Hello everyone, I'm new to the vertical mulching thing and looking for some tips. I would like to add VM to my services as an alternative to fertilizing for rejuvenating old and sick trees. I would be using an 6" auger bit on a stihl drill. I would like to hear about other methods for applying and especially what kind of cocktails you guys use to backfill the holes. The local landscape supplier has garden compost for sale which is a mixture of peat moss, hay, cocoa bean hulls, cotton seed meal, and poultry litter. Also anyone been experimenting with mycorrhizae as part of the ingredients when VM? Thanks!
Vertical mulching is by far the best thing you can do to any desirable tree in any soil type and should be considered as vital as pruning and watering. That said, know your soils and soil pH. Six inches is too big a diameter, stick to 2-3 inch holes. Keep the six inch bit for areas that don't drain well and fill the hole with pea gravel, this is Way easier than a French drain and a couple holes like this will really drain a spot that stays wet too long provided you get down to the naturally porous subsoil.
For 2-3 inch holes 12-24 inches deep, start about six feet away from the crown of the tree and make holes 2-3 feet apart in concentric circles out to or just past the drip line. For clay soils fill holes with fine screened compost mixed 50/50 with sand, some gypsum, and a mycorrhizal inoculant. For Sandy soils, use straight compost and mycorrhiza. For really dense poorly draining soils, use compost and pea gravel with gypsum and mycorrhiza. Use a broom handle or dowel to Tamp the mix into the hole as you fill, air pockets will kill roots. You can add fertilizer, but go with a slow release or organic fertilizer to avoid root burn.
Depending on pH, add some acidifying fertilizer or lime to the mix. Vertical mulching is great for trees but will also do wonders for a yard or ball field. For a sports field, you really want to make sure to Tamp down the fill material firmly all the way to the surface and leave a little mound on top so there are no divots.
For all vertical mulching, water in everything thoroughly.
Vertical mulching, especially with mycorrhizal inoculants and compost (real fine screened compost, No wood chunks) will add organic materials to the soil, improve drainage as well as water retention! This will reduce water bills, add to the effectiveness of fertilization, decrease the formation of surface roots on younger trees, add vitality and vigor to any tree young or mature, aerate the soil, encourage deeper root production of trees and turf making them more drought resistant, add beneficial fungi, microbes and bacteria to the soil.
Stay Far away from water mains, gas lines, sewer drains, and irrigation lines as you will make a mess and kill your profit margin.
You have to sell this service, people don't know about it, educate them.
Over time the soil will increase in porosity as the mycorrhiza grow out from the holes and the organic materials and gypsum condition the soil.
Always upsell by suggesting larger mulch rings around desirable trees, as I rarely see mulch rings the size recommend, with a nice layer of native, well composted hardwood mulch on top, you shouldn't have to water more than twice a week even in a Texas summer with little rain.
