To answer your mulch question and, at the same time, to provide you with more information than you ever thought possible, I'd like to introduce you to Ruth Stout - the sister of Rex Stout, the author of many mystery novels.

In addition to the link below, you might also be interested in obtaining a copy of her book, "How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back: A New Method of Mulch Gardening."

After many years of being in print, this small gem is still an excellent read and a superb source of information on mulch gardening. It still in print and many of her other books on gardening/mulching are available as well.

When I was the President of The Herb Guild in Peoria, IL - it's still active - many, many years ago, I found a 16mm film on Ruth Stout at or through the Peoria Public Library in which she discussed her unique method of gardening. I have no idea as to whether it is available on VHS or on DVD, but it is also an enjoyable experience.

One of the more interesting things that I still remember about this wonderful women from this film is that she had an occasional habit of gardening in the nude at her rural home.

At one point in the film, her husband remarked (or she related the story) that she must have been working nude in the garden for some time - one day. When she inquired as to how he knew, he replied that the traffic was backed up a little and that the cars were moving rather slowly pass their house. An exhuberant, vibrant "young" lady in my mind.

In case you don't immediately get around to reading her books, the link below should provide you with inspiration with regard to mulching - her mulches were far deeper than yours - and inspiration to become a fan of Ruth Stout.

Best wishes with your mulching endeavors.

Bill

~Chills

I live in zone 6 (southern Ohio, but grew up much north of here!) and searching for the right mulch to use in the garden.

There seems to be a few main ideas here on attraction of pests like termites:

- Uses of wood mulch attracts termites and one shouldn't use it at all, advocating use of river pebbels or pine straw, even tho they offer little or no organic matter to the soil.

- Use of shredded bark mulch attracts less pests and is safer to use, but still should be kept away from your foundations.

This point is more imporant to those in warmer climates, but I know my parents found they had a problem with termites and the damage was pretty extensive to the foundation. My inlaws are moving from Northern Ohio to Tennessee when they retire at the end of the year and the use of pebble or river stone around planting beds close to or around the fountation is widely used.

Food for thought!
Shannon

What happens to many of our perennials in the fall is we mulch them and pile it on 2, 3....6" high....WHAT FOR?
To conserve moisture, to keep the weeds down, to keep the temperature of the ground UP.

What happens usually when we administer heat to our plants?
They produce leaves et al, might even promote further bloom.
But many of our perennials we don't want to have them grow...they've done growing, they've done flowering, now we want them to go to sleep and harden off before the onset of winter.

After a hard frost is the time to mulch around our plants.
This then promotes a more even temperature, especially in early spring, when the freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw cycles visit. Placing evergreen boughs over the mulch can too give insulation and when the snow comes down on top of that...even better insulation.

'Course, this all depends on the reason why we mulch. If you have just planted something, and desire it to have the best chance of developing root system, then we mulch to keep the soil temperature up as long as possible.

The weeds too have stopped growing. We administer herbicides when they are actively growing. So there's no need to be concerned about sunning-out weeds at this time.
Better to just pull them out by hand.

Then too, we don't want mulch in contact with our tender plants in the spring. Pests and disease are harbored over winter and if they can find a nice nesting spot with food, they will partake.

Most perennials will turn to mush before the onset of snow and this too should be gleaned from our beds. The best thing you can do for your garden bed oftimes is to keep it clean of all debris.

Any leaves, chewed, used as mulch, and not composted in the spring, will have to be removed. Leaves that mat down on perennials is an invite for any disease pathogens they might be harboring to make a new home in the garden soil.

Same thing for the lawn. We should rake up our leaves off the lawn so as any pests and disease not make home there...especially if the lawn is in poor shape.

If you wish to add soil to your bed to encourage good root and growth development, I think spring is time enough.
That's when we cultivate our beds anyway.

To that, if you have peony, DO NOT TOPDRESS the area near this plant.....sidedress only...in ths spring.