Visiting Phx. This goes against everything I’ve learned about tree care/mulching. Rocks butted up against trees? I’m trying to understand why this is common practice everywhere here. Seems more common than volcano mulching in other cities.
by Opposite_Estimate_26
6 Comments
I’ve also noticed this in eastern Washington, it gets very hot here (less than phoenix but still in the 100 range at times) and every tree here has rocks around it.
It’s very common all over the southwest region to have rocks in the landscaping with trees. The supports are for the high winds that region experiences, I usually used a those supports for the first two years before removing. Trees don’t seem to mind the base rocks as long as they are getting their deep waterings.
It won’t kill the tree but it does hurt them. The low maintenance factor shouldn’t override overall tree health.
It’s become a big thing in Austin, too, which kills me because we are not a desert climate so we should not be trying to recreate that. The excessive rocks also contribute to increased ambient air texture, compacting soil, radiant heat, etc. We get on average over 30” of rainfall annually but also have long stretches of intense heat and drought… the rocks are such a bad move.
People do it in the name of xeriscaping and perceived convenience without realizing xeriscaping =/= rocks.
Edit: people here also defend it because their trees are “doing fine”, as if something bad for a tree must mean it would die immediately. It’s a slow decline, and often just another factor that stresses the tree just enough so that a future major weather event – supercells, ice storms, unprecedented droughts – is what finally kills the tree. It all stacks.
It’s common because the people hiring incompetent people don’t know they’re hiring incompetents. Homeowners, management companies, HOAs, etc etc etc
The real question is why are they planting trees… The whole south west has native plants that should be used instead of trees that take a lot of water.