If the mulch is thick, you can pull it aside and insert a shovel full of good soil/compost mix and plant a tomato in that. Then cover with a bit of mulch so it blends in. These pockets of soil are also used in lasagna gardening so the small plants have soil to get going in. After that the roots will find their way into whatever they like.

It depends on what the 'mulch' is and how broken down it may be. Wood based mulches can and should be pulled aside before planting but compost or other plant based mulches and manures can be planted in directly.

I prefer to incorporate the mulch with the existing soil before planting. A more uniform soil texture tends to provide better long term results than multiple horizons of different textures. And incorporation will help to loosen and lighten clay soils.

Thanks everyone, that certainly helps. It is predominantly sugarcane mulch but contains a bit of wheaten straw (all stray seeds and plants that resulted have been removed). I'm encouraged by the look of the weeds I pulled - the soil is evidently super fertile despite the clay not far down. Or I assume it still is - perhaps it's breaking down.

Thanks again for your prompt and helpful comments!

If you put this mulch down last year, then it is no longer really "mulch". It has decomposed and would probably be better described as "compost". If you are putting in young plants, then go right ahead. You will be digging down a few inches into the soil anyway. Dig maybe a couple of inches deeper and incorporate a handful of fertilizer with the dirt. That should be fine. Finally, since last year's mulch has decomposed you will want to add a new layer of mulch on top once the soil is consistently warm.

Planting seeds, on the other hand, may be a little tricky. Seeds aren't meant to be planted in a medium as unpredictable as compost. Dig a few inches down and mix some soil with the compost before putting in the

Thanks Richard, very much. More great advice. It's kind of exciting to see how the tomatoes will do!

"If you put this mulch down last year, then it is no longer really "mulch". It has decomposed and would probably be better described as "compost".

That depends. Shredded leaves that I used for mulch never lasted a year but were incorporated into the soil by the Soil Food Web fairly quickly. Wood chips used as mulch, however, last much longer and never appear as what would call compost.

I would never add fertilizer to any soil without a good reliable soil test to guide that application since there is a good chance that additional application could upset the nutrient balance in the soil and create more problems than it solves.

Many people have successfully used compost as a seed starting medium for many years.

kimmq is kimmsr

I thought it might be an idea to show you the depth of the mulch a year on, so I moved the mulch aside,

revealing reasonably friable soil. So I will in fact be growing tomato plants into the soil, covered by what remains of the thick layer of sugarcane mulch. We'll see how far down the roots will reach.