I spend a lot of time looking at struggling trees. Trees with thinning canopies, scorched foliage, premature leaf drop, and branches beginning to die back. When we see those symptoms, one of the first things we tend to blame is the soil.

Recently, I stood beneath an Autumn Blaze Maple showing significant leaf scorch. The soil around the tree was heavily saturated, while decorative rock and weed barrier covered much of the root zone. In direct sunlight, temperatures on that rock were exceeding 135 degrees. Think about what those roots and lower canopy were experiencing. Below them was saturated soil holding too much water and likely too little oxygen. Above them was rock absorbing tremendous amounts of summer heat and radiating it back toward the root zone and canopy.

The tree was not simply growing in bad soil. It was trying to survive in an environment that had been created around it. That experience reminded me of a question I believe we should ask more often. Instead of saying that our soil is just terrible, maybe we should ask, “What are we doing to our soil?”

I see another side of this every day when I look at the trees growing in my own front lawn. They are planted in the same type of soil found throughout our area. I did not import some magical soil or discover a perfect piece of ground, yet their growth and establishment have been incredible.

I believe a large part of that success comes from something very simple. We have maintained large mulch rings beneath those trees and continued caring for the soil underneath them from the time they were planted. Over the years, I have watched that soil change. The structure has improved, organic matter continues to build, biological activity has increased, and the soil is better able to accept and hold moisture. The soil may have started much like everyone else’s, but the environment around it did not stay the same. Over time, it has begun functioning more like the living system it was intended to be. That distinction really matters.

Walk through a healthy woodland and look at the ground beneath the trees. You will not find manicured turf growing tightly against every trunk or decorative rock covering the root system. You will find leaves, twigs, decaying wood, and organic matter. That covering conserves moisture, moderates soil temperature, feeds soil organisms, reduces competition, and slowly returns organic material to the earth.

Our urban landscapes often do the opposite. We remove the leaves. We grow turf beneath the canopy. We drive mowers across the root zone. We irrigate according to what the lawn needs. Sometimes we cover the soil with rock and weed barrier that can become incredibly hot during a Kansas summer. Then, years later, when the tree begins struggling, we blame the soil. But maybe the soil is struggling too.

The science behind mulch helps explain why this matters. Research comparing trees growing in turf with trees growing beneath organic mulch has shown dramatic differences in fine root development. In some research, fine root surface area beneath mulch increased by nearly 200 percent. Other research with young trees has found several times greater fine root density beneath mulch than beneath turf, especially near the soil surface.

Those fine roots are incredibly important because they create much of the surface area a tree uses to absorb water and nutrients. They interact with fungi and microorganisms within the soil and help provide the resources necessary for canopy growth, defense, recovery, and energy storage. Turf is trying to use many of those same resources.

By removing some of that competition and replacing it with organic mulch, we begin creating an environment where tree roots have a greater opportunity to expand and function. Mulch also insulates the soil from temperature extremes, slows moisture loss, and gradually adds organic matter as it decomposes.

In many situations, we are not replacing bad soil. We are helping existing soil become better, and that matters for more than appearance or even everyday tree health. A healthy tree needs a healthy root system. Fine roots help sustain the tree, while larger structural roots provide much of the anchorage that helps keep it standing. Compaction, poor drainage, restricted rooting areas, root loss, and prolonged saturation can all compromise that system.

Creating healthier rooting conditions gives a tree a better opportunity to develop the root system, energy reserves, and vitality necessary to withstand drought, heat, pests, disease, and the forces placed upon it during storms. Healthy trees then return that investment to the environment around us. They shade our homes and streets, reduce surface temperatures, slow stormwater runoff, protect soil from erosion, provide habitat, store carbon, and make our neighborhoods more comfortable and beautiful.

So creating a larger mulch bed is not simply a landscaping decision. It truly is an act of stewardship. Trees have a way of reminding us that what happens beneath the surface eventually reveals itself above it. A healthy canopy does not begin with leaves. It begins with roots, and roots can only become what their environment allows them to become.

Maybe people are not so different. We often spend our energy trying to fix what everyone can see, when sometimes the more important work is happening quietly underneath. Improving the foundation, removing unnecessary competition, creating room to breathe, and giving something the environment and time it needs to recover can change what eventually becomes visible above the surface.

Fall is a wonderful time to make that change for our trees. Look beneath the canopy. Consider removing turf or rock where practical. Expand the mulch bed. Keep the root flare visible and keep mulch away from direct contact with the trunk. Then give the soil time to respond. Healthy soil is not created overnight, and neither is a healthy tree. Both are built through years of small decisions made consistently.

Practice to Cultivate

This fall, stand beneath one of the trees in your landscape and look down instead of up. Ask yourself what the roots beneath your feet are experiencing. Instead of wondering what is wrong with the soil, ask what you could change about the environment around it.

We spend a lot of time looking up at our trees and wondering why they are struggling. Maybe sometimes we simply need to look down. Healthy trees begin with healthy roots, healthy roots depend upon healthy soil, and healthy soil often begins with how we choose to care for the ground beneath our feet.

‘Well Rooted’ is written by Jeremy Elliott. Elliott owns a lawncare business and lives in the Great Bend area.