Short answer is - not at all. You should mulch, as widely as possible, around trees, but no deeper than 4", and NO mulch in the couple of inches around the tree. Putting mulch there has several bad effect. 1) It holds moisture against the trunk, which can lead to rotting down the road. Now, I grant it can be 10-15 years before you see any effect, but I can just about guarantee that it will show up. 2) If the mulch is piled too high and too close to the trunk, then the tree roots can't get the proper air exchange in the soil, and will grow roots up into the mulch. This is bad for several reasons, one being that there is little nutrition in the mulch, and the other, and perhaps more important, is that if the mulch dries out, for whatever reason, then the tree roots also dry out. 3) Since you are in zone5, you get snow in the winter. Mice and voles tend to tunnel through mulch to hide and be warm - if they can be right next to the trunk in comfort, they can nibble on the bark, which does the tree no good. Your neighbor is right that it is bad, although probably not about the reason. Which is not to say that girdling roots won't, eventually, kill a tree, just that too high mulch is not likely as a cause of girdling roots. I don't know why any GOOD landscaper does it, although enough of them do it. It does, as you said, mean that little or no grass grows up against the trunk, and thus doesn't need to be pulled or otherwise dealt with, so makes less work. Another reason may be "that it's the way to do it" (as if tradition is the deciding factor for everything!), and another may be that it's a lot easier than trying to explain, and oversee, an ignorant laborer how to do it right. After all, 10-15 years is long enough not to look for trouble that far down the road; he may not be doing the job at that time; if the tree does, he gets to be paid to remove it and replace it; and trees just die, it's got nothing to do with mulching it high up on the trunk. Yeah, RIGHT!!!!

Well, boys grow fast, and my son is going through a spurt. We were on a 50 mile ride last weekend, and it was clear that he is outgrowing everything. His bike shoes were hurting his toes and his beloved Peugeot "Leo" is definitely too small. If you know bike fit, you'll see the signs of too-small-a-bike. His heel is lower than the ball of his feet, and his head is well forward of the bars. Bigger bike shoes, that is easy enough, and done. But bigger bike - that takes more work. I built the wheels last Sunday. Started assembling the bike Monday night. Several trips to the bike shop later, we are almost done. His new bike is ridable - I've ridden it to the bike bar tonight, as a matter of fact - and we only have the bar tape and brake hoods to do. The frame is a 1974 Raleigh Gran Sport, which was Raleigh's upper-mid-range sport touring bike of the day. The International was the top-end sport tourer, the Competition was the equivalent race bike. The Gran Sport was made from Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, the best there was, at the Carlton works, where Raleigh's best models were built, save only the very tippy-top Team Professional and the Raleigh race team's Team Pros. So the frame is very nice. But the components were just adequate, even back then. Raleigh, like Peugeot, tended to save money on the boltable bits as they spec'd bikes to meet price points. The mid-1970s were an era of rampant global inflation and deep industrial turmoil in England, and Raleigh was struggling to stay afloat. So we weren't going to keep all the original components. But what just had to stay, lest we lose what makes a Gran Sport a Gran Sport, and what had to go, to make this a magic carpet ride? Gran Sport bikes, which were sometimes also called "Grand Sports", came with the distinctive GB randonneur handlebar, which is upswept on the tops and flared on the hooks. The randonneur bar is practically the signature look for the model, so it had to stay. 40 years ago, manufacturers didn't restyle their products every year at the whim of color consultants and focus groups. A successful model stayed the same for years, long enough to become a classic. So with the Gran Sport. The classic Gran Sport of the 1970s came with white handlebar tape, white brake hoods embossed "Carlton", and a black leather Brooks saddle. That is how my Gran Sport was, and how my son's will be. Today, white tape might look precious, even girly. Back in the day, white handlebar tape said "racer". The top racers rode gleaming white bar tape, which their mechanics replaced with fresh wrap every day. This was before everything turned menacing, thoughtless, paramilitary black. My Gran Sport had the standard Brooks sporty bike saddle, the black B17. My friend gave me a much cooler saddle, a Brooks Professional with copper rivets, the racer's saddle of yesteryear. It looks the same to most people, but to bicycle cognescenti, the copper rivets speak volumes. So the top of the bike - saddle, bars - will stay true to the traditional 1970s Gran Sport look. All the moving bits below, though, will be of a different era. For bike people, Campagnolo is magic. The company may be a fraction the size of the industry gorilla, Japan's Shimano. It may be conservative and slow to innovate. Its components may work no better than the equivalent Shimano group, and be barely lighter. And the "Campagnolo tax" may have you paying two or three times more, for the privilege of having Tullio Campagnolo's signature and "Made In Italy" on your bike components. But you want it anyway. You know you do. I never had a Campy-equipped bike as a kid. Hardly any kids do, unless their dads are made of money, which I'm not. But if you have patience, know your away around eBay and used bike parts, and can do your own work, you can ride Campagnolo without breaking the bank. This bike has a near-complete group - drivetrain, brakes, integrated brake lever-shifters, hubs - of late 1990s Campagnolo Veloce. Veloce is a midrange Campagnolo group, distinguished from the higher-end groups by a slightly less polished finish, slightly thicker forgings with fewer lightening holes, and no titanium bits. It looks great. So here are a few pictures of the bike in progress. The GB stem and bars. The front brakes, including my homemade drop bracket, necessary to adapt short-reach late 1990s racing sidepull brakes to a 1970s frame meant for long-reach touring centerpull brakes and larger diameter rims. Here we are, test fitting the integrated levers on the bars. I'll get the last things done tonight, and tomorrow I'll show the boy himself with his new bike, "Rollie".

