When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

Are there any other things that can substitute for mulch? How about
shredded paper or newspaper pages?

"Oh it's true! It's damn true!" -- WWE & Olympic Gold medalist, Kurt Angle

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it
with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

I thought it was to keep the roots from getting too hot or cold and to hold
in moisture. The weeds are just and added plus.

Ablang wrote:

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

Are there any other things that can substitute for mulch? How about
shredded paper or newspaper pages?



I use stones

Zeuspaul

BiG Orange wrote:

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it
with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

I thought it was to keep the roots from getting too hot or cold and to hold
in moisture. The weeds are just and added plus.



weeds although they may (or may not) overwhelm a domesticated planting
do compete with the tiny outreaching roots of a new shrub, this stunting
could have an adverse affect in a bad year, and truly there are some
formadable weeds better not cultivated with the more desirable.

I suppose, all
correct me, though you won't
be blunt
and onward wanders a springtime sun.

TK

Ablang wrote:

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

Are there any other things that can substitute for mulch? How about
shredded paper or newspaper pages?

"Oh it's true! It's damn true!" -- WWE & Olympic Gold medalist, Kurt Angle
umm papers are good, gravel works that way, I've heard carpets do, and
parking the car on the lawn, is a kind of mulch, be creative, use pop
tops, how about aluminum siding, or crushed china plates, put old wicker
furniture though a chipper for a fabulous look. eraser tops from old
chewed up pensils, ew, im make me sick

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 22:14:06 -0400, "BiG Orange" @ wrote:

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it
with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

I thought it was to keep the roots from getting too hot or cold and to hold
in moisture. The weeds are just and added plus.

Both. Here in the southeastern US, any bare ground will be
covered with weeds in about 10 minutes -- so for us, mulch is
used both to regulate temperature (and moisture!) and in an
attempt to control the weeds.


Mike Prager
Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a)
(Remove symbols from email address to reply.)

On 17 Apr 2003 01:05:22 GMT, WESmkdn (Ablang) wrote:

When transplanting new young trees, it is recommended to surround it with
wood chips or organic mulch (to keep away weeds from competing for soil
nutrients).

Are there any other things that can substitute for mulch? How about
shredded paper or newspaper pages?

"Oh it's true! It's damn true!" -- WWE & Olympic Gold medalist, Kurt Angle
There are many benefits of mulch besides reduced competition. Mulch
blankets soil, moderating temperature extremes and reducing
evaporation of moisture. This is true of stones, paper, bottle caps
or whatever you may try.

Organic mulch has added benefits that inorganic material doesn't. As
it breaks down, it feeds the soil (and the beneficial organisms that
live there). The increase in organic material and insect/worm
activity lessens soil compaction and increases porosity, which helps
with air and water penetration--both vital to roots.

Paper is technically organic, but everything has been removed from it
except the fibrous part. Thus, not much nutritive value there. But I
think the bigger concern is how it is applied. If you layer sheets of
paper over the soil, you greatly reduce water penetration to the root
ball. When trees first get planted, they have to get water into that
original root ball until they can spread roots into the native soil.
If sheets of paper shed this water outside the root ball, the tree may
die before this can happen. Shredded paper seems an okay choice to
me, though I'd still prefer compost, wood chips, bark, or some
combination thereof.

The ISA has a brochure about planting and establishing trees at the
consumer info link below in my sig.

Good luck,

Keith Babberney
ISA Certified Arborist
For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit http://www2.champaign.isa-arbor.com/.
For consumer info about tree care, visit http://www2.champaign.isa-arbor.com/.../consumer.html