soil

--- Bill Meyer <njhosta@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>Mulch from unknown sources will also contain a
variety of weed seeds, and other things that are not a
good idea to introduce to the garden. Among those are
a variety of viral, fungal, and bacterial, and insect
problems, which may end up introducing new diseases to
your trees and shrubs which were not already present
on your property. In short, there are
numerous problems associated with year-round mulching,
especially with mulch that has not been well
sterilized by high temperatures when composted. 
Do those soil scientists recommending this practice
take into account the number and variety of problems
that can come in with non-sterile mulch
gathered from a variety of sources?

Butch says; how do you think God deals with these
plagues you see coming into your garden. It simply
ain't so. The weed seed in your garden is mainly blown
in from sources you have no control over and in more
or less the same quanity that might be in some mulch
you purchase. The process of decomposition takes care
of most of the problems and those that get out of
balance must be dealt with by you with pesticides or
herbicides. The idea that you can buy sterile mulch is
simply an old wives tale. Composted mulch does reduce
weed seed but it also uses up much of the value in the
mulch for the soil and it is not sterile. A new mulch
dressing covers some of the weed seeds that are there
and brings in some more. Net loss or gain is zero.

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