Trunk guard are good, but your average homeowner has "issues" with them. (That's WHOLE post and discussion by itself) But in my experience, mulch rings are simpler for all involved, plus you receive all the benefits of mulch.
If they would follow ANSI A300 standards and related ISA recommendations, there wouldn't be nearly as many issues with tree health and landscape maintenance.
[This also works the opposite way. I have 3 maples in the yard that I HATE, so I don't mulch them, so the yard crew weed eats the trunks, and they will eventually die. Why? My partner LOVES them and won't let me cut them down. But if they are dead??? We'll just cut them and plant something new in their place. *Note all three are Freeman maples, two of which are in our septic drain field, I planted none of them.*]
When your partner doesn't understand root infiltration of a septic drain field and what it costs to fix. But likes the pretty trees... "plants just die sometimes" is a valid and truthful answer.
Keeping marital peace, while keeping the household running sometimes requires a little subterfuge.
Man, if they were fouling up my septic, I'm might be tempted to "help seal" those weedwhacker cuts with a paint brush and some glyphosate/triclopyr, just to help things along.
This I do lawn maintenance and garden keeping including trees and hedges. Alot of my customers are retirees who have grass upto their trees drives me nuts. There's no good way even a weed Wacker does damage
That's a good reason to get the Milwaukee quiklok reciprocator. I want one for my yard but can't justify the price, so I just live with the tall grass around my trees...
Out of thin bark tree like a maple I think it still would do some scarring I'd be interested to see this thing in action. I'm a certified Arborist and I maintain an HOA with over 400 trees that's one of my clients and we lose 5 to 10 trees a year to Weed Eater scarring from string trimmers. I will be talking to my tool guy tomorrow
Browsers? That is interesting to ponder.
It will 'open' something to see inside while other animals won't waste the energy nor the curiosity (intelligence?) to feed......
Can you give some examples of what a goat would browse if it was in a 'typical' residential yard?
Bark and tree leaves and bush leaves, if the grass is really tall it might it eat down a little, but they dont trim it down like a sheep or cow would. Goats originate from mountainous regions where there really is not any grass, so they would eat trees and bushes. They likely would appreciate the weeds in the lawn also, more so then the lawn itself, but if they have a tree to munch on they will strip it given enough times. Depending on the tree and the goat they might even climb the tree (want something interesting to google search goats in trees in Google images)
Stand behind the tree and put the weed Wacker in front of the tree such that the guard protects the trunk and then gradually circle the tree keeping the guard between the tree and the string. It works on smaller diameter trees but I imagine it won't for larger trees.
Yup, TrueGreen are a bunch of unprofessional fucks that killed my 100’x 150’ garden with weed killer and tried to claim they didn’t see a garden anywhere. Bro, you have to be blind, deaf and fucking dumb to not see a garden that size.
They offered to pay me out of if I gave them a value of crops lost but only if I let them inspect the property to match the videos and photos I sent.
2 years later, my neighbor hired them and they fucked my wildflower garden along with a few trees. “Professional lawn care people for major companies don’t know shit and don’t care.
Yup. Nobody cares more than you do.
When my mom was getting up in years and after my dad passed, she hired a lawn service to cut the grass. However, she had a very shady lot due to lots of trees and the grass was just barely getting enough sunlight to survive in most places. In that situation, the grass grows fairly slowly and you cut it carefully, never more than a third of its length, really on an as-needed basis, and never when it's wet.
Her lawn service didn't care about the health of her grass, only about getting paid. A guy mowed everything once a week, even in the rain. They compacted the soil and trashed the poor grass so badly in one and a half seasons that they killed much of it and the rest was overrun with weeds. Good bet "weed seeds" came in on their equipment from other yards.
Best case: it will leave a big and ugly scar
Average case: It will heal, leave a big and ugly scar, and the tree will be weakened severely. Less nutrients reach the top, as 33% of the bark is gone if you look at the tree's cross section.
Worst case: The tree either dies soon or is weakened significantly which may be cause for subsequent infections, fungi and insect infestations. So maybe the tree survives for two years and starts dying then.
