Water takes longer to penetrate, but once it gets in there, it doesn't come out as fast either, and that should make up for it. It is very spongy and will absorb a lot of water. What you're not seeing is the steep decrease in evaporation of whatever moisture was in the soil to begin with.

Yeah its usually pretty wet under the bark mulch. I mean, if you live in a hot environment it will dry out quicker than a cooler environment but it stays wetter for longer.

You will have to learn how much longer you need to water for the water to penetrate the mulch...simple as that. The water (including rain) has to get through that layer first. In my experience, most sprinkler systems aren't adjusted to water for a sufficient amount of time to do the job. You may need to water much longer...but less frequently.

The top portion of any mulch can dry out fairly quickly because the water percolates through to the soil below and the sun and wind will cause any moisture in the top of the mulch to evaporate. What is important is what is the soil under the mulch like, is that soil moist?
Do not be concerned about the top 1/8 inch of your mulch, but do be concerned about the soil under the mulch.

The soil under the mulch is still damp. Honestly, trying to figure out how to water here is driving me crazy! We had our first rain in weeks, a good 24 hour rain that dropped over 1/2 inch. I have puddles in one area, 2 feet away, the mulch is still dry underneath. I don't expect any help on this, just venting. I do appreciate the answers on my mulch question. Thanks.

If the fine bark mulch packs the water doesn't penetrate. You might try poking a few aeration holes with a garden fork or mixing in something chunkier, but that sounds like a lot of work. I don't know of an easy solution.

We have places at our camp where years of bark mulch + plant roots have made it nearly impossible to dig a hole to plant bulbs in the fall or spring bedding plants yet the weeds will sprout & grow on top. We're improving one bed at a time with compost, used coffee grounds, shredded leaves, topped with the arborist chips like what we've done around our home.

You might try raking it out further away from stems of plants so they get more moisture from the falling rain. Piling it up a bit thicker around plants that don't mind thick mulch. Be careful around rhodies who don't.

I don't know if it helps to describe our gardens as we have a similar climate since I'm in western WA. That dry spell a few weeks ago was unusual and I did water more than usual because I had seedlings and transplants that needed our usual May drizzle.

I keep about 2-4" of mulch either composted manures + animal bedding (usually sawdust or wood shavings) + aged arborist wood chips. I stopped using bark after reading about the packing problem or hearing Ciscoe Morris talk about it. I can't remember which. I liked the uniform look of the orange bark, but got used to my new methods and after a few weeks of growth in spring I no longer see the mulch no matter what I use. My gardens have matured and I also grow plants closer, so less mulch is needed. I have to really look closely to see the soil on the beds this time of year if that helps describe how closely. I can only mulch after November or before April or I can't get in the beds to walk or apply it.

I do a poke test with my finger before watering and as long as we have some rain every week I can skip it. During July & August I will put on the sprinkler over the grass & let it go beyond to the rhodies, hostas, & daylilies, but not much else gets watered except for edibles.

It sounds like you will figure out what to do about the bark & poking the soil is always the best way to tell if the soil needs water.

This year we've laid out some sprinkler hoses for some of the strawberries, rhubarb, potatoes, & apple trees so I won't have to hand water them and since we ran out of soaker hoses as well as water pressure. I alternate what gets watered on what days come our summer drought. I was thankful we had them handy when we had those 2 weeks of dry warm weather a few weeks ago just as the berries were growing larger.

Hope that helps & happy gardening to you,
Corrine

Last year some people at church decided the some of the planting beds needed to be mulched, again. however, since the shredded bark that was used the last time, 8 years ago, now sported a lot of "weeds" that was not what they wanted so wood chips (screened for uniform size) were ordered and spread and during the winter the wind picked up those nice, neat wood chips and blew them around. This spring there are numerous "weeds" again growing in these wood chips, as many plants a wont to do if there is sufficient moisture to allow the seeds to germinate.
I have seen the same thing happen if the mulch was straw or hay, shredded leaves, stone, and even that really ugly and useless shredded rubber. If "weed" seeds get dropped into your mulch, no matter what it is, and there is sufficient moisture to allow those seeds to germinate they will.
Mulches can 1. aid in retaining soil moisture, 2. aid in suppressing "weed" growth, 3. aid in keeping the soil cooler, and 4. aid in adding organic matter (if good material is used) to the soil. But many of the plants we call "weeds" (plants we do not want growing where we do not want them growing) will grow any plant their seeds can find enough moisture to allow germination.