Question
Dear Sir,
I have one Dogwood tree and four bradford pears. The dogwood is on the north side of my house and the bradford pears are in a row on the south side  with all trees being 20 feet or more away from the house. Last year I had a local landscaper mulch all five trees. The dogwood started dying last year and lost most of its leaves. Before dying, it seemed to get a green mold or mildew all over the bark. It did not bud at all this year and is obviously dead. Now I note this spring, which has admittedly been a rather damp spring, that the bark on the four bradford pear trees is turning very green and I am worried that they may be diseased and may possibly die. I called the landscaper who told me that the green on the bradford pears was probably due to the damp weather and that they would probably be ok. He has not yet seen them. I read somewhere that one should not put mulch too close to the base of the tree, so I just went out and raked it back about a foot from the base of the trees,and sprayed part with some orthenex hoping it would help.
Do you have any idea about this situation
.
thanks for any help.
Leonardo20

Answer
Yes you are correct the bark or mulch is definetly retaining more moisture than would normally happen in a natural setting.

Once the fungus sets in there may also be other pathogens that will follow.  Fungus is bad enough.

I would advise agianst the mulch or bark or at least spread it thin.
You can also aereate the soil at the base of the tree by simply inserting a rod in to the ground about a foot deep and dont cover the wholes back up.

The landscaper should have known better.  Maybe he was just trying to do a good job.

Good Luck
James