If you plant trees do yourself a favor: mulch. Mulch heavily. Not some pissant inch or 2. I’m talking about 6 inches and 3x the drip line radius. This should be on for a minimum of 5 years especially in heavy, clay soil. nostr:note1552cm8hg5atn5jy6ftq7pxa87k55xuqa8jr8m887rc3unsp33n4ssdtjvr
Discussion
So I bought a dump trailer, and a 3/4 truck... Now the guy that promised me unlimited wood chips is ghosting... 🤦🏼♂️ I need probably 100 ton to satisfy our needs. Total horseshit.
I recommend you check with local utility companies. They often have tons of mulch from trimming around power lines and are happy to give it away. Sometimes it can be a little low quality or have pest plants but it’s usually free which is hard to beat
I'd take what you consider pest plants over free mulch that might be laden with persistent herbicides. I'm generally reluctant accepting free organic matter.
My father in-law gave me a sack of community compost. I did not like the smell of it, found an old pen ink-tube in there and fruit stickers. God knows what else got composted in there!
tl;dr be careful with what you import onto your property
Great point!
Everyone needs to evaluate the trade offs to make fully informed decisions. Suspect inputs often have to be quarantined for 3-8+ years to allow the breakdown of enduring chemicals.
We’re about to plant 6,000 oak trees for our great grand children hopefully! 😅 Unfortunately we can’t mulch them to this extent, mice will be our biggest problem!
Yes, at scale heavy mulching becomes undoable.
You can add in a thick leaf herbaceous plant to help build forever growing mulch. Comfrey is a great choice for certain zones.
Well bear that in mind, thank you!!
They’re super easy to divide too. Just dig up some roots and keep spreading until all the tree area is filled up. Over time, it will self mulch and collect the fallen leaves to compound the mulch effect.
Can this technique be applied to forest planting? As mentioned, our biggest issue is the mice who eat the roots, the plan to tackle those pests is to cut the grass short regularly so they have nowhere to hide. I think maybe the mulching is for when you don’t have a mouse problem?
Of course! It aids in more habitat for mouse eating predators.. aka snakes. Anytime you build an ecosystem the pests:predators will balance out. If you cut out parts of the ecosystem, the managers (you) have to perform the role of the parts cut out.
Yes and no.
Do not bury the root flare.
It will cause trunk rot and possibly root girdling. A problem you won’t notice for years.
Mulch is the way.
Reminds me of this quote for lessons learned growing trees in desert climates: "MULCH! Think you've mulched enough? Nope! Mulch again! Mulch until it starts feeling uncomfortable." – Waldo Schafli
Bingo! After 1 year when you walk on it, it should feel springy and soft. No? More mulch!