I found this article really useful to get me started on planning.

With the leftover soil make a watering doughnut (approx mm high and mm diameter) around the tree. Fill the doughnut with 50 to 75mm of mulch (personally I would use good quality compost), start approx mm to mm away from the trunk of the tree and work out to the watering doughnut. Using compost as a mulch in this situation has the added benefit of feeding the tree naturally and slowly.

Other fine hardwood trees such as maple, birch, hickory, cherry trees, and beech have been shown to grow 79% more with mulch. Mulch reduces weeds growing around trees by up to 80% By reducing the amount of light weeds receive, mulch prevents weeds from germinating.

The mulch that does a good job at this is coarser organic treegrinding.barted Reading Time: 6 mins.

Sep 25, Research has proven that, over time, a mulch ring placed 3 to 6 feet around the tree can almost double the growth rate of the tree. Mulching decreases competition from the grass. Grass robs water and nutrients from the tree’s root development and delays its establishment. Jun 06, Spread mulch in a 4–5 feet (– m) diameter around the tree. Lay down a thin layer of mulch around the tree. The mulch should not touch the tree itself.

Leave 1–2 inches (– cm) of space between the base of the tree and the mulch.

If all else fails then I highly recommend watching this video on how to prune cherry trees.

You can lay mulch 98%(62). Volcano mulching is a common term used in arboriculture describing mulch piled up against the tree trunk that is so thick and conically piled that it actually looks like a volcano. There is no positive use for this display of mulch, in fact it is highly destructive to trees, especially young ones."Volcano" mulching is harmful to trees. Jun 07, Remove weeds and grass around your fruit tree up until the drip line of the tree as that is where the feeder roots are that need water and nutrition.

Here in Colorado we have larger pests, deer.

Lay out your mulch in a circle, or donut shape around your fruit tree. Keep the mulch approximately 6 inches away from the tree treegrinding.bar: Susan Poizner.