Christie:
The Salvia guaranitica will like that the greggii's at
least in my experence don't want all the organic matter.
Raised beds would be great for drainage.Our rainfall here is 30" a year we plant in raised beds because of the clay based soils we have. Richard being in a more northern climate will be able to answer your other question better than I can.

Decomposing wood can be an acidic environment; it also consumes a lot of the nutrients. If there are particular Salvias that do well in a wooded environment they might work. However, I am unable to help with these since my problem is alkaline soil.

Thanks - I may experiment and put just one there to see how it does but it sounds like it wasn't a good idea. My yard drains pretty good as is.
Hybridsage - I sent an email to you on Saturday. Did you get it?

I agree with westelle. There is a great difference between shredded wood and shredded hardwood bark. The former has a lot of wood fiber (cellulose) and can draw termites. It takes a lot of nitrogen to break down, as previously said.

Hardwood bark makes a good mulch and breaks down into a nice humus, just the kind that tropical sages like.

I'd get hold of as many coffee grounds as I can and mix them in with the wood chips. Coffee grounds are heavy and wet, so some (family style) restaurants may have a separate waste bucket for them. If you can get them, they will promote the molding of leaves, since they are high in nitrogen. The biggest advantage is that earthworms love them. Worm castings are black gold as a soil amendment.

Christie;
I did recieve your e-mail,should be another waiting for you.
Art