Resident urges Lake Bluff to launch education campaign on harmful tree mulching

A Lake Bluff resident urged the Village of Lake Bluff Sustainability & Community Enhancement Ad Hoc Committee on Aug. 19 to ask the village board to begin an education campaign about improper mulching practices that can kill trees. The resident said he had documented hundreds of homes with excessive mulch and asked the committee to forward a formal recommendation to the board so a broader communication push could occur before next year’s mulching season.

The request matters because the resident said improper mulch—placed too deep over roots, piled against the trunk or up into the root collar—can cause premature tree death. "It is a known scientific fact that mulch placed too deep over a tree's roots, or mulch placed directly against a tree's bark, or mulch placed within the root collar of a tree can lead to the premature death of a tree," the resident told the committee during nonagenda public comment.

The resident said he had drafted a letter in May and provided photographs to demonstrate the problem, including numerous examples he described as "volcanoing a tree." He told the panel he had walked the east side of the village and identified "220 homes, not 220 trees, 220 homes where there was clearly aggressive poor mulching practices." He asked the committee to recommend a multi-part approach that would include a detailed letter to residents, a handout for landscapers and outreach through village communications early next spring when mulching resumes.

Committee members responded positively during the meeting. One member…