Redundancy

Hard to tell by our rainy afternoon, but this morning was nice and I headed outside for a walk with the dog.

As soon as I headed out the door it was hard to miss that pungent aroma the permeates Houston this time of year, freshly laid mulch. It is hard to describe the smell when it hits you in volumes - all to say it isn't pleasant. And so I began my walk trying to breath only through my mouth. As we finished our neighborhood walk, I headed to the pocket park where there was mulch around every tree and then some. In their zeal the landscapers had also mulched every single lamp post along the walk. Perhaps they didn't notice the trunks were perfect squares and made of metal.

With each tree I passed - all with mulch stacked high - I couldn't help but think of the arborist who unburied our trees from the unnecessary mulch saying it was harming the tree. At the very least leave space around the trunk. Obviously these landscapers don't hang around with arborists. It made me wonder though if mulch can damage trees growth, what will it do to our lighting?