Now that Ive got some time to type them up, Ktee, here are a few more. Each of these should adapt well to your new LC Dutch oven; they've all worked well in my old one: POT AU FEU 3 lb lean brisket 1 piece salt pork 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves 9 carrots, peeled 1 turnip, peeled 4-5 leeks, washed water 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tbls salt 1 stewing hen 6 potatoes 1 head cabbage, quartered 1 lb pearl onions 3 tbls butter Sprig parsleyÂ1 tsp sugar Put the brisket, salt pork, onion, leeks, celery, 3 carrots, turnip, parsley and thyme in a large kettle. Cover with water and bring to boil. Add 1 tbls salt, lower the heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours. Then add the chicken. Continue cooking until meat and fowl are tender, about an hour. Half hour before serving add potatoes with their skins left on, the cabbage, and remaining carrots. Continue cooking until vegetables are soft. Meanwhile, brown pearl onions in butter and cook until soft. Add a little sugar to give them a nice brown glaze. Serves in large soup bowls with some of the onions. LAMB & CABBAGE CASSEROLE Trim 3 pounds boned lamb shoulder and cut it into 1 ½ inch cubes. Trim, quarter, and remove the core from a 2 ½ pound head of white cabbage. Blanch the cabbage in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain it, and cut it into ½-inch thick slices. In a large kettle with tight-fitting lid arrange the lamb and cabbage in layers, seasoning each layer with salt, using 1 tbls in all, and pepper to taste. Add 3 cups boiling water and simmer the mixture, covered, for 2 hours. Slice a 1-ound head of curly cabbage (Savoy), well trimmed, into ½ inch slices and arrange them on top of the lamb and cabbage. Simmer the mixture, covered, for 40 minutes more. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Reheat the mixture and simmer it for 10 minutes more. Let the mixture cool again, and reheat it in a moderate oven (350F) for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tbls chopped parsley. Serves 6-8. From: Gourmet Magazine CRANBERRY POT ROAST 2-3 pound venison roast (or substitute beef) 1 small onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 ½ cups cranberries 1 tbls mixed sweet herbs 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tbls maple sugar 2 cloves 1-1 ½ cups cider or apple juice Salt & Pepper to taste Flour Oil Sprinkle meat with slat & pepper. Dust with flour. Sear in a little hot oil on all sides. Set aside. Sauté onions & celery until tender. Add balance of ingredients. Return meat to pot. Simmer until meat is soft, about 2 hours. TRANSYLVANIAN CHICKEN STEW Cut two 3-pound chickens into serving pieces and pat them dry with paper towels. In a saucepan sauté 6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces, until they are lightly browned, add 1 large onion, sliced, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat until the onion is softened. Stir in 1 tbls sweet Hungarian paprika, add the chicken, and spoon the bacon mixture over it. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally and adding ½ cup water or stock, a little at a time, to keep the chicken moist, for 45 minutes. Add ½ pound smoked sausage or kielbasa, thinly sliced, and cook the mixture for 15 minutes. Add 3 large green peppers, thinly sliced, 1 pound green beans, broken into 1-inch pieces, and ½ cup each of tomato sauce with basil and chicken stock, and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serves 6-8. From Gourmet Magazine. SHRIMP & SAUSAGE 1 ½ lb peeled shrimp 2 links smoked hot sausage 1 tsp sweet basil 1 tbls paprika Salt 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 cup beer ½ cup onion, sliced Pinch cayenne Oil Slice sausage. Fry in oil with the garlic and remove from pan. Sauté shrimp in same pan until pink. Return sausage to the pan, with the onion, slat, basil, and beer. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve hot over rice.

I would try contacting Husqvarna directly through their website. They must have a product support section, though it may say to contact your local dealer. If that doesn't work you could try contacting another dealer or Husqvarna authorized repair shop. Donna