Mulching
Mulch is the cheapest, most effective thing you can do for a tree — and one of the easiest to get wrong.
Why it works
The nearest thing to a free lunch in arboriculture.
In a woodland, leaves and branches fall, break down and return to the soil. In a garden or a street we rake it away and mow to the trunk. Mulch puts back what tidiness removes.
Holds moisture — dramatically reducing water loss through summer.
Moderates soil temperature — buffering roots against heat and cold.
Suppresses competition — grass at the base of a tree competes hard for water and nutrients.
Feeds the soil — breaking down slowly and rebuilding the biology trees depend on.
Keeps machinery away — a mulch ring is the cheapest protection against mower and line-trimmer damage to the base of the trunk.
How to get it wrong.
The classic mistake is the mulch volcano — mulch piled up against the trunk. It holds moisture against bark that is not adapted to it, invites decay and rodents, and can encourage roots to circle the stem. Mulch should form a flat ring, ideally 75–100mm deep, pulled clear of the trunk so you can still see the root flare.
We produce our own mulch from arisings. If we're already working on your property, mulch can often be left on site rather than carted away.
Aged, not fresh
Turned in our own depots until it is ready.
Fresh chip straight off the machine is not mulch yet. It is coarse, it robs nitrogen at the surface as it starts to break down, and it can heat enough to matter if you pile it against something living.
Ours is stockpiled at our depots and turned regularly, so it composts evenly the whole way through instead of souring in the middle. What comes out is dark, broken down, and stable — it holds moisture, it mats down instead of blowing around, and it feeds the soil as it goes.
Ordering
Nine cubic metres, delivered.
Mulch is sold by the cubic metre, delivered and tipped where you want it. The minimum load is nine cubic metres — roughly a small truck — which covers about 90 square metres at the 100mm depth we would specify around a tree.
Volume and delivery address both move the rate, so the price on the order form is the starting point rather than the final figure. Tell us how much and where, and we will confirm it before anything is loaded.
Common Questions
Frequently asked
How deep should mulch be?
Around 75 to 100mm, spread as a flat ring rather than a mound, and kept clear of the trunk so the root flare stays visible.
Can I use fresh wood chip?
As a surface mulch, yes — the concern about nitrogen drawdown applies to material dug into the soil, not laid on top. Don't dig fresh chip in around a tree.
Can you leave the chip from my job?
Usually, and it saves you the disposal cost. Tell us at quoting stage and we'll leave it spread or stockpiled.