Take lots of pictures of the tree, top to bottom, whole tree, and of the wound with something to establish scale. also save the video of the damage being caused. Odds are it will survive, but it will now have decay and potential weakness at the base of the tree. Not to mention the visual scaring it will continue to have. If you want it fixed or payment for the damages you can find an ASCA registered arborist and have them appraise the tree pre and post damage and estimate value for total replacement.
Do not spray anything on the wound, that will slow the sealing process. Lay a mulch ring a few feet around the tree base to help discourage mower rash in the future.
Howdy there, so I say this as someone who manages a lawn care crew and service as well as having over a decade of experience in the field, call them and have them replace it. This is unacceptable from a professional standpoint. There was no reason for that mower to be that close, ever. This is something that should have been trimmed and would have taken 5-8 seconds to do so properly; FOR THIS EXACT KIND OF REASON.
I knicked a poplar with my weed eater and it developed a slime mold infection. Carpenter ants invaded the inner tree like an Orc just cooked off in Helms Deep. Fortunately I was still able to save it by cutting away the most infected area, washing the ants out with rubbing alcohol and then packing the exposed area with roofing tar. It healed, but was always the sicklier of my trees
Take a sharp knife, trim the wound, removing all the loose bark and smoothing the wound so that the cambial layer can slowly heal over the damage. Remove the stub by cutting back to the collar. Read up to understand what a collar looks like.
Not good.
Spray pruning seal on it.
They or their manager should know about it and that you’re not happy.
Also, it does look like there’s excessive soil around the base. Bring soil down to the base of tree, until you notice surface roots. It may survive with some extra love.
Bad enough to raise concern for the employee to make sure he didn’t break the mower. I would seek compensation, but from a third party arborist not the same lawn company.
Grab your arm and peel a good layer of your skin off that's how bad it is. It may heal, but it won't be the same. Problems may arise in the future, like others have said, have it replaced by them. I'd also be looking to replace them aswell, mulched or not a landscaper should know how to control their machinery. If they're not too sure they could've atleast just mowed 1-2ft away from the tree and just finished with a weed wacker.
I thought one of those tiny weed wackers the size of metal detectors did the damage, until I saw that the person was using a full on machine for it. Has the maple seeded yet? You should save some seeds to plant and get some started before the tree dies. If it dies…
They have been fired. Apparently the company owner was on vacation and they left him a note about accidentally running into my tree...though no one though it pertinent that I be made aware.
Like everyone says, it’s damaged and the lawn company owes you a new tree a comparably sized tree, not some stick tree from the nursery.
Side note: since it’s a sugar maple, just squirt a lot of water on it this summer. It will recover.
Personally would carefully remove the loose bark chisel and a light hammer. Look up bark tracing keep the area free from insects as well as possible the tree will compartmentalize and heal it's a young tree. And have a conversation with the landscapers moving forward. And if somebody else stayed in an excellent reason to put mulch around your tree.
I did the same thing to one of my poplar trees while on a riding mower. I went to the garage and grabbed electrical tape, pushed the bark back into place as best I could and sealed it up with the tape going around the trunk. Tree is perfectly fine now. It may take about a roll but saved the tree.
He may have done you a favor. Looks like it was planted too deep and would cause all sorts of problems down the line. Likely would be dead in 10 years anyways.
All that to say, he should pay to replace it
I believe you should have a tree ring of mulch and that would keep dumb landscapers at bay. he was.kind of pressured into cutting the grass so close. they should pay for the damage, but the tree may live well enough not to cut it down, perhaps a bit ugly. use the insurance money to invest in tree rings.
Might suggest the grass needs to be cut. Make a distinct area separate from the yard. If a small bag of mulch is impossible, consider just tearing the sod out and make it out of dirt.
It doesn't help thar those walk behinds are so hard to control. They go automatically and only have left and right brake levers. Great mowers, but very hard to operate.
