mulch need be no closer to the crown.. than the canopy of the leaves

so if you have a sum and substance.. with a 36 inch wide canopy .. i see no reason why the mulch needs to anywhere closer to the crown than 18 inches or so either way ...

or somewhere in between ...

too heavy mulch.. on or too near the crowns.. can eventually lead to the crown ending up planted too deep.. with possible failure in the future . ...

let them leaf out .. then pull the mulch back half the distance between the crown and the canopy ...

i see the issue as related to crown depth .. not root depth .... roots grow where the plant wants them to be ...

ken

Joseph,
I use mulch sparingly. It can attract voles in my area. Butch has done a lot of study on mulch. He can explain the scientific and simple use of it. His e-mail is wilddog_202@yahoo.com

Denny