Digging in compost every year should inprove the structure of your soil. I presume you're starting with clay? Peat is a good soils amendment for clay. Rather than digging in mulch, you could try leaving it on the surface. This goes for any mulch --- straw, compost, wood chips, grass. That usually helps the soil underneath.

If you dig it in, it is no longer mulch but rather a soil amendment. And yes, if incorporated into the soil, it will tie up significant nitrogen till fully decomposed. And cedar mulch tends also to be more harmful to young plants as it contains volatile oils and terpenes that affect plant growth.

Avoid digging in where you intend to plant seeds or young seedlings. It is less likely to affect more well-rooted plants and the nitrogen tie-up is more easily offset.

OK, let's try this again. Cedar decomposes very slowly. As a result it will not tie up nitrogen very effectively. If it just sits there, it isn't tying up nitrogen. Other uncomposted wood chips certainly would. Nitrogen isn't an issue, as I regularly amend with ammonium sulfate. Also, as I said, compost decomposes too rapidly. I do amend with compost regularly, but it's no longer contributing to the friability of the soil at the end of the long growing season. Yes, that's true that fresh cedar can be allelotropic, but the stuff I'm looking at must be well aged because there is little or no smell. Thujone is the allelotropic ingredient that makes the cedar smell.

No. I would not dig in wood chips of any kind. You need a lot more, leaves, straw, etc. Also plant those Daikon(sp) radishes that break up the soul over the winter.

I already dig in lots of composted leaves, and I mulch the surface with straw. That does not keep the soil friable at the end of a very long growing season. That's a fact. You obviously can't dig in more as the season progresses, because there are plants already growing there. Putting in a lot more at the beginning of the season doesn't really make it last longer. There is just more degradation going on. I've tried that. Also, this is not about breaking up the soil in the winter. Before the summer season starts I dig the beds deeply. This is about keeping the beds friable by the end of the growing season. This is very much a southern gardening issue, because we're talking about a summer growing season that lasts almost 9 months.

I live on the south! If you do not want our experience, just do what you want and learn the hard way.

I'm just asking for clarification of online advice that makes some sense. What I see online about cedar eating nitrogen rapidly just doesn't make a lot of sense. I'll try amending one bed with it and see how it works. Thanks for your time.

Cedar decomposes very slowly. As a result it will not tie up nitrogen very effectively.

This is simply incorrect. ANY wood mulch, when incorporated into the soil, will tie up nitrogen. It has very little to do wiith the rate of decomposition but just the fact of wood requiring nitrogen to decompose. At all. Period.

The fact that all wood requires nitrogen to decompose is my point. You agree with that. Cedar decomposes slowly. Thereby it has to use nitrogen more slowly. I understand that cedar can take several years to decompose. Other wood mulch can do so in a year. I could accept that cedar ties up nitrogen effectively in the soil IF someone can state persuasively how it manages to do that while it is decomposing slowly. I can agree that it ties up some nitrogen, but not as fast as other wood might. Cedar is not "any wood".

Nitrogen is not a nutrient issue for my beds because, as I say, I apply nitrogen fertilizer regularly. Soil friability is a big issue for me. So there is a tradeoff that I'm making.