mulch is mulch is mulch .... how any given mulch will work on your soil will only be known to you ... all mulch will need annual care .... usually adding more in certain areas that it disappeared ... i know people who use each of what you list ... all are good .. bottom line... is your aesthetic.. and what you prefer ... what looks good to your eye ... and in my world .. which is the cheapest .... i personally have a more utilitarian view of mulch .. it has a job to do .. i don't really care about its look/texture ... my only caveat is color. .... go with a natural color ... stay away from 'colored' mulch ... it just isn't in harmony with ma nature IMHO .... but ..... if you like it.. go for it .... good luck ken

I am at at Tim Horton's parking lot (free WiFi) so that I can get on my macbook to find a thread in the Hosta forum somewhere that could help me remember exactly what size pine to use in my media for my pots. Well, lo and behold I found this perfect thread and I thought it could use a 'bump' for this season considering there have been media questions. Anyway, now I can go back into Canadian Tire feeling confident that I will buy the right stuff. You should have seen the young lads face when I couldn't decide what to buy and I told him that I would be back after I visited my forum and asked my hosta friends :) Again...thanks so much to all of you really experienced folks who share your knowledge with the rest of us!

This was posted on the Florida board. She uses cardboard, I think that is a really great idea. __________________________________________ We do not rototill anything. Many of the areas had various grasses and weeds growing in them. No roundup, no anything. Just lay the large sheets of cardboard on top, overlap the edges by about 6 inches, just like puzzle pieces, and then cover with large amounts of organic material. You don't put dirt on top. We've found wood chips to be an ideal first layer because they are heavier, but anything goes. All the materials we obtained were free. We use the cardboard we got from the dumpster at the appliance store where we purchased our appliances. They have very large boxes, like refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc. and are happy to part with them. Sometimes they help me load them. We transported them home in my van. The wood chips came from tree companies that have chopped up trees/leaves. You should tell them you don't want any mulch/chips from nuisance trees (brazilian pepper, palms, camphor, carrotwood). Oak and pine are the best. You're lucky if you can get cedar (smells so good and deters pests). They usually deliver by the truckload, so you need to be prepared for that. Then we carted the chips by wheelbarrow to the cardboard which had been placed over the grass. We applied a very thick layer (several inches). After that base layer we took our time layering other stuff as we obtained it. After the oak trees shed (around Feb, March and up until about a couple of weeks ago), we collected many bags full of leaves that our neighbors placed by the road for recycling collection and brought them home as we found them. We placed them over the wood chips. Pine needles are a great find because they take so much longer to degrade. Grass clippings, manure, used coffee grounds, etc. We just pile stuff in different areas as we obtain it. You get it all for free. I had no luck advertising in freecycle, but maybe your area would be different. The grass underneath takes about two weeks to weaken/soften. You don't have to wait till then, but it may be easier, because the ground underneath will be easier to dig holes as the earthworms move in and aerate the area and soften it up. And they will! You just dig a hole through the cardboard (easy with a shovel), and plant your plant. No rototilling, no waiting. Many of these beds still have discernable cardboard there when we dig. The moisture and fertilizer get through just fine. When we dig a few months later to plant some more, we are always surprised at how moist the soil is, and how many earthworms we now find that were not there before. The soil holds more water because of their tunneling. We do water our plants as usual. Some of our areas have irrigation and we set it as usual. Others don't and I hand water when needed. I water the rose bed about every 5 days, for example, but these roses are fairly drought tolerant. I haven't tried any less, but maybe less would be enough. They were just planted in March. Try one bed this year and see what you think. I bet next year you will decide to do more. You will start looking around for what you can layer on top every time you drive down the street. By the way, people are very happy to give you their leaves, grass clippings, etc. I like the natural look the beds take on. This year we have more birds and birds' nests than we've ever had. Birds love to forage around in the leaves and stuff to get bugs, worms, etc. They help us with the pest control, and leave their poop for fertilizer. All this, and you save money, as you help build your soil and keep lots of stuff out of the landfills.

Neither of them is going to contribute much to the soil short term. Both are very durable materials (provided what species tree the "cedar" actually comes from - too many different conifers are referred to as "cedar", of which most are not) and used as mulch will take considerable time (several years) to break down/decompose enough to the point they release nutrients back into the soil. btw, wood chip or bark mulches do not rob nitrogen from the soil. That is a tough to kill garden myth :-) Nitrogen tie up (not robbing or stealing) occurs during decomposition of the wood product by soil organisms and only happens if the wood product is incorporated into the soil, not if left on the soil surface as a mulch. And is of minimal consequence to established woody plants, like any fruit trees. It is also only a temporary condition, resulting in a net release of N long term. If you want a fast acting mulch that will encourage soil improvement and biological activity, mulch with compost or composted manure. You will get an almost immediate effect. You can always bark over the top if you want a more long term appearance.