Lawn mowers and weed trimmers can seriously damage young trunks. Ill.: Clipart Max & gumtree.com.au, montage: laidbackgardener.blog
Probably the worst enemies of young trees are the lawn mower and weed trimmer! That’s because the bark of young trees is still very thin and therefore fragile. Bumping against the bark, especially repeatedly, with heavy machinery often causes injuries that heal poorly and can cause long-term problems, sometimes even leading to the loss of the tree a decade or more later.
Note that these injuries are not always external and therefore visible immediately. Just as a person can have an effusion of blood under the skin which becomes a bruise, the injury to the tree following a blow is often under the bark. It is only later (sometimes years later) when the bark swells or detaches from the trunk or when fungi form that the gardener realizes there was even a problem. In some neighborhoods, most trees have this sort of damage… and many are slowly dying!
Fortunately, this is easy to prevent. For one thing, you can place a barrier, often called a trunk guard, around the trunk of any young tree planted in a lawn. Several types are available in garden centers, but you can also make your own from a simple piece of drainage pipe, slit along one side that you can place around the trunk.
Better yet, however, simply surround the young tree with … anything but a lawn that will need mowing! That could be a circle of mulch, a ground cover or a flower bed planted at its base. That way neither the mower nor the trimmer will ever have to get near the trunk!
Article adapted from one published on July 14, 2014.
Weed whackers were my rant for today (Wednesday).
Perfect timing!
3# photo is better, but has more cost & time. If it is a fruit tree here in my garden, I would have a cage to protect it from wild life.