Mulch
Mulch Piled Against a Trunk Slowly Kills the Tree
Mulch touching a trunk holds bark permanently damp, invites rot and rodents, and encourages roots to circle above the flare.
Bark below the soil line and bark above it are different tissues. Above-ground bark is built to shed water and dry out. Bury it in a permanently damp mulch cone and it stays wet, softens, and becomes an entry point for rot organisms and boring insects. Voles and mice also nest happily in the cone and gnaw the bark over winter.
Worse, the tree responds to the buried zone by growing adventitious roots up into the mulch. Those roots circle the trunk and, years later, girdle it. The fix is deliberately unglamorous: mulch in a flat ring 2-4 inches deep, pulled back a few inches so the root flare — the visible widening at the base — is exposed to air.
Put this into practice
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