MULCH MADNESS!

Think of mulch as a nice blanket for your tree roots. Like you, your tree doesn't want its mouth (trunk) covered with a blanket, so follow these easy tips for quality mulching.

1. Weed your tree well.
 
2. Water thoroughly (8-10 gal.)
 
3.   Apply mulch*:
One layer (~ 1 inch) at trunk
Three layers 2 inches from  trunk
Four layers spread out over  entire tree well until the mulch  looks like a crunchy donut with  the donut hole where the tree  is...
 
4. Replace mulch several times a year--at least at the end of summer (to provide security and insulation from the raging Providence salty winters,) at the end of the winter (mulch will be salty and oily and generally bad,) and again in the late spring to help protect young tree roots from the ravages of summer.
 
 
  REMEMBER
 
Mulch should be thicker and deeper further away from the trunk. If the mulch is taller (like a volcano) at the trunk--you've committed trunkicide! No volcano mulch!
Bad! Bad! Bad! Start over.

* Mulch comes in many forms.  Much of it neatly wrapped in 3 cubic foot plastic bags. One bag will usually cover two tree wells.  
 
You can also get specially formulated free-running (bulk, not bagged) Providence mulch at Roger Williams Park, behind the greenhouses,  by the tree farm.  If you call ahead to the Forestry Department (785-9450) you may be able to get someone to help you load your car or truck!  And it is free. What's not to love?

 

PNPP
8 Third Street
Providence, RI 02906
tel.  401-351-6440 x13
cell  401-368-5380
fax  401-351-0118
street_trees at pnpp.org