Organic mulch does usually improve soil fertility and texture as it breaks down, but that's not its primary function. When you ask which mulch is best, you must look at the whole picture and take many variable into account. What's best in one situation may not be good for another. "Cedar" mulch is a good choice for many applications, but like all mulches, it has benefits and drawbacks.

Your question is confusing, but I assume by adding you mean incorporating. Adding mulch to the soil is not really a good idea in general. Mulch is for top dressing and even mulch that has a positive nitrogen to carbo H. ratio can play havic with soil fertility for a time when stirred into the soil, for a variety of reasons.

By far you get best bang for the buck by gradually increasing soil fertility with surface application of organic matter in the form of mulch. If your soil is so poor that it would benefit you to enrich it directly, use some form of compost.

The main advantage of cedar mulch is that it takes longer to break down then hardwood mulch which is often available for free from a local arborist. Hardwoods are somewhat better for soil enrichment because they have higher mineral concentration (Ca, K and such) but that is of minor importance.

Hardwood mulch is the stuff that is left over from tree companies when they finish grinding up the trees they prune?
thanks

yes

It would depend on what types of trees they had pruned. Hardwood is wood from dicotyledonous tree as opposed to monocots (banannas, bamboo, etc) or gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, etc).

Right, Brandon. I wasn't thinking. Around here the majority of trees are hardwoods but there's a fair amount of conifers in the mix (those white pines are always breaking up) and a lot of people prefer the hardwood chips. I take what I can get.

Kokos, this may be of interest to you.

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/magazine%20pdfs/Woodchips.pdf

Kokos this where I got my information on compost mulch material 2 year in row I when to this 3 day classes its leanest classes out there. Take your time on site you want see any black material by my schooling its for land scaping use grass small plants put on top of land fill its soft so roots can move throw soil. This school give all feed stocks for mulch and compost some are surprizing.

Here is a link that might be useful: compost mulch

Anybody know what that last post says?

Ask Gator rider for clarification. It's a colorful lingo and I sure don't want to offend him as he often has good advice. In this case, maybe not so much because Kokos isn't asking for information on how to commercially produce compoost.

Hey Gator thanks. I'm new at this can you explain for me to better grasp...thanks.

Mulch is material placed around plants to control weeds and moisture loss, as it decomposes (organic only) it adds organic matter to the top layer of soil, but as it does this, some nitrogen from the surrounding soil is tied up or used.

That being said, hardwood takes the longest to break downâ¦â¦â¦. but that organic material is topical and of little use to the roots. Although some of the minerals may wash down.

Better to add compost in the hole at planting or make a compost tea.

Mr. Ed. Over the years I've read so much that contradicts your statements here. Cedar mulch is more resistant to break down then hardwood mulch just as it is much more resistant to rot then most hardwoods when used as lumber.

Organic mulch is very useful to roots as it allows them to colonize the rich and airy topmost soil and helps keep that layer moist. It also keeps the soil loose which also benefits the roots. It moderates temperature between night and day increasing root growth once soil is adequately warm. It increases access to potassium substantially. It encourages a thriving worm population that creates a honey comb of small tunnels lined with available nutrients and air throughout the topsoil layer (which feeder roots follow like happy gold miners). This aspect helps to allow water to penetrate during downpours of the type we get here as our only relief during drought.

That's just what comes to mind out of my head- I'm sure others can add on to this.

Adding compost to the hole is precisely the wrong thing to do as it often plays havoc with drainage by making the soil around the roots at the time of planting a different texture than the surrounding soil as Carl Whitcomb and others have shown through their research.

If soil is amended with organic matter it is best well mixed in the top few inches in a wide enough radius to be where the roots are going to grow while a plant establishes- not dumped into a hole.

Compost tea has its uses but research has been mixed on it and not all that ringing while the benefits of mulch are very well established.

harvestmanâ¦Where to start, you will notice I stated that some minerals will wash down from the composted mulchâ¦â¦â¦..IE potassium.

As for your goldminers lol, Kokos was looking to âÂÂadd higher organic matter into the soilâ I think you may have misread his(or her) post. I was responding to their need, not questioning your beliefs or the validity of mulch. It is needed; but adds NO âÂÂorganic matterâ to the root zoneâ¦â¦â¦. that area is at least a foot down. Compost does not migrate through soil.

âÂÂAdding compost to the hole is precisely the wrong thing to doâÂÂ⦠Not really, unless youâÂÂre in a âÂÂclay potâ situation; most soil will benefit from the addition of some composted material. Although the plant easily out grows the area where the material was added and is rarely beneficial past a few years, unless the plant has a small root ball (such as blueberry).

As for hardwood or cedar, fibrous tissue is the reason woods break down Angiosperm trees (Hardwood) have fewer pores for water and bacteria to infiltrate the wood thus requiring more time to break down than non porous tissues. Also, it is not resistant to rot, just ask anyone who has owned a cedar deck. They rarely last longer than a pine deck (another softwood).

"...but adds NO âÂÂorganic matterâ to the root zoneâ¦â¦â¦. that area is at least a foot down."

Generally, the vast majority of tree roots are in the top eighteen inches to two feet of soil even on a large mature tree. The top foot is by far the most populated.

"Compost does not migrate through soil."

