Re: mulch

> From: Kitty <kmrsy@comcast.net>
> Ooooooh!  Pine Bark Fines - love that stuff.  
----------

Me, too, but not as a mulch...use it as an amendment and in making my
potting mix.  Wunnerful stuff!  I have to drive over to Virginia to
get my hands on it and it ain't real cheap, either.

Interesting so many of you use assorted mulches *because* they take a
long time to break down.   I mulch with stuff I want to break down to
improve the soil.  Figure it ought to break down in a year...after a
season it isn't going to stop 'weeds' (whether Ma Nature's or my own
plants) from sprouting as seeds get blown into any mulch and
sprout....so, what's the point of having something that doesn't break
down???

Auralie, I generally mulch with rotted wood chips or chopped leaves. 
I'll used bagged fine pine bark when I am low on those or need to
mulch a bed fast and don't have time (or energy) for sifting wood
chips or chopping leaves.  I generally sift my chips to get the
bigger pieces out - use those on paths, but find them obtrusive in a
bed.

Once plants start to grow and fill a bed,  I don't have to do much
mulching.  Ma Nature sort of takes care of it for me; just leave most
of the leaf fall there to rot away under the plants who hide it.

Do think keeping ground covered with something organic is a very good
plan...feeds the soil critters; keeps the soil temperatures more
moderated; keeps the soil from compacting from the impact of rainfall
and makes it easier to pull whatever seeds into an area that you
don't want there.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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