I found the spell for the fungus that will grow on your house if fresh chips
are used. artillery fungus

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

"symplastless" wrote in message
. ..
1st If you are mulching to increase the health of your soil than bark
mulch may not be the way to go. Bark mulch is made up of outer bark of
trees. Outer bark of trees is made up of suberin. Suberin is long chains
of fatty acids. There is not a suitable carbon source available to help
feed the soil. Composted wood chips and leaves would be suitable to
increase soil health by feeding the soil. I say composted because fresh
chips (from symplast maintaining trees) has protoplasm spread all over the
place. This attracts micros that attack defenseless cells of your trees.
Once the chips are composted this is not an issue. Also the more you
compost the chips the less chance you will have of getting an undesired
fungus on your house. I have had good results with cutting the turf low
with a weed wacker (KEEP AWAY FROM YOUNG TREES) and placing the composted
wood chips on top at about 4" in depth and flat. Contacting a tree
company may lead you to some nice composted wood chips.

"Suberin is a lipid that in the outer periderm of phellem waterproofs
outer bark. Suberin- impregnated phellem is called cork. The chains of
carbon and hydrogen in suberin are so varied that few enzymes from
microorganisms are able to cleave it for an energy source. This
characteristic gives corks their unique benefits for sealing bottles.
Suberin is also in a layer in absorbing roots called the Casparian strip.
This layer is an effective boundary essential in the absorption processes.
Energy is required to transport water and elements through the boundary
into the tree. Suberin is also a major compound in the barrier zone that
forms after wounding. Outer bark that contains suberin is often used for
mulch, since bark mulch will not be broken down by soil microorganisms
because of the suberin. The bark mulch has aesthetic value, but the bark
is of little value for providing energy-releasing compounds to soil
microorganisms. Some trees store fats and oils as their reserve energy
source. The fats and oils are not soluble in water. Many palms store oils.
Waxes on leaves and fruits are also lipids." Source
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html


If you contemplate using chemicals to kill the grass you may desire to
read up of pesticides.
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/spring.html


Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding
us that we are not the boss.

wrote in message
oups.com...
We would like to apply bark mulch in several areas around our home
where grass currently exists. Is there a need to get rid of the grass
before applying the mulch, either by lifting the sod or laying
cardboard and four inches of soil, as we do when preparing a new bed,
or can we just lay landscape fabric and 2-3 inches of mulch and that
will take care of the grass over time.
thanks
Teresa