What's the most efficient way of feeding plants that have a mulch of
bark chippings around them? Last year I foliar fed but wondered if i
could get away with lobbing handfuls of long term granules or maybe even
chicken manure pellets or fish blood and bone around and allowing
rainfall to filter it down to the soil?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 12/04/2011 20:41, Janet Tweedy wrote:
What's the most efficient way of feeding plants that have a mulch of
bark chippings around them? Last year I foliar fed but wondered if i
could get away with lobbing handfuls of long term granules or maybe even
chicken manure pellets or fish blood and bone around and allowing
rainfall to filter it down to the soil?

That will tend to lose nitrogen to rotting down the bark quicker.

Better to rake the bark out of the way and put slow release fertiliser
under it or at least towards the bottom. Slower to do but more effective.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Apr 12, 8:41*pm, Janet Tweedy wrote:
What's the most efficient way of feeding plants that have a mulch of
bark chippings around them? Last year I foliar fed but wondered if i
could get away with lobbing handfuls of long term granules or maybe even
chicken manure pellets or fish blood and bone around and allowing
rainfall to filter it down to the soil?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraphhttp://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Makes not a bit of difference. Fertilzer will wash through the bark/
mulch eventually, or just hose it in

On Apr 12, 8:41*pm, Janet Tweedy wrote:
What's the most efficient way of feeding plants that have a mulch of
bark chippings around them? Last year I foliar fed but wondered if i
could get away with lobbing handfuls of long term granules or maybe even
chicken manure pellets or fish blood and bone around and allowing
rainfall to filter it down to the soil?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraphhttp://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk


I'd use slow release fertriliser and move the mulch away when applying
it, then recover.
If you have foxes around then using Blood fish and bone would result
in them having a field day looking for the food they can smell.
As Mulch breaks down it uses Nitroben, so putting the fertiliser on
top would reduce the Nitrogen available for the plants and would speed
up the breakdown of your mulch.

In article , Martin Brown
writes
Better to rake the bark out of the way and put slow release fertiliser
under it or at least towards the bottom. Slower to do but more
effective.


Blimey! This garden is fairly large, about half an acre with a LOT of
shrubs planted about 6 years ago by a 'garden /landscape designer' .
Ah well Perhaps if i start straight away? ...................
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article
, Dave
Hill writes
I'd use slow release fertriliser and move the mulch away when applying
it, then recover.
If you have foxes around then using Blood fish and bone would result
in them having a field day looking for the food they can smell.
As Mulch breaks down it uses Nitroben, so putting the fertiliser on
top would reduce the Nitrogen available for the plants and would speed
up the breakdown of your mulch.


Thanks David, they have deer and probably foxes!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
What's the most efficient way of feeding plants that have a mulch of bark
chippings around them? Last year I foliar fed but wondered if i could get
away with lobbing handfuls of long term granules or maybe even chicken
manure pellets or fish blood and bone around and allowing rainfall to
filter it down to the soil?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Blood fish and bone sprinkled around and watered through is what we do over
our shreddings, may accelerate the rotting down of the bark a bit but
probably not much as there is already plenty of nitrogen available to it in
the air around


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

Janet Tweedy wrote in
:

In article , Martin Brown
writes
Better to rake the bark out of the way and put slow release fertiliser
under it or at least towards the bottom. Slower to do but more
effective.


Blimey! This garden is fairly large, about half an acre with a LOT of
shrubs planted about 6 years ago by a 'garden /landscape designer' .
Ah well Perhaps if i start straight away? ...................

Yea get started you lazy devil....what are you waiting for? :-}

I can't afford to buy bark but I know people who can and they hand out
blood fish and bone to everything. Shrubs, flowers, young trees, veg. and
hope for some rain to wash it all in. They do well and have few bad years.

Hope you find a solution you have confidence with.

Baz

On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:02:00 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:
[...]

Blood fish and bone sprinkled around and watered through is what we do over
our shreddings, may accelerate the rotting down of the bark a bit but
probably not much as there is already plenty of nitrogen available to it in
the air around

Hang about! This is interesting. Do the things that rot your bark
mulch fix atmospheric nitrogen so significantly?

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:02:00 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:
[...]

Blood fish and bone sprinkled around and watered through is what we do
over
our shreddings, may accelerate the rotting down of the bark a bit but
probably not much as there is already plenty of nitrogen available to it
in
the air around

Hang about! This is interesting. Do the things that rot your bark
mulch fix atmospheric nitrogen so significantly?

--
Mike.

Try putting Bark mulch in an open plastic bag with drainage and leave it on
the patio, it will still rot down.


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:30:07 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:02:00 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:
[...]

Blood fish and bone sprinkled around and watered through is what we do
over
our shreddings, may accelerate the rotting down of the bark a bit but
probably not much as there is already plenty of nitrogen available to it
in
the air around

Hang about! This is interesting. Do the things that rot your bark
mulch fix atmospheric nitrogen so significantly?

--
Mike.

Try putting Bark mulch in an open plastic bag with drainage and leave it on
the patio, it will still rot down.

Undoubtedly, eventually. ...Oh, I see. You mean, of course, that the
soluble nutrients get washed down too quickly for them to have much
more effect on a surface mulch than atmospheric N2. Damn! I wondered
if you had some extra-potent nitrogen-fixing micro-organisms working
for you, or at least some special technique! Yet another lesson in
reading for yours truly.

--
Mike.



--
Mike.