QUESTION: "I have spent waaaay too much money applying redwood bark
and cocoa hulls to my front and backyard landscape and flower beds
only to find that the cool fall weather has caused the bark to mold
and mildew, plus the neighborhood cats are using my landscape as their
litter box. Is there anyway I can save my investment? Please help!" -
Sandy Davis

ANSWER: Cool, damp weather can cause mulch to mold and mildew. I
suggest you investigate ways to improve drainage to divert water
(whether it's from rainfall or supplemental watering) so it will move
away from the mulched areas as quickly as possible. Turning the top
part of the mulch from time to time will help to prevent more moldy
areas.

Now, onto the feline problem. There are a few things you can try and
all are humane and safe. The first one is to lay down chicken wire on
top of the mulched areas. Cats, generally, will not walk or stand on
the horizontal wire fencing and of course can't dig so they are likely
to move to another yard.

Two other things that will help but must be used consistently to be
effective are putting cayenne pepper flakes on the mulch or spraying
it with the urine of a known predator of the cat, such as fox or
coyote. If you don't happen to have a fox or coyote handy, you can
find bottled urine at hunting stores or army surplus stores. I hope
you are able to reverse the problem with your mulch.

QUESTION: "What plants and shrubs are available for landscaping near a
house where the soil has a clay loam that holds moisture so much so
that many plants roots rot?" -- Carl

ANSWER: "Most plants do not like wet feet. The first thing I would
recommend is to loosen the soil. You can use a product such as Prosper
Soil Conditioner. It increases friability and resists crusting,
allowing water and air to permeate soil. Use this product and then
begin to add some soil amendments to your soil to build up the organic
matter. Once you have good healthy soil you will be able to grow many
types of plants not just the ones that might or might not survive in
adverse conditions.

Like cures for hiccups, it seems almost everyone has a "lawn recipe"
that they swear by! Recently, I included a recipe from a reader
serving with the armed forces overseas. That brought a lot of reader
response, and here is a slightly different cocktail from another
reader:

COMMENT: "I searched high and low, and found this lawn recipe. It
works miracles. In a 32-oz. sprayer, mix one can non-light beer, one
12-oz. can soda (non-diet), 4 oz. Palmolive dish liquid, 4 oz.
mouthwash (it has something to do with killing grubs, etc) and 4 oz.
ammonia (think nitrogen, and hydrogen).

"I believe that this is the ultra-professional recipe. I always use
the Palmolive, as that and the beer seem to be the only constant of
all the recipes that I have found. My neighbor fertilized with Scott's
Organic within 2 days of me using my wonderful-smelling lawn recipe,
and MY lawn sprung out of it's brown coma in 3-4 days, filling in
patches previously brown from the neighbors cats. In a week, there
were NO brown spots.

"Ammonia can't be beat, especially delivered through the 32-oz. hose
sprayer, because of the jolt of nitrogen and hydrogen it gets,
especially when applied with the beer and soda for the carbonation. It
gets through even heavily thatched lawns. I'm glad to spread the word.
Maybe winter will be a little greener for all of us! I'll let you know
how my grass holds up in comparison with the neighbors." - Susan
Glenn

Thank you, Susan. I'm sure many of our "turf-challenged" readers will
want to try your recipe, or submit recipes of their own. If you want
to read the column that started it all, you can find it archived at my
Web site www.landsteward.org Look for the column titled, "Grass will
go green with this lawn cocktail."

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs
and landscaping to and for resources and
additional information, or to subscribe to Steve's free e-mailed
newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

" wrote in message
...
QUESTION: "I have spent waaaay too much money applying redwood bark
and cocoa hulls to my front and backyard landscape and flower beds
only to find that the cool fall weather has caused the bark to mold
and mildew, plus the neighborhood cats are using my landscape as their
litter box. Is there anyway I can save my investment? Please help!" -
Sandy Davis


Try using composted wood chips and leaves. Tree trimmings from a tree
contractor in you area which is 1 year or older would be great.

For information on mulch please visit he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/M/mulch.html

Two good article on mulch a
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

and

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting 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.