4" is too much. 2" is good. just barely keep it away from the trunk and that should be it, Barbara.

Small pine nuggets are the most preferred i'm sure --- if you can afford it.

Dax

Oops....good thing there are only a few small minis planted so far. As more are put in I'll be sure to go easy on their mulching.
The wood chips are from my tree trimmer friend (paying him $50 a load); only way to afford mulching the entire yard. Some batches are better than others, so for a uniform look it's being topped off with a thin layer of wonderful redwood chips as they become available.

Barbara

Barbara - you need to be a bit careful using fresh wood chips from tree surgeons, I always leave mine in a pile somewhere to rot down for anything from six months to a year.

We don't seem to have anyone in our area that offers free or inexpensive wood chips. We're up to about 30 yards of hardwood bark mulch now to do all the beds and it's a major expense (to say nothing of the time and labor) to spread it each spring. But there's nothing more beautiful than a freshly mulched garden, and sitting back with a glass of wine to enjoy it, and the fact that it's all done!

Concerns about using fresh wood chips are typically over-stated. As long as they are not piled too deeply (4-6 inches is fine) and are not touching trunks and branches, there is no reason NOT to use fresh wood chips as a mulch. In fact, they are one of the best mulches one can use for any type of woody ornamentals, especially those that appreciate acidic soils, like most conifers.

Here is a link that might be useful: the myth of wood chip mulches

Read past posts, and knew there was a lot of controversy in using tree trimmer's chippings; from disease to plant nutrition.
At least 60 cu yards (46 cubic meters) has been put out already with about 20 more needed.
Other than annoying branches and a "mulch cough", the worse thing I've seen so far is mistletoe....how does it reproduce?

Thank you for the article gardengal. It has put my mind at ease....

Barbara

gardengal - my only concern was the possible contamination from using material from diseased trees, so, interesting article.

and you had to PAY for those chips??? 'Round these parts they dump them for free - otherwise it costs them to dump at the land fill. And most tree trimmers around here don't have the space to dump on their own property, etc.

We use them at the arboretum, but generally windrow them for a while and then mix in our compost. Then every whip stitch we have an outfit come in and grind the compost and that eliminates a lot of the larger sized chips, sticks, etc. Finished product is used as mulch and worked into planting beds

The aboretum's method sounds great! In a perfect world I would....

Well Marshall here's how that happened; initial payment for them was to help off-set his delivery fuel costs, plus it ensured he would make it a point drop them by.
Now the precedence is set, the economy is bad, and he NEEDS that $50 a load (with a bonus for redwood)
I have made a new friend, he has offered to do small jobs for free, and the cost of 'real' decorative bark would have been six times as much.
Sounds mutually beneficial to me!

Still wondering how others mulch their minis?

Barbara

Barb - sounds like it works well for the both of you

I use pine needles around most of my conifers with some getting a pea gravel or river stone mulch.

fresh chips incorporated INTO mother earth ... MIGHT steal nitrogen ....

fresh chips applied atop the soil has no such impact ...

your tree guy ought to know if there is disease/bugs ...

if so ... pile for a year ... most diseases need a live tree ... if the tree has been standing.. dead ... for a year or two .. i dont see how that is any different than piling chips ....

if no disease or bugs .. apply at will ...

these are the rules i live by with free mulch ... feel free to correct me.. if any of my presumptions are false ...

also.. if a lot of leaves are in it ... i tend to let them stand for a year... just to compost the leaf material ...

ken

oops .. forgot to answer the question

most of my minis are in the beds around the patio ... one of my first posts .... on drip irrigation.. so that they only need about an inch of mulch ....

IN THEORY ... once established... no matter the size .. mulch is just there for weed reduction and soil cooling ... so it need not be on the trunk of the plant ... and should be pulled back so as to not be too deep too close to the plant ..

we are dealing with trees .. which really should NOT need all that much water.. once established.. so once we move past that.. it just a matter of making it pur-dee ... so take down the mulch ...

ken

Hi Barbara.Here's a few pics of these coconut-fibre pads wich my favorite conifer-grower in France uses with his plants.Especially for minis,I think they are great,as no weed will grow through this,and as they use them on their plastic container-potted plants,they must obviously be permeable to water and air.They exist in various sizes,and I'm sure plantgrowers in the US must be familiar with these.
Installed around the plants and covered with a thin layer of mulch or gravel,they become invisible,even though they have a natural mulchy look of their own.If you then put some 4" thick stones around the plant you can spread your usual chips right up against these,without risking to bury your cherished minis.

Here is Picea pungens 'Globe' as bought

This is the pad,showing precut hole and slit

Side-view; it's about 1/2" thick

I have no clue as to where you could get these in your neck of the woods,but if you happen to go to that trade-show,I'm sure someone will be able to help you. T.

Not such a bad idea tunilla.

Great idea Tunilla. I've seen larger coconut mats for hanging baskets. If not so expensive, they could be cut up for use.

Some of my wood chips had palm fronds in them. The resulting red fibreish clumps look just like the coconut/coir fibre. Makes me wonder exactly what the source of the commercial fibre is....?

Barbara

A tree service company stores a truck and chipper here. For that I get all the chips I want. The aged chips that are almost soil is used for mulch around the small scale plants. The coarser cut chips are used on the trails. Nice cut is used for normal mulch in the beds. Here's a picture of some fresh Black Locust chips. They are so bright I can see the trail at night.
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