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["Dean Kreutzer" <deankreutzer@hotmail.com>]

Hello all,

> mulch is very over rated.

I have never used cedar mulch, but I use pine bark mulch on every one of my 
fruit trees, which number in the thousands.  Where I live, the cold winters 
(<-40F) and low amounts of precipitation (6"-8"), makes mulch necessary.  
Add to the fact that I am organic, the weed suppression alleviates weeding 
to a certain extent.

There are certainly drawbacks; voles like to nest around the plants and the 
soil does not warm up as quickly in the spring.  But, both those problems 
can be controlled.  For me I certainly will never go back to bare earth.

Dean Kreutzer
Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
USDA zone 3