The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:

Janet Baraclough wrote:
[...]
almost disappears, just mulch again on top of it (time of year
doesn't
matter much). [...]

Right; but preferably not if the ground is actually frozen.

Mm hm, I probably have and would..in the current UK climate, the
ground is not going to freeze so hard and deep that mulching would keep
it deep frozen for long. Mulching applied to bone dry soil during a
prolongued drought might be more of a problem (but one I'm unlikely ever
to encounter :-)

Janet