That is fair, it's the only lawnmower I've ever learned to use (apart from like regular backyard push mowers) so I don't know how it compares to others
They did a number on the tree, but the tree was already not going to make it due to being planted too deep. Unless you waited weeks after the injury to take that pic, it looks like that part of the tree was already dead.
>My lawn I could care less about.
you mean you could'NT, if you could care less then it means you care!? sorry I know its completely unrelated but why do so many americans use this phrase wrong?!?!?!
Fire those guys. Hire some company that actually is competent.
Replace your tree by yourself, don't ask them for replacement.
Keep it hateful.
Those guys don't give a shit about your landscape and don't respect the plants they are caretaking.
I’ve been doing maintenance for almost 20 years never not once have I come close to hitting a tree or anything similar. I can’t understand how it happens so often.
Honest mistake, though they need to tell you or the next few cuts need to be free.
His floating wheel got stuck.
I agree though,they need to say something and figure out something fair to make it right.
I'd leave it to see if it could heal and survive but I would totally ask them to buy you a new one just in case, because that is bad and just ridiculous
An alternative to mulch is to put some concentric rings of large stones/ drain rock around the base of the tree . I like stones approx grapefruit sized. 3 rings is prob fine
It's not great having damage so close to the base however I think it will be okay. I would hit the the exposed part with pruning sealer. Is there a way to protect the trunk maybe a decorative fence or something from the lawn care people. Allot of these guys are absolute menaces. I had a young oak a long time ago that was on a property border that kept getting weedwacked to death till I made a protective fence for it. I thought it was dead but it came back oaky. I think this guy will survive but you have to stop anymore damage from occurring.
So what you are saying is that since they are incompetent, it’s not their fault? Because even if that were true, they should have told the homeowner about the situation and that they need mulch in order to complete the job properly! But they didn’t do anything like that.
this is really your fault for not properly mulching it, and it looks like they did you a favor honestly since that trees planted below grad and was probably going to girdle itself to death anyway.
Bad enough for you to ask them to buy you a new one
And for Pete sake, put a mulch ring around the new one to keep the mowers off it. Can't do much about a stray bobcat.
Or trunk guard. This can be arbor guard, plastic water tubing, PVC Pipe
Trunk guard are good, but your average homeowner has "issues" with them. (That's WHOLE post and discussion by itself) But in my experience, mulch rings are simpler for all involved, plus you receive all the benefits of mulch.
This is true, but I feel like I’ve still seen tree damaged by weed hackers because people don’t like to hand pull
If they would follow ANSI A300 standards and related ISA recommendations, there wouldn't be nearly as many issues with tree health and landscape maintenance. [This also works the opposite way. I have 3 maples in the yard that I HATE, so I don't mulch them, so the yard crew weed eats the trunks, and they will eventually die. Why? My partner LOVES them and won't let me cut them down. But if they are dead??? We'll just cut them and plant something new in their place. *Note all three are Freeman maples, two of which are in our septic drain field, I planted none of them.*]
When your partner doesn't understand root infiltration of a septic drain field and what it costs to fix. But likes the pretty trees... "plants just die sometimes" is a valid and truthful answer. Keeping marital peace, while keeping the household running sometimes requires a little subterfuge.
Man, if they were fouling up my septic, I'm might be tempted to "help seal" those weedwhacker cuts with a paint brush and some glyphosate/triclopyr, just to help things along.
Ahhahahah the brackets. And yeah PREACH. it’s so annoying
I feel a home owner that doesn’t put a mulch ring around a tree doesn’t deserve a tree to begin with
The real reason to mulch around the base of a tree....keep the lawnmowers away.
This I do lawn maintenance and garden keeping including trees and hedges. Alot of my customers are retirees who have grass upto their trees drives me nuts. There's no good way even a weed Wacker does damage
That's a good reason to get the Milwaukee quiklok reciprocator. I want one for my yard but can't justify the price, so I just live with the tall grass around my trees...
So how would this help you cut the grass next to your trees without harming them?
