Mulching: Mimicry or Murder?
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- Gay_Klok
- Cottage_Garden
- Gay_Klok
- Burwell47
- Cottage_Garden
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» Gay_Klok - Good article, Barbara
One of the pitfalls a new gardener falls into is not freeing the trunk of the growing plant. Cup your hand and make a clear circle with it to take the mulch away from the wood. Many a good plant has gone to the Garden of Eden in the sky because it has become ring-barked from an over zealous gardenerIf you are patient enough to wait a year before planting your new garden, then a thicker mulch should be laid to kill the weeds. But who is/
-- posted by Gay_Klok
» Cottage_Garden - MULCH VOLCANOES!
In response to message posted by Gay_Klok:
Gay do you have mulch volcanoes in Tasmania? They are all the rage here. Quite inexplicable.
For some reason many people here think that the bark mulch should be piled up around the trunk and slope steeply down and out like the cone of a volcano. I suspect it began because landscapers charge by the bag of mulch and so began using "extra", then people see how the landscaper has done it and assume that is correct procedure and so copy it. This is the only explanation I can come up with, anyway.
But for whatever reason people do that, the overmulching on trees, we see it everywhere and it makes me cringe. I always think either the tree owner is a nongardener and knows no better, or the tree owner is a beginning gardener trying to do the right thing but unfortunately misguided.
When I see a landscaper do it, I cross that company right off my list.
I have also seen rhodies and azaleas rooting down into mulch so thick they were rooting UP into at the same time. People keep adding more, never mind that the original layer was overly generous and has not rotted down at all yet.
We also have colored mulch. As a fashion statement -- and to conceal the true contents of what was ground up, could be just any kind of scrap wood depending on who the supplier is. It is dyed to a deeper brown, or a reddish "Cherokee red" or iron oxide, and lately I have seen green, a sort of fakey pale green. It costs more, so maybe people think it is better mulch?
-- posted by Cottage_Garden
» Gay_Klok - Re: MULCH VOLCANOES!
In response to message posted by Cottage_Garden:It really can be fatal to pile the mulch up against the trunk. Rhodos and Camellias are surface rooters so far better to make a thin spread to the circumference of the leaves because that is where the roots are travelling. BUT leave the trunk free.
I do not like the sound of the coloured mulch, what is wrong with its natural colour?
Another thing to watch for when buying plants in pots - the nurseries will use round pots and if the eg Rhodo is of any age and has not been repotted yearly into a larger pot, the roots will end up going around in circles and eventually choking itself. When the Rhodo is taken from the pot to plant, you must uncircle the roots and if this proves to hard, cut them and spread them out when planting. If you don't do this, you may be in for a shock when in two years time your beautifully growing plant suddenly dies
-- posted by Gay_Klok
» Burwell47 - Re: MULCH VOLCANOES!
In response to message posted by Cottage_Garden:Yes well said....I have also seen over mulching where the poor plant isn`t to know any better, and sinks its roots into the constant supply of moisture above its head, then suffers badly when the frosts come, or a prolonged drought. I do not consider bark or wood chips a good medium either...OK for a walkway. I much prefer a more readily degradable material like leaves and the chewed up remains of the perenial border.
-- posted by Burwell47
» Cottage_Garden - Re: Re: MULCH VOLCANOES!
In response to message posted by Burwell47:Hi Burwell! Thanks for chiming in here.
I would ahve to agree, the best mulches are akin to composted materials or leaf mold, especially in a flower bed where the sheet composting continues in place and adds quickly to the mix. Regular applications really help to build the soil in a hurry.
Around most shrubs, I find the shredded and/or chunked bark mulches are ok as long as they are not put on too thickly at a time. They last a long time and so it is a bit of a labor saving to use them. Since the shrubs are not too demanding, they don't seem to mind the bark. And it rots down eventually, too, so there is still a good result after the initial delay.
I have to say some years ago we used a very thick layer of hardwood bark mulch, not double shredded, to mulch the paths. Since then the mulch layer has disappeared and seeds LOVE to germinate there, it is lovely soil in the paths. Sigh. Next time, I would like to use brick!!
Sometimes the different bark or wood mulches can have an effect on pH, so this may be worth considering. For example, pine bark tends to acidify slightly while the hardwood barks tend to be more on the alkaline side. If you are using a good mix of materials and compost in addition to the mulch I would not expect it to cause any problems unless you were trying to grow something that needed a quite specific pH.
Has anyone seen these kinds of results where they caused a problem?
-- posted by Cottage_Garden
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