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[REPOST] Piling leaves around trees
[I was hoping for more discussion. "Volcanoes" bad, but how about this
below? Anyone?] Our local park has pecan trees growing in topsoil-depleted, compacted, limestone rock and sand, high PH. The trees apparently survived by a sprinkler system, that became defunct years ago. Rain runs off before much soaks into the well draining "soil". The trees are suffering with more ends of their limbs dying off each year. Here's what we did. We ringed the trunk with fence to protect the root flare, and added a 18' diameter fence around that. We have about a foot of slowly composting, damp but not soggy, leaves inside the fence. We're also covering the rest of the park with composted wood mulch. The advantages of retaining soil moisture, getting some biota going, especially worms, and getting organic nutrients into the soil were our primary goals. Given your concerns, do any apply to our experiment? "Mike LaMana" fake@MikeatHeartwoodConsultingdotnet wrote in message ... Deciduous trees have adapted to dealing with some accumulation of leaves, and in fact befit form the reduced competition that derives from leaf fall in forests. The practice of suffocating the landscape with artificial concentrations of leaves has ramifications to which native trees are not necessarily adapted: Increased rot at the root collar; girdling of smaller trees by rodents living in the warm, decaying piles; anoxia of the soil as the leaves turn to snotty slime ( in some cases);changes in soil pH not usual for woodland settings; binding of nitrogen d=from the soil as decay of all the carbon in the leaves drains local resources, etc. In short...usually not a good thing. Your neighbors should mimic nature more. When was the last time you noticed leaves naturally heaping themselves into volcanoes about trees?? ML -- Mike LaMana, MS, CTE Heartwood Consulting Services, LLC Toms River, NJ www.HeartwoodConsulting.net |
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