To: mailing list at ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [nafex] mulching trees
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2015 14:54:00 -0400
Just reading this thread now. Wondering if anyone has tried *weeder geese*
in areas like this? I have forest garden areas with understory grasses and
herbs. Now at 10years most of the work is keeping the rampant vegetation
down. Which is a great problem because all the biomass feeds the soil. But
Im thinking of trying weeder geese and in your case, Jay, this might work
as well.
Conway School, Faculty
Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design
www.csld.edu
PINE: Permaculture Institute of the Northeast
www.northeastpermaculture.org
On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 5:17 PM, Jay Cutts <orders@cuttsreviews.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the suggestion. We have plenty of pine needles here and they
> do break down, mostly mechanically, not biologically. They result in a deep
> layer of organic matter under the trees but that layer is very dry and not
> biologically very active.
>
> The pine needles break down because they're small. Wood chips are too big
> and don't do anything. Except immediately after a rain (which happens only
> a handful of times a year) they are bone dry. Your suggestion of wetting
> them down is nice but would last about a day.
>
> I also personally find wood chips a real pain to work around. They make
> weeding difficult (and yes the grasses and other weeds grow up right
> through them) and are uncomfortable to kneel on when working around the
> tree.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jay
>
> Jay Cutts
> Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews
> Lead Author, Barron's MCAT Prep Book
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> (505)-281-0684
> 10 am to 10 pm Mt Time, 7 days
>
> On 5/26/2015 11:06 PM, fuwa fuwa usagi wrote:
>
>> My suggestion, run a intermediate term test. Mark off a 10x10 area, wet
>> it down and then add a minimum of 2ft of wood chips and let it sit for a
>> year...then dig a test whole in it and see what has happened. If it has
>> decayed a bit and you have worms and insect activity, as I suspect, add
>> enough mulch to bring it back up to st least 2 ft, and check it again a
>> year later.
>>
>> The key is, the sheer mass of the wood chips will likely create a micro
>> environment that promotes decay. Even in the arid areas of the Gila
>> wilderness there is substantial decay underneath 2 ft of pine needles.
>>
>> This will give you an idea what is truly possible in your area, rather
>> then speculation.
>>
>> 2-3 years to run a test is nothing in the greater scheme of things.
>>
>> tfb
>>
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Re: [nafex] mulching trees,
Jono Neiger, 06/03/2015