Re: CULT: borer and mulch
- Subject: Re: CULT: borer and mulch
- From: J* M*
- Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 10:01:06 -0800
From: John Montgomery <monashee@junction.net>
John Bruce wrote:
>
> enough to prevent heave. We use the mulch to moderate the roller-coaster
> changes in temperature.
>
But does it actually work? You mention 30 degree swings in
temperature. It is going to take some pretty heavy duty
mulch to maintain freezing temperatures. Are you checking
with a fork to see if the soil is actually still frozen
throughout the root zone?
Assuming that you do have cover, either mulch or snow, and
further assume that there are steady temperatures, The frost
will be thawed out from the bottom up rather than from the
surface down. In either case, it is likely that some
rootlets are detached. Mulch will only accelerate this
thawing action in the root zone.
We may or may not have much snow cover and we may, in a
sense experience two 'winters' between Nov. and Mar. In the
old days when I had energy to spare for trivial jobs, I used
to mulch bearded iris. I have not done that for eight years
now and I can state unequivocally that the only problems I
have ever had with BI survival was during the mulching days.
Mulching with soil is not the same thing at all and should
not be used as a justification for using organic mulches. I
am guessing but I would imagine that Schreiners use an earth
mulch to divert water away from the rhizome. I lived within
a few miles of those fields for several years and my skin
begins to turn moldy when ever I recall those rainy winter
days.
Liberate yourselves and liberate your iris. Quit mulching
and both you and your iris will benefit from it.
I not only expect that each first year iris will live but
that it will bloom during it's first year. Rarely are these
expectations not met. I can't recall the last BI which died
over it's first winter, whether we had snow or not.
In a nutshell after quite a number of years growing BI
commercially in a variable climate, I can not come up with
either logical or experiential reasons for mulching.
Cheers
John Montgomery
Vernon BC Zone 5 (or 3.5, or 7 going on for 8)
email: monashee@junction.net
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