It seems like 1/2 the literature I've read says to mulch your apple & pear trees & the other 1/2 says to use a rock aggregate like pea gravel, etc. b/c voles & mice are attracted to the mulch. What do y'all recommend? Shredded Hardwood mulch or rocks over landscape fabric?
What aggregate around Apple & Pear trees
- Thread starter coolbrze0
- Start date
j-bird
Well-Known Member
ROCKS! I simply pull some gravel from my stream, but pea grave or some other stone is fine. Bark/mulch allows tunnels to be dug under them and that is where the mice and voles come into play. They will chew off all your lateral supporting roots of your tree and all you have is a tap root. Thus your tree falls over and dies. I used mulch for a while and I have this issue. I went to gravel and have not had an issue since. I will also mention to use landscape fabric and NOT plastic. You want something that the water can pass thru. The gravel essentially simply holds that barrier in place. Don't forget to add some metal window screen or hardware cloth to the base of the tree to protect it from being chewed on as well... Good luck!
