Pile up leaves around your trees?

[Mike]

So, I was driving around town (Central NC), and saw a bunch of people with piles of leaves around their trees, some as high as 3 or 4 feet. Is this a good idea?

[Phisherman]

No. This can create a perfect environment for fungus, mold, destructive insects and rodents. The bark of a tree should not be covered up with leaves or mulch, but I see this done all the time. Like people, some trees can take more abuse than others.

[Buderschnookie]

I feel that it can be done so that it is not harmful to the plants. I mulch with leaves this time of year but I am very careful to keep them pulled away from the base of the plant. And I shred them first so water can more easily penetrate. It's nature's mulch and it's free.... and delivered.

[David E. Ross]

At this time of year, I mulch all my beds with leaves from my trees. I try to keep the mulch not thicker than about 3-4 inches. This is not enough to smother low-growing perennials but enough to discourage weeds. In summer, it keeps the soil cool and reduces the loss of soil moisture; with our ongoing drought, this is very important.

Around my oak (valley white oak, Quercus lobata), I try to keep a mulch about 6 inches thick. Western oaks seem to suffer if they don't have a mulch of their own leaves over their root zone. I have no low-growing plants around the oak.

Excess leaves go into my compost pile, which is really more a leaf mold pile since there is very little green matter. When the amount of leaves threatens to overwhelm the composting process, the rest goes in the green trash bin for the county's composting program.

[symplastless]

Mulch suggestions are here

Mulching -

John A. Keslick, Jr. Consulting Arborist Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

[Dioclese]

Depends if:

1. They were piling for immediate compost and disposal to another location.
2. Some kind of evergreen with needles vs actual leaves.
3. Were posing so you would ask the question.

Dave