Since before we moved in to our house a year ago, the tree in the front yard has had lots of dead branches. In addition bark is missing at the bottom of the tree.
We cleared 100+ dafodil bulbs that were growing around the base of the tree (along with other weeds) and removed dirt and a thick layer of old mulch piled 6-12 inches above the root spread.
We would like to keep the tree from dying. Would it be helpful to cut back the dead branches? Are there any soil amendments or anything else we can do to help the tree survive? What should we put around the base of the tree (e.g. mulch)?