Jockwing, the method works...with a few tweaks. As long as you live where there is regular, sufficient rain and decent ground water, "never watering" after mulching can work. If your climate cooperates that way, you might be able to follow suit. I definitely can't as there is little to no ground water left and less than half the annual rainfall, concentrated in a three to four month period.

I'm a firm believer in NOT tilling or working in the organic material in rose beds. The feeder roots are near the surface. Disturbing the soil between the plants is going to break those roots, basically rip out large portions of the plants' "digestive systems". If they're budded on Huey, breaking up those roots with a hoe or tiller is a definite way to develop a forest of Huey suckers. I've seen it VERY often in this area in rose beds where "cultivating" is routinely practiced.

Watch what Nature does. Plant litter, animal "fertilizer", etc. are regularly deposited on the surface of the soil. Composting requires some heat, moisture and oxygen. The surface of the soil is significantly hotter than even a few inches below it. All that "stuff" is going to break down with regular irrigation or rain, releasing the nutrients for irrigation or rain to wash through the feeder roots. Any "tilling" is done by birds, insects, moles, voles, gophers, etc. As it breaks down, generating top soil, more is continually deposited on its surface, keeping the process alive.

Yes, it has worked here for me for many years! My old garden was in Newhall, California, where there is virtually no top soil. In arid environments, there isn't the quantity of plant litter generated each year, so top soil isn't built. There were over twelve-hundred roses at any one time in that garden in native, SoCal 'dirt'. I frequently mulched with horse manure, some fresh, some aged, much with "stable litter" for the 18 years of that garden's life. The tricks I found were to make sure the soil is well watered prior to laying down the manure. Keep the manure away from the crowns of the plants. Maintaining it from just under the drip zones of the bushes and between them is perfect. Don't scrimp on the water after the mulch is laid down, particularly if the manure is dry. It's going to soak up a good bit of water before allowing the excess to flow through it into the ground.

In this arid, hot climate, three inches of manure, with regular overhead watering (NOT drip, too little water to do any good with an organic mulch), "digested" into a thin layer resembling earthworm castings in less than three months over the summer. Of course, your mileage may well vary, depending upon how hot it is where you are and how much moisture is available. The drier it is, the longer the manure will last. The more rain or irrigation you have, combined with steady heat, the faster it will break down.

So, yes, this method can work very well for virtually any kind of "crop", whether it's vegetables, fruit trees or ornamentals. Why shouldn't it when Nature has been practicing her version of this method for eons? Kim

Thanks Kim!

Well it just so happens I am in S. Louisiana in the New Orleans area, just about one of the hottest and wettest places in the country, so I should have no issue whatsoever with getting the stuff to break down! Like I said, I always did things the old fashioned way, and when i made a new bed I tried to till amendments in. The latest bed I'm working on I've built with sheet composting on top of the existing soil, and I will resist the temptation to till it in and let nature take its course.

I have access to virtually unlimited amounts of composted horse manure mixed with wood shaving bedding at a really good price. I am going to start bringing home lots of it. I had a soil test, and although I have good texture, my soil has virtually no nutritional value as all the minerals have been leached out due to the high rainfall.

I should have little trouble locating tree trimming wood chips as there are tons of pines and oaks all around where I live and lots of woods.

I am feeling poorly today. When I read this post I thought "I'll watch Back to Eden in bed"

I enjoyed the documentary. I grow my veg in a very similar way. Initially I built massive compost piles over the winter. Come spring I spread the compost around the garden in a thick layer. I've been adding to the top ever since. I use pet bedding from the local pet shop (a mix of hay and wood chips) and wood chips in my compost. I mix this eith kitchen waste, horse manure and garden waste. When my greens disappear I use the compost as mulch.

My soil isn't as spongy as Paul's wood mulch compost, but its rich, fertile and does the job. We are rarely without rain here, but the compost/mulch holds the moisture without becoming waterlogged or soggy.

Kim always gives brilliant, easy to understand, comprehensive answers. I just wanted to throw my two cents in and share my experience.
M

You're welcome Jockwing, thank you Mirendajean! Some pine types can be allelopathic, which may inhibit your results. I'm not sure which. That's something you may wish to do a bit of research with before accepting pine material. Oak should be decent. I grew up in southern Alabama, northern Florida, so I have an inkling of the heat and water you speak of. I loved seldom having to water anything in the ground but I do NOT miss the humidity! Miami was the best compromise for water and comfort.

The more fresh manure you use, I'd presume the higher the nitrogen levels you should experience. You may wish to have your nutrient tests repeated after adding much fresh manure before adding additional nitrogen sources. Of course, with your water levels, that might not be much of an issue. It WOULD definitely be one, here. Kim

Feel better, MJ.

