Mango Tree
When I mowed the lawn last week I struggled around some of the fruit trees (okay, I struggled everywhere, but the trees were the worst bits). The trees that caused me the most grief were the ones that survived, against all odds, the assault of our tenants whipper snipper. They survived but remain the height they were the day we rented the house out. I’m still optimistic they’ll recover but I found myself with the same dilemma my tenants clearly had – grass was growing quite high right up to the trunk of the tree. So yesterday I dug that grass up in a ring around a couple of trees, topped the exposed soil with fresh compost and some fruit tree slow-release fertiliser, then covered the lot with sugar cane mulch. I protected the mango and cherry trees this way. The olive could do with a similar upgrade but it’s in the way of our advancing veggie bed installation so it will have to be moved soon anyway.
Behind the cherry tree (below) you can see the ancient rose bush that the tenants hacked to the ground. One shoot has reappeared – whether it’s viable or not remains to be seen. Frank moved the whole bush (and ringed it with mulch) to below the bird bath making way for, you guessed it, more veggie beds.
Cherry Tree
Laura Rittenhouse's Gardening Journal 
String trimmers and trees are ancient enemies… since the dawn of the horrible machines anyway.
I hope the damage was not too bad since they can still have leaves for a while even they have no live cambium left and will die later. Digging out the grass works… but the simplest, non-chemical, way is to you use newspaper. Many sheets thick and covered with wood chips, bark, compost, etc… and the grass can’t grow through. I use it in my garden every year.
Enjoy.
Well the tenants moved out just about 1 year ago and we moved back in so the trees have survived a year with their wounds. I’m pretty sure they’re going to make it. For 3 years they managed to stay alive without growing an inch. Spring is just hitting and I’m really hopeful this year we’ll get some substantial growth now that the evil trimmers are banned.