Category Archives: Mulching

As you and other Minnesotans continue through spring toward the summer months, have you thought about the mulch in and around your landscape projects? Do you intend to plant trees or shrubs and have questions about the proper methods of putting mulch around them? Do you already have trees and shrubs, but need to refresh the mulch surrounding them? Has the mulch in your landscaped areas become thin, faded, and littered with bits of trash and now requires replenishment? In the Rochester, MN, area, Maier Tree & Lawn can help you with any and all mulching questions and provide services to ensure your tree, shrubs and other landscaped areas are correctly, beautifully, and safely mulched.

What is mulch?

In general, mulch is a ground covering that serves a variety of uses to help protect the plants it surrounds, yet also provide eye appeal. The first thought that may come to your mind are flower gardens or landscaped settings in lush, full bloom, with cascades of colors vividly set against a background of richly colored mulch. Another very popular use for mulch is to place it around trees and bushes. While serving to keep mowing and other lawn care maintenance to a minimum, mulch provides a wealth of other desired benefits to support and safeguard the plantings it surrounds.

What type of mulch is best?

There are many different types of mulch on the market, and some may fit your needs better than others. Mulch is basically available in two types:

• Organic – plant-based matter that includes ground-up, chipped, or pulverized material such as pine needles, leaves, bark, and wood chips. Some materials may be colored to offer you aesthetic choices for your particular mulching needs. The benefits of organic mulch include helping provide the nourishment and support soil desires.
• Inorganic – This includes materials like rock, stone, and pulverized rubber. While these may last longer than organic types of mulch because they don’t decompose, they don’t provide any nutrition or beneficial support to soil.

While each product has its pros and cons, organic mulch is preferred due to the exceptional nutritional benefits it provides. And, just as important, mulching must be done in a way that is safe to your plants, especially trees, to prevent injury, and worse, plant death.

Organic mulch has many benefits.

Aside from helping to make your yard or garden look amazing, organic mulch provides other benefits that are simply unsurpassed, including:

• Reducing soil compaction and/or erosion
• Acting as an effective barrier to help prevent weeds from germinating
• Helping to retain moisture for soil and plant roots
• Creating an insulating barrier to maintain ideal soil temperatures
• Providing protection against freeze/frost damage for plants with shallow roots

While it may appear easy to simply dump a pile or mulch and spread it around until you think it looks good, there’s actually a science to proper, effective, and safe mulching practices. If you have an upcoming project in the Rochester, MN, area that will require mulching, or an existing area that is in need of mulch replenishment, contact Maier Tree & Lawn today by calling (507) 286-8733. Along with our exceptional plant healthcare expertise, our trained and certified staff will gladly assess the needs of your landscaping project, discuss the options available, and perform the required services to ensure your mulching project is performed correctly and looks absolutely amazing!

At Maier Tree, we’re all about helping you add to the curb appeal of the trees at your Winona, MN, residence.

Their health is our number one priority, of course, but who doesn’t want their trees to look their best as well?

Throughout our series of posts, we’ve talked about the negative impacts to the health and aesthetic appeal of trees such as infestation, severe weather conditions, and lack of proper pruning.

While the topic we’re going to talk about today isn’t necessarily threatening to your tree, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed the right away.

Above ground roots that begin to spread don’t exactly provide the picturesque appeal you hope for.

First, we’re going to review some of the common mistakes people make when trying to cover above ground roots. Then we’ll explain why mulch can provide a safe and aesthetically appealing solution.

Common Mistakes Made When Dealing with Above Ground Roots

 Some of the most common mistakes when dealing with above ground roots include:

• Putting grass or flowers over them – This seems like a sound strategy, but the plants or grass won’t get much sunlight due to the coverage of the tree canopy
• Adding topsoil – Even if done correctly, the roots will appear again. Worse, if the topsoil is added incorrectly, it could block nutrients your tree needs
• Trying to remove the roots – This process often causes harm to the tree and might even result in its death

Want to Cover Your Above Ground Roots? Use Mulch

We have good news. Mulch provides the perfect solution to your above ground root problems for several reasons:

• It’s safe – adding organic mulch strengthens your roots while covering them, whereas other solutions may harm the tree.
• It’s appealing – You won’t have to deal with dead plants or roots that remerge quickly after adding topsoil

Maier Tree can help add mulch to your above ground roots. We can also provide a host of tree care services catered to your trees in your Winona, MN residence.

For more information on mulch, other services, or to ask a question, simply give us a call at (507) 454-7000.

Mulch is kind of a magic word when it comes to gardening enthusiasts and hobbyists in Winona, MN. Just like asking a sports fan about their favorite team, asking a gardener about their mulch can instantly spark a conversation. If you’ve spent any time observing gardens and lawns at all you’ve probably noticed the natural, multi-colored chips, bordering trees, flowerbeds, and other bits of lawn as well. If you’re ready to experience the many benefits of mulch, the wholesale mulch providers at Maier Tree and Lawn are ready to begin your initiation.

Mulch is ubiquitous on lawns for a reason, and not only one reason, but many. In a way, mulch is kind of like a comforting blanket for your trees and plants. It keeps them cozy and healthy, even helping to protect them. Mulch can encourage water retention, temperature regulation, and it can protect against intense weather conditions. It can do all of this while also adding nutrients to the soil around it. That’s a whole lot of help from such an unassuming pile of chips.

Perhaps most importantly, mulch also helps to mitigate excessive weed growth around your growing plants and saplings. It acts as a physical barrier that prevents roots from growing a little too close to home, and can prevent weeds from growing to begin with.  This will give your plants a little more room to stretch out and will help prevent root conflict under the surface. Because of this, having mulch on hand in the early stages of plant growth can be a huge benefit.

Along with the practical benefits of mulch, you also get the bonus benefit of adding aesthetic flavor to your landscaping. Wholesale mulch comes in a wide variety of forms that vary in shape, color, and consistency. Finding the right wholesale mulch for your lawn may be a struggle because of the variety, but with the assistance of the mulch experts at Maier Tree and Lawn you can get matched with the mulch of your dreams.

Winona, MN area residents interested in wholesale mulch can contact Maier Tree and Lawn at (507) 454-7000 or by visiting our website here for more information.