"symplastless" wrote in message
. ..

I learned this "secret" from an extension agent who had an existing
agreement with the electric company to take their wood chips, and his
extensive garden now has 12" or more of mulch throughout, including
around his citrus. It's a win-win situation -- they don't have to pay
the county to dispose of their chips, and the user gets an endless supply
of free mulch.

Regards --



Dear Regards


[Academic ramblings snipped]

I hope this helps the trees. I hope you get help from this Regards.

--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Forester & Tree Expert
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.

Let me keep it simple:

-- Electric companies and tree service professionals can be a good, regular
source of free wood chips

-- These chips -- mostly brown material, little green, can be used for mulch
in gardens and around trees without composting -- they will gradually
decompose and become a soil amendment.

-- The wood chips will conserve moisture, prevent weed growth and amend the
soil as they decompose.

-- To be effective, three inches or more of mulch are needed; The upper
limit is probably determined by the gardener's time and workload, but over
time, 8-12 inches of mulch provide real benefits to the garden.

-- Keep a gap between the mulch and the trunks of trees. My trees get a 4"
gap, but the azaleas, bamboo, bulbs, etc. get the full mulch treatment.

-- I get a large dump truck load of wood chips a couple of times a year
from a local tree service, so I'm at about 6 inches of mulch in most of the
garden after 9 years of doing this.

Mr. Gene Joyner is one of South Florida's best-known plant experts. "Ask
Gene Joyner" was the solution to almost any plant question from homeowners,
reporters or commercial growers --Here's a quote from the Palm Beach Post:

" "Mulch" was a frequent answer, at a time when few homeowners had heard of
the practice to retain moisture and improve soil. Better soil, as Joyner
would say, means better plants. "He had a big impact on homeowners because
of his example of heavy mulching at Unbelievable Acres," said Chris Wenzel,
a mango grower from Delray Beach. Joyner estimates he has spread "tens of
thousands of yards" of mulch on his own garden, which is why the winding
paths are springy with compacted wood chips. As a result, he irrigates once
a week, never sprays for bugs and has no weeds."
-- Gene Joyner's "Unbelievable Acres" in West Palm has about 12" of mulch
throughout, without any of the dire consequences presented by JAK When
academic concepts don't match real world results, it's not the real world
that's going to change -- Beware of so-called tree experts who are
book-reference smart and real-world experience poor.

Side note: Our trees lose their leaves in the Spring, and we plant
vegetables in the Fall -- and I add mulch to the garden with every change of
the season.

I hope you get some help from this, J.A.K.