Folks, the industry has us a bit duped on wood mulch. Here are some thoughts seeing as we constantly get bombarded with the benefits / necessity of wood mulch:
The point made in the article: Except wood mulch soaks up the water itself and then it evaporates from the wood chips and lots of water never makes it to the soil.
Maybe that works if you live in an area that gets so much rain it can still soak through to soil after soaking the mulch, but in a lot of the world during summer, that won’t be the case.
I can’t speak to soil bacteria, but I’m pretty sure ecosystems have evolved to have healthy soil without requiring wood chip mulch (leaf cover in the winter is a different story, of course, so don’t rake/blow your leaves!)
The point in the article assumes you are solely reliant on rain for watering your plants. Where I live it doesn’t rain for like three or four months in the summer, so that argument is invalid. I use irrigation in my orchard every couple of weeks to deeply soak the area around a tree. The wood chips around the trees do help prevent the soil from drying out because they keep it cool. It takes heat energy to evaporate water. And since the mulch blanket keeps the soil cool I only have to water the orchard once every two or three weeks.
Well, I didn’t mention tomatoes. And I’m slowly replacing my grass with a sort of food forest. It may not be native wildflowers, but I don’t think I’m lost.
The point made in the article: Except wood mulch soaks up the water itself and then it evaporates from the wood chips and lots of water never makes it to the soil.
Maybe that works if you live in an area that gets so much rain it can still soak through to soil after soaking the mulch, but in a lot of the world during summer, that won’t be the case.
I can’t speak to soil bacteria, but I’m pretty sure ecosystems have evolved to have healthy soil without requiring wood chip mulch (leaf cover in the winter is a different story, of course, so don’t rake/blow your leaves!)
The point in the article assumes you are solely reliant on rain for watering your plants. Where I live it doesn’t rain for like three or four months in the summer, so that argument is invalid. I use irrigation in my orchard every couple of weeks to deeply soak the area around a tree. The wood chips around the trees do help prevent the soil from drying out because they keep it cool. It takes heat energy to evaporate water. And since the mulch blanket keeps the soil cool I only have to water the orchard once every two or three weeks.
You’re also talking about orchards and tomatoes in a “no lawns” community. I think you’re a little lost
Well, I didn’t mention tomatoes. And I’m slowly replacing my grass with a sort of food forest. It may not be native wildflowers, but I don’t think I’m lost.
Sorry it was someone else who mentioned tomatoes