Beware of Bad Landscapers

Soil over the base of a tree is a good way to torture a tree to death. Good to know if torturing trees is your thing.

Tree Death By Bad Landscaping

Sometimes a person really has to go out of their way to ignorantly kill a tree. Everyday people unknowingly cause tree harm. Landscapers, by virtue of their working outside "scaping the land" need to understand the basics about what it takes to keep a tree alive. Wouldn't it be great if they could also keep them healthy. I'm not saying all landscapers are causing harm to trees. In fact for a time I proudly considered myself to be a landscaper. I studied Horticulture in one of Australia's finest Horticulture Institutions where the topics of arboriculture are an integral component of the curriculum. My peers and I learned the basics of trees before we went into the world armed and dangerous. The problem is that not many "landscapers" have training.

 

Here's the problem in a nutshell

Good landscapers tend to charge higher rates. Bad landscapers are cheap and easy to find, and they'll do anything their employer asks them to.

5 ways that bad landscapers kill trees

1. Burying of lower portions of stem with too much soil--- This is torture for a tree. It's a bit like suffocation. The tree will struggle to receive its natural air and water intake. At the same time moisture will be held against the trunk which will cause rotting and restrict the flow of water and nutrients up and down the tree.
2. Bad pruning--- Bad pruning causes decline in trees leading to death. A very slow and ugly death. Bad pruning is a big problem that has to stop.
3. Cutting of roots--- Common when construction is involved. Healthy roots are essential to a healthy tree. Not to mention a tree that has support to remain standing upright.
4. Incorrect planting of trees--- Many people think its so easy to plant a tree. It is if you know what you're doing. Those that don't almost always do something wrong that leads to failure.
5. Mower and line trimmer damage--- We've all seen it, the missing patches of bark where the mower ploughs into the tree. Week after week, year after year. Imagine how your own ankle would feel if it took a gas powered whipping every weekend. Your wound would get infected, you would be weak, your life would be miserable. It's the same thing for the tree.

All of this damage can easily be avoided

This is what is so frustrating about all this. It is easier to not damage your tree than it is to do damage. Don't bury the stem in soil. Don't lop the branches and don't top the top. Plan for a construction with the tree roots in mind. Learn how to correctly plant a tree. Don't whip the trunk with a line trimmer or bash into it with a mower.

 If you're not trained to work on trees then don't work on trees.

 

Arborists are the answer

Dealing with ignorantly damaged trees is a common problem. Arborists are the specialists that can provide the best advice when considering what to do with damages trees. What makes a good arborist, you ask? That's a topic for another day.