The Big Box Fix for Trees

Details: Written by Adam Downing | Virginia Cooperative Extension Forester | Trees Virginia Board Member; Published: 31 July 2019

Big box stores and trees don’t typically go together in a positive light… but they could!

Big companies such as Walmart, Lowes, Target and others could teach American’s how to mulch trees.

As people, we tend to do what others do. Even when there are compelling reasons to do something different, we tend to conform and how much more so when we are ignorant. I have certainly been guilty of this more than once and probably more than I know.

I believe this social phenomenon is at the root of the problem with our epidemic of volcano mulching in Virginia and elsewhere. Business owners and homeowners alike mulch right up the trunk of a tree simply because they see that way of mulching far more than any other, if not exclusively.

Did you know that 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart and that for every U.S. dollar spent, 8 cents of it is spent at Walmart. (source: 1012, Businessinsider.com) If these two things are true, Walmart alone is a significant influence on our society. Add in the other big retail companies, and we’ve got something quite big don’t we?

Attention shoppers: let’s turn big retail into a big positive for trees.

If we could get one or more of these big box companies (or even just local stores!) to insist that their grounds keepers properly mulch their trees, I predict the collapse of many a volcano mulch throughout this country.

How can we do this? Have you ever dreamed of “taking on” the big box stores? Not in a fight but rather to partner for positive change! Consider this a call to Tree Stewards and tree lovers everywhere… let us organize and generate change! We can do this!

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”
― Edward Everett Hale

Did You Know:

One large tree can provide a supply of oxygen for two people.
Most trees do not have a tap root.
Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30 percent and save 20-50 percent in heating energy.
Trees are the largest living organisms on earth: some coastal redwoods are more than 360 feet tall.
Well-maintained trees and shrubs can increase property value by up to 14%.
In one day, one large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air.
A birdhouse hung on a young tree branch, does not move up the tree as the tree grows.
Trees are some of the oldest living organisms on earth: some bristle-cone pines are thought to be more than 5000 years old.
A mature tree removes almost 70 times more pollution than a newly planted tree.
Most tree roots are in the top 12 inches of soil.
Every state has an official State Tree. Virginia adopted the flowering dogwood Cornaceae Cornus floridaas the State Tree on February 24, 1956. The dogwood is well distributed throughout the...