Compaction of the soil from foot or vehicle traffic "can be devastating". Municipalities often give this mulch away for free during the summer. To summarize from this publication First, be sure to remove grass that might be crowding the tree and competing for water and root space. For one, redwood trees cast some fairly dense shade. October 27, 2013 Joshua Siskin California Native Garden, ... so that water never sprays directly onto tree trunks. Because you dont want anything growing up under your peach trees (where it would compete with the tree) your bare, naked soil is more prone to erosion. Mulch all your plants with organic matter, placed directly on the soil—a four- to five-inch layer of shredded hardwood is good around trees and shrubs, and a two- to three-inch layer of shredded leaves, dried grass clippings, cocoa bean mulch or the like is good around perennials and annuals. The most effective mulches are coarse (1/2” or more in diameter), applied as soon as possible after chipping and applied at a depth of about 4”. Should mulch come in contact with the tree? Straw and grass clippings, which decompose quickly, work better in these areas. Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. (562) … You'll find redwood mulch processed as bark chunks, wood chips or shredded wood. Mulched areas expanding closer to the drip line will simply offer more benefit for a tree. The pieces may not be uniform in size, but have a natural, pleasing appearance. Is it okay to use river rock mulch around the tree instead of an organic mulch? This will prevent the common problems associated with excessive mulching. Some commercial mulches have been stained to resemble redwood, but are actually scrap wood, leftover from industrial processing. Luckily, properly mulching is easy as long as you follow the right steps. This article was co-authored by Lauren Kurtz. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Your first choice is whether to buy bagged varieties at a garden center or buy it in bulk from a landscaping supply firm. This isn’t such an issue if you only have one or two, but if you’ve got a bank of redwoods, it can be hard to grow your usual landscaping plants in that area. Try intermittent fasting instead. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. Removing it is better because anything that would kill grass would be absorbed by the tree. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/22\/Mulch-Around-a-Tree-Step-01.jpg\/v4-460px-Mulch-Around-a-Tree-Step-01.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/22\/Mulch-Around-a-Tree-Step-01.jpg\/aid1452079-v4-728px-Mulch-Around-a-Tree-Step-01.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"

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