North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/index.html

Seems old myths are slow to die.  I believe that wood chips do not
appreciably tie up nitrogen when used as a mulch, except perhaps in soils
with poor drainage where feeder roots have to function right at the
surface.  Bacteria will have to take N from the very surface but at that
location wood chips don't decompose fast enough to create an appreciable N
deficit.  Incorporate them in the soil, however, and all bets are off, even
with aged wood chips, as they are still breaking down quickly until they
become humus.  I've read of research that indicates that aged wood chips
take about as much N from the soil as fresh when incorporated into the soil,
but not for as long.

Linda Chalker-Scott covers the issue as well as other common hort myths at
the site above.