Why all the tree mounding? (Houston, Corpus Christi: landscaping, neighborhood, tax)

[Trudysmom]

We just moved back to Katy recently. We had lived away for 16 years. I have noticed most of the trees are mounded in the area west of Houston. Looks odd, but worse, it is bad for the health of these wonderful oaks, etc.

The bark has no waxy coating like roots. They are not meant to be wet all of the time. The bark needs oxygen. I called a tree expert and he said it is a new thing landscapers do and it is dangerous for the tree.

I had an expert trim and talk about my oaks in Corpus Christi and he talked about the trees needing to have the natural "flare" at the bottom.

We will be redoing our trees and I hope others will notice. Trees are so valuable and beautiful, they need care.

Have you all seen this also?

[tstone]

Mounding- you mean a circle of mulch around the base? We have plenty of that in our area, sometimes with decorative stones around that circle. Doesn't seem to be hurting the trees in the slightest. The youngest trees are in our neighborhood, which are about 20-ish yrs old.

A lot of people rotate annual plants / flowers every 3 months on that mulch to enhance the landscaping. All the oaks... live, red, water, post, etc seem to love water. They love it so much they're slowly crowding & killing off the pines down here.

[Trudysmom]

Yes, the volcano look. A very small amount of soil is ok, but the high mounding of mulch looks strange. I am a gardener, for years, I plant many flowers too, all year, but not around older oaks. They can survive, but they grow much better and look better without the high mounding. They do not always survive. It almost seems like there is competition for highest mounds.

They do need to flare out at the bottom, then a bit of soil can be added away from the trunk. An inch or two. Oxygen is needed and not the heavy mulch that traps moiture, fungus etc.

I LOVE oaks and pine trees and I just want them to be healthy and look nice. I have noticed many look a bit stunted in some areas.

[cla]

A couple of inches of mulch for the first couple of years after planting is a good idea for trees - keeps other plants/grass from absorbing the tree's much needed water. However, the mulch should not be applied against the trunk and should not be more than a couple of inches thick. I only have a couple of inches around my trees, but the tree rises up out of the ground (looks to me like they weren't planted quite deep enough), so it does appear to be mounded. I wish the roots of the trees would be closer to the grade of the rest of the lawn, because now that my trees have been planted more than two years, I would love to remove the mulch and grow grass around the entire tree. But then I'd have two grass mounds around the tree :-(. not fun to mow, I am sure.

[Trudysmom]

Yes, a small amout is fine, not against the trunk. I mulch a lot with other plants, great in the summer, keeps the roots of bushes and flowers cool and damp. Just not trees, against the bark. I am careful not to mulch against bushes etc either.

[Supermac34]

While many people probably do pile too much mulch against the trunk, the "mounds" you see are usually the actual top of the tree's root ball. Most trees are healthier if you leave the top of the rootball a couple inches above the actual sod/yard. Then, a very light layer of mulch (about 1/2 inch) is put on top just so you don't actually see the roots.

This is the way I've always seen trees planted in Houston and the vast majority of them grow quick and healthy.

[KB1118]

Somebody needs to say something to the city about all the wasted trees that were planted along the I-10 service road! I think they are all done that way too & they are just dying!!! They look pathetic & they cost us the tax payers millions! They planted them too close & they have that mounting thing going on as well! It is just a waste! Every time I drive by there it reminds me of the money & man hours that could have been used sooooo much wiser!

[Texas User]

Are you talking about the green stuff on the ground by the trees?

[tstone]

Originally Posted by KB1118

Somebody needs to say something to the city about all the wasted trees that were planted along the I-10 service road! I think they are all done that way too & they are just dying!!! They look pathetic & they cost us the tax payers millions! They planted them too close & they have that mounting thing going on as well! It is just a waste! Every time I drive by there it reminds me of the money & man hours that could have been used sooooo much wiser!

Hurricane Ike might've had something to do with this. Even a lot of mature pine trees down south died off this summer due to the hurricane, if they didn't go slant-ways. If it wasn't Ike, remember we had a brutally hot June which was supposed to be growing season. Instead it turned out to be drought season.

It will take 15-20 years for the good trees to fill in and crowd out the bad ones. Patience, Danielson. Let nature run its course.