Sure it does. That's one thing worms are well known for. All you have to do to verify this is dig down into soil underneath a one year old compost pile. It's truly amazing how fast the soil is improved.

adding compost

I'm still pinching myself to make sure I'm awake, but I have to agree 100% with Harvestman. (just kidding about the pinching myself thing, I actually agree with big H a lot of times, as much as it hurts to admit it.) Every scientific study I have seen (quite a few on this subject) strongly suggest that amending backfill, in almost all situations and in all soil types, is not beneficial for woody plants.

hardwood v. cedar

The average life expectancy of a "cedar" fencepost is about 15 to 20 years (I've seen many older than that around here). The average life expectancy of most hardwood fenceposts is about 3 to 7 years.

Here is a link that might be useful: One random example of many many many such documents

Cedar fence posts are treated with a tar like substance. And cedar decks have a life expectancy of 10 yearsâ¦and that is above grade. I have been a licensed contractor for 25years and have built hundreds of decks.

And if mulch migrates why is the topsoil layer so small? The peat bogs of Ireland would surely be hundreds of feet deep right? But they are not. It is a legend that has been perpetuated for years, but it is just not true.

Lastly, if adding organic material to soil is always the wrong thing to do, someone should tell your local co-op to stop telling farmers to till in rye and add manure. Apparently they didnâÂÂt read any of your scientific studies.

"Cedar fence posts are treated with a tar like substance."

Maybe some fenceposts are, but not the ones I've seen (including the ones I helped put up over two decades ago). And the stats I gave of 15 to 20 years are based on untreated posts. You can find similar figures from a number of online sources as well as many farming-related books. I have no idea about the decks.

"And if mulch migrates why is the topsoil layer so small?"

Maybe your worms are lazy. Next time your in TN, bring a shovel and I'll let you dig under a mulched area (my last dig was this past weekend, and I was surprised at what a difference the mulch had made, even though I've seen it many times). My results are also pretty typical of what I've seen discussed/reported a number of times.

The organic layer in many forest is fairly thin because the vegetation gobbles up what's available in the soil.

"...if adding organic material to soil is always the wrong thing to do..."

At least a couple of things are missing from your scenario...

First, you are comparing soil amendment for herbaceous crops to amending backfill used when planting woody plants. Those are entirely different things. Of course I am assuming woody plants because we are discussing orchard-related issues rather than gardening.

Secondly, farmers "amend" a large area, not just a fraction of the expected mature rootzone of the plant.

And then there are all the no-till farming advantages...

Cedar is the common name. Sometimes in the south they use something called white cedar that rots very quickly. Red cedar can actually function as a fence post for much longer than 20 years. Red cedar is used on siding of homes like redwood and is much more expensive than white cedar.

I used cedar from the woods above me for garden fence posts that had been pioneer species after cleared land was let go. They were quickly overtaken by more vigorous trees and became understory. They grew so slowly as such that they were nothing but heartwood. When I took them they'd already been laying on the ground for at least a decade and 20 years later they have not failed me. If you purchase red cedar posts look for pieces with lots of dark red heartwood.

On the other debated points, I think that if you do a little of your own research, either on the internet or the library you'll see the literature is pretty much supportive of what Brandon and I are saying. You can start by googeling the name Carl Whitcomb.

I have 2 text books on my shelf from my student days on soil, one by Brady and the other by Donahue, also the best introductory book on arboriculture I know by Harris that have much of the information Brandon and I have set here. I also have Whitcomb's "Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants" which explains his original experiments on amendments put in planting holes.

Mulch early and often, argue about its utility and which is best later. Municipal mulch is fine, commercial is better, and wood chips/branches/leaves that you've composted to a black and fluffy state yourself would be best.

On my standard suburban lot, the wonderful black fluffy mulch is used around the drip line of trees. Since the black stuff compacts and looks ugly when the sun bleaches it gray, I use redwood bark mulch in the open areas around the perimeter of planters and hedgerows.

It's interesting how in my nursery of potted fruit trees I throw tons of wood chips or stable waste (mostly softwood shavings with some urine and hs) against the pots in fall and have created this incredible rich layer of organic soil.

I let the roots grow out of the pots so I don't have to water so much (my trees are sold as half bare-roots half potted trees while dormant). The escape roots don't tend to colonize the black stuff which would be perfect for vegetables. They go down to the very sandy soil underneath where the most air is, I guess.

One thing I've learned over the years is that richer is not always better when you talk about soil for fruit trees- especially in the humid northeast where a wet season and rich soil produce leafy trees with big bland fruit.

Compost as mulch is not always the best way to serve your fruit trees- it depends on what's there to begin with and also if you want to suppress weed growth, which compost isn't likely to do.

The NPK of finished compost is said to be somewhere between .5-.5-.5 to 1-1-1. Hardly even close to the N recommendations for fruit trees such as peaches from UC Davis. Municipal, commercial or home made mulch should have even less N and should not be confused with finished compost. Good mulch isn't raw/green wood chips either.

I have no knowledge of container fruit tree/greenhouse culture, and have nothing to suggest in those areas.

It isn't the percentage but quantity and timing of release. The warmer it gets the more N is released from organic matter, meaning the fruit trees will get most of the received N at a time when it doesn't serve the fruit but serves the leaves and wood instead, thereby possibly damaging fruit quality.

Commercial growers often rely on foliar application of N so timing can be precise. Applications end before summer. Otherwise they use a quick release in early spring just as trees start growth.

In the west you can gain considerable control of plant vigor by restricting irrigation but in the east it's a different ball game.

The spring application I referred to should have specified a soil application. In both foliar and ground applications conventional growers usually use urea as their N source.