I spotted this old post and thought I would add in my results after using Back to Eden now for about 1 1/2 years on my roses. They are old roses that had been utterly neglected for 5-10 years but had survived. The first year we were here (3 years ago) I pruned them back fairly hard and started cleaning out the interior of the very over grown bushes.

Last year I laid down 2-3 inches of home made compost, watered it in very well and then laid 4 inches of ramial wood chips (from tree trimmers, three inch and smaller branch wood with leaves, needles etc.) The first layer broke down very quickly and was pretty much over pretty lousy base soil. The roses perked up last year noticeably over the first year.

This year I again added compost (over the top of the remaining chips) watered it in well and am in the process of adding a couple more inches of mulch. My roses are absolutely amazing this year. Deep green, virtually no aphids to speak of, lush rich colored blossoms and better smell than ever before. The lack of aphids is a huge plus - though I have no idea whether that is simply the dry year we had this year or due to other circumstances. We'll watch further to see.

I've done the same in my potted roses and they are keeping moist longer, which in our dry heat is very important. We spend 2-3 months over 100 degrees each summer.

Composting in place, lasagna gardening, sheet layering. I think they are all the same principles. IT WORKS......Hard to believe, but, IT WORKS....
I HAVE DONE THIS!....no tilling! It is fantastic. Due to health problem the last 2 yr, my 'lasagna ' has been let go.
Now that I can dig and put in new plants, I realize that my soil is just incredible. Browns and Greens! It does not stink.!! Well now, this year, I have a stack of about 5 yd. horse manure. Please try googling Lasagna Gardening for all the details. I had no weeds and things shot out of the ground. You will be absolutely amazed...

It works for me. Right now I have a lasagne bed over the old lawn in the front. I grew lettuce and mini carrots on it this winter-spring and now I am planting tomatoes squash and peppers. I pushed the chips aside and planted the seeds just like the video shows. Its a big worm party under there and weeding is so easy. This fall, I'm going to move all that new soil to the rose bed I want to replant. The roses are tall enough that no one can see my little farm from the street.

I don't like to disturb the soil if I don't have to. The roses like the even moisture that the mulch holds. My only problem is that it breaks down so fast that it's hard to keep a thick layer over the soil surface. Cooler roots make happy roses when summer comes. Also, a friend in the nursery trade says that research proved that most landscape plants prefer an evenly moist soil and the water deeply less often idea for trees does not always work best with the smaller flowering plants. Some of the feeder roots start to die when they get too dry.

Glad to hear that others are trying this and getting results. I have a lot of wood chips left over from the 2 trucks the tree trimmers dumped for me last summer. I put the remainder of that pile in the backyard to cook further, and I have been putting kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and I ground up all my fall leaves and added it to the pile. It is turning black and full of those white and yellow beneficial fungus 'threads'. Every time I scoop out of the pile several giant earthworms can be seen wriggling everywhere.

I have a relatively small yard so I laid the woodchips and horse manure all over the yard--basically anywhere there wasn't lawn. It is turning previously barren areas into soft luscious dirt. This is still the first spring for my roses but they are putting out vigorous growth. I am sort of concerned about one thing--

When I started my initial big rose bed, it was before I discovered the woodchips. I created this bed by layering grass clippings, newspaper, shredded leaves, ground pine bark, some bagged soil, and horse manure. This 'soil' is very rich and is absolutely chock full of worms, but it is ALWAYS wet. I never water it and even after a week of no rain it is still quite moist. Is there too much organic matter? this may all be related to the horrible drainage problem in my backyard. It holds a ton of water every time it rains, but I am almost finished installing a drainage system to hopefully move most of the water from the back to the ditch along the street in the front yard. Maybe this will help to allow the soil to dry out some. Another potential issue is that I have a well in my backyard, and the pipe is located inside the rose bed. I wonder if this is leaking?

My Bronze Star rose is closest to the well pipe and a lot of the leave have been yellowing and falling off. But I don't know if these are just the old leaves from last year just giving up. It is the leaves closest to the bottom. The new leaves seem fine and the plant is blooming.

This is one reason I prefer the wood mulches over the rubber or artificial mulches. Over time, I have to replenish, but that is because the mulch is replenishing nutrients to the soil, for which I'm glad.

Now I had not thought of it as "Back to Eden" style, but yes, I add mulch to the rose area or landscaping every year also. When I dig to put in new plants, I see how nice and moist the ground is. It's always moist, black and I always see worms even in the first few spades or shovels of dirt.

So I'm definitely sold on annually mulching or in this case, using the method of "Back to Eden".