Comparing Mulched Soil to Bare Soil

[boboff]

This is interesting.

So if the nitrogen Oxide in the soil is taken to help the Mulch decompose, this would only be from the top then?

I have mulched established plants and they are thriving, as there roots go well down I suppose?

Like Jon says, you wouldn't use them if you thought the were getting dug in straight away. But then I suppose that would be more soil conditioner and not Mulch.

Hoe Hum, all good stuff.

[Odsox]

Well, that's not how I interpreted that particular statement, but I'll let Tony explain his intent himself.

Oh dear, this is getting complicated.
I agreed with your statement that " It depends very much on the soil and the climate" but I don't necessarily agree with Bobof saying that generalisations are OK unless you point out that it might not be ideal in other gardeners micro-climates
My original reason for posting was in response to Durgan's quotes "There is too much evidence that mulch is beneficial to ignore its use" and "I have seen no downside to mulching" to point out the exact opposite applies in MY situation

Also Graham's thoughts are almost certainly relevant in the south east of England where (in an average year) they get about 20" of rain per year, but it ain't necessarily so where you get four times that. I made the mistake one year of mulching my cabbages with rotted manure and ended up with cabbages full of brandling worms (they always climb up to compost, as in a wormery).
Waterlogged soil is just as bad as dry soil.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

This is interesting.

So if the nitrogen Oxide in the soil is taken to help the Mulch decompose, this would only be from the top then?

In essence, yes. The bacteria that break down woody wastes need nitrogen as a fertiliser. If you don't dig in the mulch then they can only reach the stuff on the surface - the mulch won't rot very quickly and the soil deeper down doesn't get robbed, which is fine for established, deep rooted plants.

As Graham says, there are mulches that don't rob nitrogen because then contain plenty. Personally I avoid grass clippings because I have heard that they can promote mildews, and I've found that compost blows away a little too readily. My prefered mulch comes from the stables where we house our nag: they use wood shavings in the boxes, which mixes with the manure to make a fine mulch.

[boboff]

I just use grass clippings as an under hedge and Ground Elder Mulch, it doesn't work for long, and I think as I use a fair bit of lawn sand etc that the nitrogen in the clippings promotes Nettle growth, but it is closer than the compost heap!

I have a friedly tree Surgeon who has been tipping some great Shredded Spray down at mine this year, one lot was 5 or six years old and I ended up using it as a lawn top dressing and for mixing in with compost for hardwood cuttings, really good stuff, allot of the rest of it I used on beds in the garden around my lavender etc, and it is working well.(I was about a day away from pulling out the dead lavender stumps when all of a sudden at the end of May they burst into life!)

My garden is in a valley, a steep one, and the only downside of mulsh is moving it around in a wheelbarrow or decanting into sacks and carrying, keeps you fit mind!

[contadina]

Living in a hot climate with zero rain from May until September mulching is very important for us and we use either straw, cardboard or olive leaves. In northern Europe, the only reason to mulch would be to suppress weeds, whereas it's all about water retention down south.

[Durgan]

Now that all the hysterics have vented their theoretical knowledge and half truths, they might be susceptible to accepting mulching as an absolute necessity in any viable garden after being presented with practical mulching.

Many materials can be used for mulching if one is willing to accept inconveniences and some limitations as to its total efficacy. That said I leave it to the hysterics to imagine the possibilities.

Wood chips are available in most localities and are probably the best possible mulch. Here is why.

Only soft wood or deciduous trees chips should be utilized. They break down (compost) in a short period probably less than two yeas, completely in my experience.

Never apply fresh wood chips, all the chips used should be sitting in a large pile for about one year, and again only deciduous tree chips. This is particularly important if the chips are worked into the underlying soil at the end of their use as a mulch. If not worked into the soil the chip influence is benign, which is almost silly from where I sit except for moisture retention. Ground up tires for example. The black beauty excites the modem urban dwellers, whose gardening experience is growing Aloe Vera, or a celery shoot placed on the telly or some street visible window. They usually attend garden club meetings.

At the end of the growing season the chips can be rototilled into the soil. The ones that appear to be still relatively fresh can be raked off and placed into a pile for further composing. I rototill all and never see any sign of them in the Spring.

Wood chips soil is full of earthworms, nary a one on bare earth. Only the dumbest of the dumb would dig for earth worms in the middle of a bare earth field.

Wood chips have an open structure and water can penetrate easily.

Clover cover crops are nice in books (such pretty pictures) but almost impossible to grow in most places due to the short season. The soil surface is being used for produce, when the cover crop should be planted. Cover crops are wonderful if one can take a field out of production for a year. Fallow land if you like. It use to be practised in the Canadian West for weed control; and moisture retention.Not any more we got Round Up.

I have never seen a slug or snail in wood chips. This is their house of last resort apparently.

Wood chips build up soil structure, encourage earth worms, retain moisture, prevent micro erosion due to rain, moderate ground temperature, suppress weeds or make them easier to handle,and over time are almost self fertilizing. Eventually the possibility for no-till gardening is achieved but this take years.

[boboff]

Durgan, you are obviously interested in Gardening and self Sufficiency etc, are you aware at how vitriolic, arrogant, and tiresome your vocabulary is? I don't know if English is your first language, or whether its a question of national differences in communication, but you could seriously get more out of this forum if you just stated what you were doing and why without all the preamble of "Hysterics" and "Theory" and "Half Truths" there really is no need for it, and coming from me, well I appreciate the Hypocracy, but I honestly think you might not realise? Yes you have an opinion which you believe in, and it's interesting to hear yours, AND others. Couldn't you just try and cool it a bit, after all, you must post to get interaction, and your VERY Direct matter of fact style is one thing, but this superiority thing you have, it's not nice.

I am pretty sure this will just wash over your head, as you have shown very little in the way of ability to accept any sort of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism previously, but lately I can appreciate that you do contribute very well here, and don't get the repsect you deserve in some cases, hence me actually trying to stick up for you, but your last reply pretty much vindicates the "knockers"

Anyway, as a waste of breath goes, that's it.

[Millymollymandy]

I see only one advantage to mulching and I see many more disadvantages to mulching, but that's my soil and I have talked about it here many times and can't be bothered to repeat myself!

Anyway, no need so far this spring! (or summer so far)