I have a story to tell you. Many years ago, I worked as a consultant for the green industry….horticultural, arboricultural, nursery, and golf course….in the Hilton Head and Lowcountry areas.

I was called to one of the hospitals in Hilton Head where the newly planted trees were dying. It was a beautiful campus; management had spent a few million on new landscaping and were distressed to see these expensive trees dying within a few months of installation.

The management people were preparing to sue the landscaping company that had purchased and planted these beautiful trees. I was called in to support the management’s side of this case.

BUT, it didn’t work out that way. It took me about fifteen minutes to see that the trees were all girdled by mowers and weedeaters; a look at the security camera footage verified it. The hospital’s own maintenance staff were totally at fault. I looked at the soil, planting practices, root systems, and anything else I could think of just to make sure I covered all the bases.

I added this story just out of public interest, not saying anything else. 🙂

That is a great story and there's a lot to be learned from it. I'll bet it took some courage to walk in and tell management the truth, and I'm sure you weren't popular with the maintenance staff.

My story involves a Bur Oak that suffered very similar damage from a riding mower that was being operated by...well, someone other than myself. Just like the one in the OP, it was a large gash on a roughly 4' diameter. I wanted to be upset, but how could I be? Just like in the OP's picture, it wasn't mulched, which increased the liklihood of this happening. Anyhow, it promptly started to heal and seal. Several years later, it's doing just fine. I hope you experience the same.

sober eh???

this is why i had 2 to 3 foot rings of mulch around each tree.. so i could mow at speed .. as i called it ...

as i age.. i might be slowing down.. but the riding lawnmower isnt.. lol ...

and if you want to mow even faster.. you make them eye shaped.. and use roundup to keep weeds out of it.. and skip the mulch.. so you can go even faster.. and dont have to spin around each tree ...

ken

Zero turn?

Even a tree tube might only have partially protected that one! When the sap is flowing, it's easy to press into the bark and separate it from the trunk.

I had this problem, to a lesser extent, years ago when my new helper didn't think it was a big deal to hit into the yard trees with the push mower.

That's a doozy. Looks like a beaver chewed it