I was watching good old Roger Cook, the brawny garden guy on Ask This Old House the other night, and he and an arborist were in somebody's garden and were "unmulching" some trees that were being killed by "Volcano Mulching," that idiotic practice of piling 6 or 8 inches of mulch up against the trunks of trees like volcanoes.

Some people think it looks nice. I think that this practice is mostly done by landscape maintenance companies on commercial properties such as retail businesses, and not by homeowners, but I see it all the time in shopping areas.

I've always known that volcano mulching is bad for trees because the trunks of the trees are kept perpetually moist at the base, which promotes disease and insect infestations.

Well, Roger and the arborist scraped away the pile of mulch at the base of the first tree and the tree roots had grown up into the mulch and were growing around in circles, which would cause them to eventually girdle the tree, if the tree didn't die first.

Roots growing up in mulch instead of down in the soil results in cooked roots in summer and freeze-dried roots in winter. And people (usually business owners) pay ignorant "professionals" to plant their trees and maintain them neatly with mulch volcanoes. Then they pay to have the dead trees removed, replaced, and sadly, remulched. It’s just too stupid.

To save the tree, the men gently removed the mulch, trimmed off all the roots that were growing up into the mulch, and then returned 2 inches of mulch around the base of the tree, but not right up against the trunk. Then they probably said a little tree prayer, since the tree wouldn't have had one without the remedial work.

So the next morning on my way to tap dancing, I was stopped at a light and right next to me were 4 young volcano-mulched Bradford pear trees. Two of them looked distressed. I got so angry that on my way home, I stopped at Staples (which did not have volcano-mulched trees) and bought some poster board, indelible ink markers and some push pins.

Now I've made a bunch of posters that I keep in my car, along with some push pins. They say, "VOLCANO MULCHING KILLS TREES" and have an arrow pointing downward.

When I see a volcano mulched tree, I jump out of the car, dodge through traffic and pin a poster to the afflicted tree.

You know, you could do this, too. It may not do any good, but it could educate some people or result in the removal of some of the mulch. At the very least, you and I will feel a whole lot better. I hope the trees do, too.