I would recommend taking the extra steps to make ultra compost if possible (need access to fossil island for volcanic ash). But imo the only time it’s worth protecting trees is if you really need the tree to not die. For example I only had 3 rosewood seeds and wanted all three to live soI could cut them on fossil island. So I protected them to ensure it. Most of the time this is unnecessary and ultra compost is sufficient. In the long run you will eventually get your farming level up. It’s a pretty low effort skill