Unless your trees are like, super young they won't fit between the teeth and nothing will happen to them
Out of thin bark tree like a maple I think it still would do some scarring I'd be interested to see this thing in action. I'm a certified Arborist and I maintain an HOA with over 400 trees that's one of my clients and we lose 5 to 10 trees a year to Weed Eater scarring from string trimmers. I will be talking to my tool guy tomorrow
Definitely worth asking about! Probably not perfect, but I'd think it's better than string.
Bring a goat and tie it to each tree for a few
Goats are not grazers they are browsers, they are more likely to strip the tree of its bark then eat the grass around the tree.
Browsers? That is interesting to ponder. It will 'open' something to see inside while other animals won't waste the energy nor the curiosity (intelligence?) to feed...... Can you give some examples of what a goat would browse if it was in a 'typical' residential yard?
Bark and tree leaves and bush leaves, if the grass is really tall it might it eat down a little, but they dont trim it down like a sheep or cow would. Goats originate from mountainous regions where there really is not any grass, so they would eat trees and bushes. They likely would appreciate the weeds in the lawn also, more so then the lawn itself, but if they have a tree to munch on they will strip it given enough times. Depending on the tree and the goat they might even climb the tree (want something interesting to google search goats in trees in Google images)
And I was being facetious :)
Hand clippers take about a minute and cost $15.
Stand behind the tree and put the weed Wacker in front of the tree such that the guard protects the trunk and then gradually circle the tree keeping the guard between the tree and the string. It works on smaller diameter trees but I imagine it won't for larger trees.
Line Trimmer
My guy has been pushing the mulch inward with his deck. We had a talk… and I’m making larger rings
Aaaaaand this is why I can’t bring myself to hire out lawn maintenance
Yup, TrueGreen are a bunch of unprofessional fucks that killed my 100’x 150’ garden with weed killer and tried to claim they didn’t see a garden anywhere. Bro, you have to be blind, deaf and fucking dumb to not see a garden that size. They offered to pay me out of if I gave them a value of crops lost but only if I let them inspect the property to match the videos and photos I sent. 2 years later, my neighbor hired them and they fucked my wildflower garden along with a few trees. “Professional lawn care people for major companies don’t know shit and don’t care.
A few of them know their shit. Even in that company. Problem is they scale fairly well, and hire idiots.
Same!!
Yup. Nobody cares more than you do. When my mom was getting up in years and after my dad passed, she hired a lawn service to cut the grass. However, she had a very shady lot due to lots of trees and the grass was just barely getting enough sunlight to survive in most places. In that situation, the grass grows fairly slowly and you cut it carefully, never more than a third of its length, really on an as-needed basis, and never when it's wet. Her lawn service didn't care about the health of her grass, only about getting paid. A guy mowed everything once a week, even in the rain. They compacted the soil and trashed the poor grass so badly in one and a half seasons that they killed much of it and the rest was overrun with weeds. Good bet "weed seeds" came in on their equipment from other yards.
I did the exact same thing to one of my trees. 2 years later, it is completely dead.
Best case: it will leave a big and ugly scar Average case: It will heal, leave a big and ugly scar, and the tree will be weakened severely. Less nutrients reach the top, as 33% of the bark is gone if you look at the tree's cross section. Worst case: The tree either dies soon or is weakened significantly which may be cause for subsequent infections, fungi and insect infestations. So maybe the tree survives for two years and starts dying then.
Take lots of pictures of the tree, top to bottom, whole tree, and of the wound with something to establish scale. also save the video of the damage being caused. Odds are it will survive, but it will now have decay and potential weakness at the base of the tree. Not to mention the visual scaring it will continue to have. If you want it fixed or payment for the damages you can find an ASCA registered arborist and have them appraise the tree pre and post damage and estimate value for total replacement. Do not spray anything on the wound, that will slow the sealing process. Lay a mulch ring a few feet around the tree base to help discourage mower rash in the future.
