Daffodil No Fly Zone

I read a bit a few years ago about the protective nature of daffodils around seedling trees (e.g. grass & critter control).

In my haste I planted them a bit too close - maybe 5 or 6 bulbs in a smallish circle, maybe a foot from the seedlings - in this case pawpaws and persimmons.

As the trees have gotten a little bigger and the bulbs have multiplied it is looking a little crowded, giving me some concern for the young tree roots ability to freely spread.

I'm trying to determine if I'm worrying about nothing, or if it would be better to try and carefully get those bulbs out and relocate them further out to the eventual drip line of those trees - I just don't care to do much digging in that critical root zone.

Any thoughts or experience would be appreciated!

It's typically a good idea to dig up your bulbs every 5 years or so, divide and replant them. I wouldn't really worry about them sharing root space with trees, daffodils are shallow but they will multiply. If you are worried, I would dig them up this year, just be careful with the digging. It is often recommended to dig them out when they are dormant but then you have to be certain exactly where they are. You might miss a bloom cycle next year but such is life.

Daffodils are great for repelling gophers, so if you feel you need to thin them out,  don't make them too thin.  Just wait until the green growth on top has turned brown, which has fed next year's bulbs, and then carefully lift them out, transplanting some.  They won't compete with your trees.

Thank you both very much!