Worst new tree installations I've ever seen---
I bid a job out at a fairly new development outside of town, yesterday. What I saw there was unbelievable, to me: All new tree trunks were buried 2-3 feet under mulch and dirt, and there was one three inch pvc pipe stuck in the ground, at each tree, down to the level where the actual burlap ball was. I asked the homeowner at the place I was at, how this came to pass. He told me that he thought the dirt guys and tree guys came in at the same time, but I doubt it. These are newly installed trees, not pre-existing ones. In order for this goofy set-up to occur I think this happened: Some big-time tree sales/installation company got antsy waiting for the dirt contractor to come in and dump and grade each site, so the trees were planted on the sites in the native soil, totally disregarding the fact that each site was going to be raised 2-3 feet with new soil. Then some genius came up with the pvc pipe idea, even though this set-up is normally only used when a well must be created around an older, valued, pre-existing tree and the area around the tree raised a good deal. Then, sometimes for safety reasons, the well is filled in with mulch and dirt and the pvc pipes used to provide more ventilation to the buried trunk. Even so, many tree do not thrive under the mulch and dirt. This method is not favored, according to most research I've read up on. To plant new trees and then bury their trunks under so much mulch and dirt is surely handing them a death sentence within the next few years, pvc pipe, or no pvc pipe. It is nuts to plant new trees this way. In the past, I would write to the developer to point out what had been done during their watch and offer to correct all improper installations. At this development, we're talking about two thousand installations, or so, that would need to be dug out and planted correctly. This would be a big-buck gig. Experience has shown me, though, that most developers really don't care and will resent the heck out of someone who tries to offer help to save their trees. They want to get their developments done, get their houses sold, and then move on to exploit the next nice, unspoiled tract of land. They let the buyers worry about the issues a little further down the line. They won't even contact the original installer to correct the problem. The trees die and the homeowners replace them.
, so of course the developers aren't going to ever care.