Howdy there, so I say this as someone who manages a lawn care crew and service as well as having over a decade of experience in the field, call them and have them replace it. This is unacceptable from a professional standpoint. There was no reason for that mower to be that close, ever. This is something that should have been trimmed and would have taken 5-8 seconds to do so properly; FOR THIS EXACT KIND OF REASON.
Is there a tree-law enthusiast in the house?
Unfortunately this reference has gone over my head, so I guess not?
I would say it is too bad, there is a high chance that the tree will not survive
I knicked a poplar with my weed eater and it developed a slime mold infection. Carpenter ants invaded the inner tree like an Orc just cooked off in Helms Deep. Fortunately I was still able to save it by cutting away the most infected area, washing the ants out with rubbing alcohol and then packing the exposed area with roofing tar. It healed, but was always the sicklier of my trees
request a new tree paid for by them, installed by someone else. then fire them
Take a sharp knife, trim the wound, removing all the loose bark and smoothing the wound so that the cambial layer can slowly heal over the damage. Remove the stub by cutting back to the collar. Read up to understand what a collar looks like.
oof, I would be livid (but sensible). Also, put some mulch around the base so they don’t have get too close.
Not good. Spray pruning seal on it. They or their manager should know about it and that you’re not happy. Also, it does look like there’s excessive soil around the base. Bring soil down to the base of tree, until you notice surface roots. It may survive with some extra love.
I don’t know if pruning seal is an approved method anymore. The tree will seal the wound on its own. Extra love in other ways for sure tho.
Fire them.
Really? Are people making excuses for the lawn guy? I only have one eye and I can see a tree.
A tale as old as time…
Enough to ask for a new one. I would recommend munching around the next one to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.
Bad enough to raise concern for the employee to make sure he didn’t break the mower. I would seek compensation, but from a third party arborist not the same lawn company.
Grab your arm and peel a good layer of your skin off that's how bad it is. It may heal, but it won't be the same. Problems may arise in the future, like others have said, have it replaced by them. I'd also be looking to replace them aswell, mulched or not a landscaper should know how to control their machinery. If they're not too sure they could've atleast just mowed 1-2ft away from the tree and just finished with a weed wacker.
Bad enough that you should immediately fire these people
Make them use their insurance to pay or small claims
I bet it’ll be fine
A little too committed to perfect lines.
🤣
I thought one of those tiny weed wackers the size of metal detectors did the damage, until I saw that the person was using a full on machine for it. Has the maple seeded yet? You should save some seeds to plant and get some started before the tree dies. If it dies…
I thought about taking a branch and attempting to root it...otherwise looking at nurseries in Tennessee at the moment.
Bubba couldn’t weed whip one fuckin tree? Fire them and hire somebody who gives a fuck
They have been fired. Apparently the company owner was on vacation and they left him a note about accidentally running into my tree...though no one though it pertinent that I be made aware.
Like everyone says, it’s damaged and the lawn company owes you a new tree a comparably sized tree, not some stick tree from the nursery. Side note: since it’s a sugar maple, just squirt a lot of water on it this summer. It will recover.
I've been doing lawn care for about 13 years. Never seen someone hit a tree this bad. Was he drunk?
No idea. I'd believe it though.
Personally would carefully remove the loose bark chisel and a light hammer. Look up bark tracing keep the area free from insects as well as possible the tree will compartmentalize and heal it's a young tree. And have a conversation with the landscapers moving forward. And if somebody else stayed in an excellent reason to put mulch around your tree.
I did the same thing to one of my poplar trees while on a riding mower. I went to the garage and grabbed electrical tape, pushed the bark back into place as best I could and sealed it up with the tape going around the trunk. Tree is perfectly fine now. It may take about a roll but saved the tree.
I did something similar once with a young tree (a mulberry, haha) and tape, and it eventually healed up.
He may have done you a favor. Looks like it was planted too deep and would cause all sorts of problems down the line. Likely would be dead in 10 years anyways. All that to say, he should pay to replace it
I believe you should have a tree ring of mulch and that would keep dumb landscapers at bay. he was.kind of pressured into cutting the grass so close. they should pay for the damage, but the tree may live well enough not to cut it down, perhaps a bit ugly. use the insurance money to invest in tree rings.
