permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

on 4/22/02, bmn@iglou.com at bmn@iglou.com wrote:

> The only disagreement I
> have is that bare mulch (which is what the overwhelming majority of
> practioners I see leave) does set up what acts like disturbed ground to
> drifting seeds.

We're in complete agreement there; bare mulch is quite a bit like bare soil
(I suspect, though, that certain blown- or dropped-in  seeds prefer the fine
texture of soil, while different ones prefer the large voids and pore spaces
of mulch). 

Thanks for the clarification.

There's a myth out there that you should mulch in the fall and let it sit
over the winter before planting, which simply lets the mulch get colonized
with weeds. Bare mulch, like bare earth, should be planted quickly, whatever
time of year. Soil pockets with plants, a sprinkling of soil (broadcast or
in strips) that is then seeded, whatever: get some plants in it fast (credit
to my buddy Rick Valley for pointing this out to me years ago).

Toby