I imagine some shrubs might like less/no mulch for the above stated reason, but yeah, everything I have ever read/heard says to mulch up to a few inches from the stems, but never against the stems or rot can occur.

In nature, most plants will have at least some amount of leaf litter, etc. deposited around them. I'd not think there's much of any species which absolutely can't handle this. Besides, mulch decomposes rapidly, all the more so, I would think, in FL. So I don't really agree with that assessment.

There are some groups of herbaceous perennials that are better off with stone chips or other non-organic mulch, if....and this is huge...they are being grown far away from their natural homes. I think here of species within the genus Agastache, for instance. We can hardly get them to overwinter up here anyway, but one thing that is always suggested is to mulch around them with gravel, not chips or bark. But that's kind of a picky little detail, not a general prescription.

+om

Mulch, when properly applied, should be at least 3" deep. Putting 3" of mulch around the base of a plant will choke it off and eventually cause it's decline. Tom is correct about naturally occurring leaf litter. However, if you look closely, you'll notice that the lower branches and leaves tend to deflect most of that free mulch away from the trunk(s).

To answer the original poster's question, don't mulch too close and if there are surface roots, the plant has probably been grown to high in the pot - add some soil unless it's a plant that normally has surface roots.

Hmm....going to have to strongly disagree with those statements, FR. Now do realize, I readily admit I'm not in FL, but I've got right around 40 yrs. of experience and education in plant care and I've never seen anything that led me to believe FL's situation differed that drastically from the rest of the world. So....first you say 3" of mulch should be applied. Is that intended to be a quotation from another post? Because immediately after, you say the opposite. In any case, the one big caveat in mulching all woody plants is to not pile it up against the trunk. No, it won't "choke" it off, and BTW, where is all this "choking off" coming from? But what will happen is, the trunk area, not intended to be constantly moist, will become subject to various decay fungi. So do keep it away from the area immediately adjacent to the trunk. We're talking inches, not feet.

As to surface roots, they are far and away a sign that everything is as it should be....it's the way plants (mostly) grow. If the water table is high, roots will be shallow. They need oxygen and there's none of that in the saturated soil layers, Hence, shallow root systems. If there's some hardpan layer or other situation rendering the soil shallow itself, roots will be forced to follow suit. That's not a sign that something's gone wrong, it's an indication that the plant has successfully aclimated to its site. As to root anomalies in potted nursery stock, that's a huge problem within the industry and would easily fill its own thread. Suffice to say, roots winding around inside the pot are a very bad sign, of a plant which has been potted too long. There are remedies, ie "rootmaker" pots, etc, but far too many growers are slow to adapt. But that has nothing to do with this thread, excepting it's about plant roots in potted stock.

+oM

Not to put words into Fawn's mouth, but the way I read that was, "Mulch, when properly placed, should be 3" deep, (but) 3" of mulch around the base of the plant..."

In my experience of using mulch in my beds, it is hard to keep 3" of mulch evenly and then keep a clear 6" gap around a plant's stem/trunk. So I usually start tapering the mulch from just outside the drip line so that by the time it is 6" from the stem, it is only about 1" thick. Much easier to keep the mulch from collapsing against the plant during one of our heavy summer rains that way. But then, I don't see how having mulch under a shrub would choke it off either. When I scrape back the mulch, I often find that while the mulch helps the soil retain moisture, the mulch itself often is rather dry. A plant that likes its soil to dry out obviously wouldn't care for this. I also tend to find far more 'surface roots' under the mulch layer than in the bared areas. Indeed, I have read that some plants NEED that mulch layer under them because in Florida it is easy for those surface roots to get sun scorched. Without the mulch layer, those surface roots will die off and we eventually end up having to replace the plant. This obviously wouldn't be the case for all plants and it is agreed that Citrus should never have mulch, but it is what I have generally read and heard.

FWIW, mulching here in our hot FL climate helps maintain organic matter in the soil; if left un-mulched, soil rapidly will turn into sandy dust. Anybody else notice how many mulches only last a season (or less) before 'evaporating'?

