And did he mean weeds around thev tree or weeds right up against the trunk?
Not sure what he meant- he said this at a lecture and his slides did show weeds that were at least close to the trunk, I couldnt tell.
Richard has always told me to mulch and I consider him an expert as well. So differing opinions.
The downside I see logically is that weeds compete for nutrients and moisture , so the later makes sense.
Now once a tree has a significant canopy, unless you cut out most of the middle large branches, like Dr Campbell shows in his video, the shade will choke out the weeks anyway.
Walter Zill's trees have canopies and are close together so the weeds are gone from directly under the tree, but his backyard has significant weeds elsewhere so who knows what his opinion is; I've never asked . Rob, have you ever asked this?