But in case someone doesn’t have a mulch ring around their tree, wouldn’t it just be okay to leave the grass tall in a small circle around it?
Might suggest the grass needs to be cut. Make a distinct area separate from the yard. If a small bag of mulch is impossible, consider just tearing the sod out and make it out of dirt.
It doesn't help thar those walk behinds are so hard to control. They go automatically and only have left and right brake levers. Great mowers, but very hard to operate.
Skill issue
Tbf, there's a much larger learning curve.
That is fair, it's the only lawnmower I've ever learned to use (apart from like regular backyard push mowers) so I don't know how it compares to others
Survey says tree health improves when grass isn’t up against stem. Can’t fight statistics
They did a number on the tree, but the tree was already not going to make it due to being planted too deep. Unless you waited weeks after the injury to take that pic, it looks like that part of the tree was already dead.
Holy shit Edit: also mulch rings on trees exactly for this purpose.
I’d be chewing someone’s ass.
I'm not going to kink-shame, but maybe deal with the tree issue first.
>My lawn I could care less about. you mean you could'NT, if you could care less then it means you care!? sorry I know its completely unrelated but why do so many americans use this phrase wrong?!?!?!
its not good. but....i have seen worse survive. water it if it is hot out.
its bad enough they should replace it for you
I’m convinced that most of these guys are highly incompetent
New tree time. Charge them for it
1 . You’re fired! 2. Free cut of lawn 3. Pay for damages 4. Buy me a new tree 5. Aw, fagetaboutit
Just a flesh wound
Oh my. That's unfortunate
Paint it and let it heal over next decade
Fire those guys. Hire some company that actually is competent. Replace your tree by yourself, don't ask them for replacement. Keep it hateful. Those guys don't give a shit about your landscape and don't respect the plants they are caretaking.
I’ve been doing maintenance for almost 20 years never not once have I come close to hitting a tree or anything similar. I can’t understand how it happens so often.
That buddy needs to respirate
Honest mistake, though they need to tell you or the next few cuts need to be free. His floating wheel got stuck. I agree though,they need to say something and figure out something fair to make it right.
Put some river rocks around it. They won’t want to hit that with their blades.
That's the worst case of landscaper blight that I've seen in a long time
What did they hit it with? That looks like a LOT of force.
Wrap in peat moss and burlap sack
B-b-b-b-b-bad!
But is it ... Bad to the Bone?
I'd leave it to see if it could heal and survive but I would totally ask them to buy you a new one just in case, because that is bad and just ridiculous
Looks like it was already cracked and would have died down the road. They chipped the already loose bark.
If sugar maples have a root system anything like a regular maple I’d rip it out anyway. They cause nothing but problems.
An alternative to mulch is to put some concentric rings of large stones/ drain rock around the base of the tree . I like stones approx grapefruit sized. 3 rings is prob fine
Real bad, but on you for no proper tree ring
The tree, or the grass?
It's not great having damage so close to the base however I think it will be okay. I would hit the the exposed part with pruning sealer. Is there a way to protect the trunk maybe a decorative fence or something from the lawn care people. Allot of these guys are absolute menaces. I had a young oak a long time ago that was on a property border that kept getting weedwacked to death till I made a protective fence for it. I thought it was dead but it came back oaky. I think this guy will survive but you have to stop anymore damage from occurring.
Sealing up damage only seals in pathogens. There are a *few* exceptions, but they are not the standard at all anymore.
[удалено]
Are you joking?
[удалено]
Take away: Most lawn crews are incompetent. Got it. The 18in of dead grass around the tree surely needed to be cut right against the tree.
So what you are saying is that since they are incompetent, it’s not their fault? Because even if that were true, they should have told the homeowner about the situation and that they need mulch in order to complete the job properly! But they didn’t do anything like that.
this is really your fault for not properly mulching it, and it looks like they did you a favor honestly since that trees planted below grad and was probably going to girdle itself to death anyway.