planting pine trees/mulch

[eyemaster]

I am planting pine trees and I have been told that putting mulch around them is beneficial. Has anyone ever put the grass clippings from the lawn around them? Would this be a good or bad idea?

[toughguy]

I had a neighbor at my last place that would spray weed killer around the base of his evergreens to keep the weeds and grass away and put his lawn clippings under them thru the summer. They seemed to grow very well. I'm always a little gun shy spraying weed killer around trees.

[Powerstroke]

Putting mulch around them is good because it helps trap moisture near the root zones of a new tree and establishes a safety zone around the trunk of the tree so you don't get too close with the mower.

[paul pachowicz]

some things we do when moving or planting trees on our golf course. We weed-eat the area down to the bare ground, place a weed barrier around them and mulch them with about 3-4 inch of it a foot or so past the drip line and water it in heavy. The mulch helps retain moisture and acts as a weed barrier by itself. Most herbicides will tell you not to use any around newly planted trees. Do not put the mulch against the truck of the tree or use anything kind of wrap or tube on the trunk. Make sure you put the root ball slightly above or level with the grade. There is no need for fertilizing them at all. They will survive on thier own carbs and vitamin B. How are you getting these trees? Container or balled and burlapped?

[paul pachowicz]

some things we do when moving or planting trees on our golf course. We weed-eat the area down to the bare ground, place a weed barrier around them and mulch them with about 3-4 inch of it a foot or so past the drip line and water it in heavy. The mulch helps retain moisture and acts as a weed barrier by itself. Most herbicides will tell you not to use any around newly planted trees. Do not put the mulch against the truck of the tree or use anything kind of wrap or tube on the trunk. Make sure you put the root ball slightly above or level with the grade. There is no need for fertilizing them at all. They will survive on thier own carbs and vitamin B. How are you getting these trees? Container or balled and burlapped?

[eyemaster]

I am getting them in planters, I am not planning on putting any weed killer down, but was thinking that if I put my grass clippings around them it would help them. It sounds like there is one person that has used grass clippings in the past. My question is would it be better to use mulch or grass clippings? or maybe both?

[Quetico]

Dont over mulch your trees. I with a small local landscaping company last spring on a few projects. The crew foreman kept telling me the trees needed 1-2 FEET of mulch. Doing this will smoother the shallow roots that need to breath.

Mulch is good for trees. More than 6-8" of mulch is harmful and will cause root damage.

[paul pachowicz]

mulch & grass clippings? Personally, I would go with a mulch for asthetics. When you p[ull thos out of the containers take a close look at the root ball to make sure the roots have not, or started to gridle. If so, simply take a razor knive and score the girdling roots. I usually take my hand a rub the outter surface of the root ball to loosen them up alittle. Another thing I do is cut the bottom off the container before I put it in the hole on soil that has been loosened. Then I cut the container upwards about a 1/3 in 3 places and put in the back fill, then cut pull up the container, back fill, pull up, back fill til it's in the ground with good root system contact with the back fill.

[Steve Bakken]

Just out of curiosity, what happens if the root ball ends up below ground level. Planted some roses last year and after the soil settled, the root balls ended up an inch or two below the rest of the ground level.

[Quetico]

I wouldn't worry about it too much Steve.

[croixflats]

mulch & grass clippings? Personally, I would go with a mulch for asthetics. When you p[ull thos out of the containers take a close look at the root ball to make sure the roots have not, or started to gridle. If so, simply take a razor knive and score the girdling roots. I usually take my hand a rub the outter surface of the root ball to loosen them up alittle. Another thing I do is cut the bottom off the container before I put it in the hole on soil that has been loosened. Then I cut the container upwards about a 1/3 in 3 places and put in the back fill, then cut pull up the container, back fill, pull up, back fill til it's in the ground with good root system contact with the back fill.

[croixflats]

You should always plant new trees on solid ground an inch or two of loose soil wont hurt but any more the tree ball will settle over time and the newly sprouted roots maybe damaged running a chance of setting the tree back in growth or worst yet kill it. I have seen it happen many times over the years