The 'tree trimming' mulch I laid down last spring is about gone, but the large chunk pine bark mulch from two years ago is still in the NW bed which makes for really difficult digging with a hand spade in that bed. The "purple bag" pine fines seems to last for a while, but seems to sink into the soil. Pine needle disappears way too quick in my beds. Florimulch seems to last for a good while as well as the eucalyptus mulch at my mother's house, but both are under scrutiny from myself for lending their allelopathic properties to an area. A top layer of leaf mulch seems to last, but once it is covered, it gets dragged down into the soil pretty quick by the worms and, of course, a strong wind makes a mess of things. All that said, there is a very noticeable difference in the soil where I have been mulching and the rest of the soil surrounding my house.

Interesting-the apparent allelopathic properties of ground-up Malaleuca. Sheesh, what else is that plant going to do to us? BTW, and I apologize if I've already said this here, but Malaleuca is near-extirpation in its home range in sub-tropical Australia. What a world we live in. FR, if I've misconstrued your words, sorry. No intent to stir things up-I like this board-but there's just no other way to say it....I've got a ton and a half of knowledge and experience in some of this stuff.

We see our mulches washed away or lifted and floated away in heavy downpours too. Now get this-for a while, some were advocating the use of cypress mulch, for its supposed ability to remain in place. And sad to say, every gas station everywhere you go has bags of cypress mulch by the pumps. Then when I do get down to S. FL, I see why, as your state's powerful people appear to be hell-bent on eliminating what little remains of that resource. Heck, right across the road from Six-Mile Cypress Slough, (Near Fort Myers), I see they're now tearing down big swaths of cypress woods for development. And what I don't get....is that not wetland? How can they be getting away with destroying wetlands....in 2015?

OK, 'nuff of my soapbox for now. I'll make everybody sad or mad!

+om`

Yes Tom. I never thought of it, but now that you mention it, I remember the piles and piles of bags of cypress mulch surrounding the gas stations when I lived in Michigan (I am actually a Southern boy, but spent some time in the north living amongst family).

Florida is a destination state for many, which means there's lots of development going on to make room for them. The part that leaves me perplexed, and this goes for other states/cities I have been in, is that developers are always looking to destroy the very natural beauty that attracts people rather than looking to redevelop the run-down areas. It seems that we, as a race, have a rather cancerous effect on this world.

Though it might seem crazy, I have taken Agent Smith's realization from The Matrix movie to heart: "There is another organism on this planet with the same behavior. A virus." Being a God-loving man myself, I often look around and wonder what He must think about how we treat His "perfect creation".

Always a pleasure when "experts" who don't live in Florida want to explain to us who have decades of experience with Florida horticulture how things "should" be done. Nothing like practical experience to make one realize that classroom education is worthless when you step out into the real world.

Tropical and Sub-Tropical horticulture bears little resemblance to growing plants in other zones. You can espouse all the theories you like, but when it comes down to reality, unless you live here and grow things here all that knowledge is useless.

I don't know if 'useless' is fair. A lot of what I have learned I learned from British Gardeners and their growing environment is quite different as well. Granted, quite a bit of it had to be adapted to our climate and conditions, but none of it was 'thrown out the window'. Well, with the exception of some of their choices of plants that would melt the moment you took them outside.

Sorry if I offended you Fawnridge. Not my intent although I could have been a little more tactful. And that's just it, I'm both agreeing with you that I lack your FL experience and also holding back right now in terms of wasting bandwidth here offering my credentials. I do see you've lashed out though, and made a rather foolish statement, but, again, not my intent here to list my various experiences. Do you think I'm a student? Can't really tell where you're going there, but the last time I was in a school setting, it was as an adjunct instructor, helping adults who wanted to improve themselves and their skills. As far as your explanations of plant physiology, think what you want to think. It's not a very good match with reality, but that's your business.

;^)

Normally, I would just walk away from a thread like this. But instead, I will waste some bandwidth listing my credentials for you, Tom. I have a BS in Botany from Upsala University in NJ (now sadly out of business) and a degree in Landscape Technology from Broward College here in South Florida. I spent 8 years doing Landscape Design and Installation both for a major nursery and on my own. I'm currently retired but maintain a large garden and plant collection.

Anything I know or post about landscaping and growing plants in South Florida was taught to me by true experts with Sub-tropical and Tropical experience.

And with that, I'll put on my hat and leave this thread.