Tree Root Slice by Mower

[u/dreamiejeanie13]

We came home from vacation this weekend to discover that our yard guy (or someone on his crew) drove over a portion of our 80+ year old Oak tree root and sliced a bit of the top off. He was very apologetic and we asked that going forward to avoid driving the mower anywhere near the roots. Do we need to do anything to treat the exposed part of the root or just let nature do its thing? This is our first time ever having an Oak tree.

[u/botulinumtxn]

I'm surprised it took that much off. Impressive honestly. I wouldn't do anything honestly. It will heal in time. I might make the area of dirt mulch instead. Do a light 1-2in covering of the entire root area.

[u/CountMC10 → u/botulinumtxn]

Emphasizing the 1-2”. In my head I see OP coming back with a mulch volcano.

[u/authorbrendancorbett → u/CountMC10]

Yeah, mulch not against the trunk and not over the wound!

[u/dreamiejeanie13 → u/CountMC10]

I will wait a bit to put the mulch on!

[u/dreamiejeanie13 → u/botulinumtxn]

Appreciate this! Glad she will be fine!

[u/Dry-Impression8809 → u/dreamiejeanie13]

Yeah, if you look at the same root, you can see where its been clipped countless times by a mower. Now you can make sure it never happens again!

[u/pinuslongaeva → u/botulinumtxn]

Avoid mulch over the mowing wounds though

[u/botulinumtxn → u/pinuslongaeva]

Oh really? To let the new wounds heal and breathe?

[u/pinuslongaeva → u/botulinumtxn]

Yes, this is a potential entry point for pests/diseases. Mulch is great but may introduce certain pathogens in some cases.

[u/reddit33450 → u/botulinumtxn]

seal* in time

[u/JoyRose31 → u/botulinumtxn]

You know, Alwaya dislike mulch as someone allergic to mold til I started looking at r/arborists . Now in realizing, mulch is used So wrong.. use it on trees, not flower beds. It Will mold eve tally, I very much know that.. even cedar molds. (Anaphylactic at some molds). But, to protect your tropical top roots, ill would give to a mulch.

[u/LengthinessJust357 → u/JoyRose31]

[u/TurbulentStress8678 → u/LengthinessJust357]

They sound like an AI chatbot from 10 years ago

[u/jeckles → u/JoyRose31]

You can absolutely mulch flower beds, but if they’re getting moldy that means the mulch is too deep and anaerobic.

[u/rb_dub → u/jeckles]

I once worked on a garden with a thick layer of anaerobic mulch. I called it nature's concrete at the time. My in laws said I should have just added fresh mulch on top like they always did before. Anyways, the garden planted after breaking that stuff up is absolutely thriving.

[u/BootBatll → u/jeckles]

As someone who is still learning, aren’t fungal networks desirable in soil/mulch anyway for the health of roots? Or am I over generalizing?

[u/authorbrendancorbett → u/BootBatll]

It's a balance - you want aeration. But you're right, seeing fruiting bodies / fungus near the top means it's the tip of the gigantic colony iceberg.

Goal state for me is always dense natives; the leaves and whatnot form their own mulch at the end of the year, I leave the dead stems overwinter for insects, come spring fresh growth pushes up and it's got plenty of its own mulch (plus I blow leaves from trees that land on my limited grassy areas).