We've had an unusually warm December thankfully, and I wanted to plant some garlic around my apricot and apple tree. After seeding garlic I did a light mulch of small wood chips, leaves, and fluffed organic alfalfa hay (I don't get enough leaves to mulch with them alone).
I planted them partially for pest deterence / more garlic next year. After fertilizing and planting ~200 cloves, I'm curious to see what we get in the spring.
by every-day-normal-guy
6 Comments
I’m no expert, but from my time lurking in tree subreddits I have to believe your tree is going to die if you just piled soil above where it used to be. Bark isn’t magically immune to moist soil/mulch, and it will rot and eventually kill the tree.
Otherwise, nice beds. Hope u get some nice garlic
Gonna kill that tree but good luck
Do you plant hardneck or softneck there in New Mexico? I grow garlic in NE Texas, and have better luck with hardneck, even though softneck is usually recommended for my climate. This year, my main grow is Amish Rocambole.
Hey, just wanted to let you know that’s really terrible for your tree and will kill it eventually.
If you look at trees, you’ll see that the trunk flares at the base. When you cover that flare with mulch or even worse soil the bark and trunk degrades and they start sending out roots there. Those roots start to twist around the trunk and kill the tree.
https://bygl.osu.edu/node/2347
https://townsendarborcare.com/blog/ask-an-arborist-why-is-volcano-mulching-bad-for-trees-and-what-are-the-benefits-of-removing-the-excess-mulch/
The root flare of the tree should be exposed. You should remove the soil/mulch around the trunk until you expose the flare.
Maybe build a small wood in closure around the trunk/ so the soil don’t touch it