Subject: Re: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:20:21 -0000
Sometimes, when stuck, it can be good to get back to the basics, so let's
try. Forgive me if you're already beyond these points.
First, as far as mulch goes, trees favor a fungal compost, made from woody
material; herbaceous plants favor a bacterial-based compost, from herbaceous
material. Could your problem be, in part, the woody mulch that you've used?
For planting, did you use a combination of shapes, colors, and forms to
confuse the pests? This creates a “matrix of complications” so that it
doesn’t "look" like one species. The bugs are confused by the color, smell,
form, and patterning -- “a little bit of chaos in cooperative confusion,” as
Geoff Lawton says.
Have you also favored predators with little frog ponds, bird baths and
perches, and rockeries for lizards, for example?
Re: [permaculture] mulch and arthropod herbivore habitat
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