"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
In article , Victoria
Clare writes

If you have a shredder, shredded hedge clippings also make a good
mulch,
and can look very neat. I tend to stick a layer over my other mulches
so
people can see my efforts are deliberate!

After a while you get a nice thick buildup of rotted mulch (which the
plants like much better than my thin stony soil!)


Victoria don't you find that rotting clippings would take the nitrogen
from the soil? I always thought that it had to be well rotted or the
action of the decay locks up valuable minerals in the soil. On the other
hand if it's on top of a layer of well rotted stuff perhaps it doesn't
matter?

Janet

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

My own thoughts on this is that whilst its true the break down proccess
will
take nitrogen, if the material is on the surface there is no problem as
its
surrounded with the stuff (air :~)

There are very, very few plants (if any?) which can utilise atmospheric
nitrogen directly. It usually has to be subjected to an inorganic chemical
action which converts it into one or more simple inorganic chemicals which
can be used by plants. The most common of the agents which cause the
required reactions is lightning, which causes the nitrogen to be combined
with oxygen into various water soluble nitrogen oxides. The rain
subsequently incorporates them into the soil.

It is easy to avoid the nitrogen shortage which might be caused by an
undecomposed mulch: Simply feed the mulch lightly with a soluble
nitrogenous fertiliser. Both that, and the nitrogen released from the mulch
by its decay, will eventually find its way into the soil.

I would like to hear comments in which the direct application of unrotted
material is compared with the process in which the material is first rotted
in a compost heap and only applied to the soil after decomposition. In the
latter case, is it not likely that during decomposition some of the
nutrients would be washed or evaporated away before the compost is used?

also because its green so to speak it is
attractive to worms and worm poo is as good as any other sort! :~)

Or even better?

Franz