I'd stay away from black walnut. When I go to the saw mill for sawdust for stall bedding for the horses, I make sure there's no black walnut in it. It's toxic for the horses through absorbtion through their hooves. I've also read it's difficult to garden under black walnut as it's toxic to plants as well.

Just a quick mention regarding a possible cheap supply prospect towards obtaining wood chip mulch here, for those interested. I get mine from a local "pallete" manufacturing company. Consider looking that word up in your regional Yellow Pages. This company recycles old palletes that trucking companys, warehouses, and such haul in. They get ground up into a decent average sized aggregate that seems to last for a good while without immediately breaking down or getting moldy. I like this aspect in that it lets in sufficient air to not stay to wet for to long. The old pallete material is in most cases well aged before making it to this stage of the process. This seems to help it last. I'm sure their are a good mix of wood varieties involved. So far no problems with any sorts of mysterious residually enhanced kill-off or die-back effects either! It' not free. But $10.00 gets your pickup loaded in several quick scoops worth of a large skid loader, and your down the road with it. So that alone makes it well worth the minimal expense. They run it over a magnetic belt to remove the majority of nail remains. I can be as generous as necessary with any coverage needs via this option. Not everyone will find a local source for this of course. I do actually consider myself lucky in regards to having this option. But where it may exist, it is both handy & cheap!!! ~ q3

It's pretty simple to do a Google search on 'juniper mulch', 'Texas cedar mulch' or 'cedar mulch' that will turn up various references to the suitablilty of various junipers - including J. ashei - for mulching purposes. Junipers are used very commonly throughout Texas and various parts of the Southwest for mulching, simply because they are so plentiful, are often considered weed trees, and because other types of hardwood mulches are not available or too costly. From the Colorado extension office's mulch handout: The other issue, and probably the more relevant question, is what plant is actually referred to as "cedar". In Colorado, we have very few true cedars (the genus of true cedar is Cedrus). What most people call "red cedar" is either a juniper (i.e., Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana) or arborvitae, Thuja spp. (i.e., Western Red Cedar). Neither of these have toxic qualities for young plants when used as a mulch. Most "cedar" mulch in Colorado (unless they are bagged and shipped from another part of the country) will not be the true cedar. They will most likely be either the juniper or arborvitae, which are not toxic when used as mulch. Heck, they even make mulches out of eucalyptus, walnuts and pecans and these all have far stronger allelopathic properties than do junipers. Chalker-Scott doesn't address it because a) juniper mulch is not common in her area (PNW) and b) it is just not a problem. And for a very specific Texas reference, follow the link. Here is a link that might be useful: Ashe juniper ('cedar') mulch

Changing the deck pitch may help. First set the tire pressure, measure the front and rear points of the blades as they rest parallel with the tires. Mark this down and start with the front 1/4- 1/2" lower than the rear. This adjustment can really end up in various positions.Make this adjustment w/ the front support rods. Clean the deck and test cut at least 3 strips wide and tweak as necessary.