How do I encourage my tree to grow a full set of leaves again?

Question

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)?

Answer 1

Dead branches on trees are best being removed, especially when the trees are close to a building, because they may, at some point, break and fall and cause damage.

I cannot see an area of missing bark in your pictures, although to the right at the base in the second picture, there is less ridged bark - this may be where the mulch you removed was piled against the trunk, but it doesn't seem to be missing bark as such. Although some mulch won't do the tree any harm, it's important that you don't allow any mulch to cover the base of the tree trunk. You may want to call an arborist to remove the dead branches and to inspect the tree to assess its health and whether or not it needs more significant cutting back from a safety point of view.