Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Lawn mower damage
I have a neighbor. My neighbor has a large lot with rentals on it and uses a big riding lawn mower. My neighbor has repeatedly wounded my Ancestry Oak tree in the last 2 years.
So what’s the damage?
My neighbor is a nice person but with the property a rental he mows as low as possible to save him coming back often.
The Oak is also, technically, on his property. And just so you know, before it was planted about 5 or 6 years ago, I asked him if it was okay.
So what do I do about it? First off, I do nothing about the wounds themselves. Wound dressing is a myth, it does nothing to “heal” the tree although it might make you feel like you are caring for it.
But what I CAN do is create a barrier to the tree by removing the turf, such as it is, so the circle is widened around the base of the tree.
The bark on a tree acts to protect a very important transport system called the cambium layer. That moves water and nutrients from the roots up and into the leaves.
Any type of damage or removal of the bark and the transport system can result in long-term damage. Damage, which extends completely around the base of the tree called girdling, will result in ultimate death in a short time.
I bought the tree through the City I live in and volunteers planted it. Turns out that wasn’t the best idea as they planted it too deep and it had started to girdle. My arborist friend dug out around it and saved it from further girdling. While she had dug DOWN, I need to dig OUT to prevent further damage.
This is one of those times when we were both culpable as I didn’t notice the damage right away and I should’ve kept a better eye on it.
I will leave that “barrier” as is. Mulching in this case would not be helpful for my neighbor. Sometimes we need to compromise!