring and use one bag per tree. I keep mulch 8" or so away from the base of trees, I ad a bag of mulch every spring until tree is three to four years old. I mulch to hold moisture and keep weeds down...voles and mice have been a non-issue for me.

 

[Jhoss]

I'm with H20 on this one. Mulch with both wood chips that usually have composted for a year (usually, I have used fresh chips too). Nice that my neighbor is a landscape tree cutter / chipper guy! I also tend to load the chicken manure in there too, either on top or mixed. So far, no rodent problems (10 years in). My soil is about 12" good soil (and rock), then some clay, then sand underneath. Mostly have B118 root but some "seedling" roots doing well too. I'm actually waiting to see a difference in growth between the two.

 

[NE PA QDM]

I used gravel that I dug out of a stream bed when I first started. That worked great and you couldn't beat the price, plus it was great exercise shoveling it out and hoisting it on the the back of the 4x4.
Since then I've used 2b stone. It's relatively cheap and works great for retaining moisture and keeping rodents away. It's a bit uncomfortable to kneel on (pea gravel is probably less jagged) when pruning but overall I've been happy with it. And it doesn't need to be frequently replenished since it doesn't break down.