Yeah, definitely. I hope no one thinks I’m advocating for mulch volcanoes. I just remembered the thread and I’ve seen a lot of them. You have to wonder when you see some that are decades old, maybe it’s not as bad as we think.

Problem with being in the internet is that the US users tend to drown out everyone else. So if US posters don’t like pollard or coppice, or mulch volcanoes, or coronet pruning, then anyone who suggests differently is downvoted heavily. Coppice and Pollard are a good example as it’s common in Europe/UK, a very old practice with fairly solid arboricutural fundamentals, but Americans tend to hate it.

A classic one is the obsession with planting at the flare. Like @[email protected] mentions about girdling roots, there is a common planting dryland technique used in Australia that flies in the face of flare planting called long-stem. Mention that planting at the flare isn’t necessary for different species due to adventitious roots and the downvotes begin. Long-stem and mulch volcanoes have some things in common, trees in riparian zones with flood debris also have it so there is a natural process of mulch volcanoes that doesn’t kill them. @[email protected]’s comment about hydrophobic mulch is a good one.

About long-stem:

The long-stem planting method is a technique used for planting seedlings with longer stems than usual. The method involves burying the root ball of the seedling deeply, so that the stem is also buried. New roots sprout from the leaf nodes along the buried woody stem, which enhances the survival rate of the seedling with minimal post-planting care[1][2][3]. This technique is effective in environmental restoration projects around Australia, and tens of thousands of long-stem plantings have been highly successful over the past fifteen years[4]. Plants that are most likely to succeed with the long-stem technique are those that are successful by stem cuttings, and even some woody plants can be planted using this method[5][6]. The advantages of this technique over the conventional planting method include insulating the root ball from environmental stresses such as temperature extremes and drought[4].

Citations: [1] https://site.emrprojectsummaries.org/2011/12/06/planting-for-success-using-long-stem-plants/ [2] https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/grants/longstemguide.pdf [3] https://www.tintuppanursery.com.au/long-stem-planting.html [4] https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/long-stem-planting/9430210 [5] https://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/deep-long-stem-planting-better-plant-establishment-in-the-garden/ [6] https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/plantmaterials/nmpmcbr7106.pdf

In regards to whippersnippers, yep! I would have loved to have done some statistical analysis if records were kept on tree mortality as soon as whippersnippers were common and affordable. I think trees in common road frontages took a terrible turn for the worse at that point. A lot of plantings in Aus now have sleeves because of that.