Mulch Ado About Nothing?

Most of what I have learned about mulching has come from the guidance of Leaf and Limb.  In his book, Wasteland to Wonder, Basil Camus sings the praises of “arborist mulch.”  He says a diversity of trees in your mulch pile is good for building soil health.

Others prefer pine bark exclusively.  They say that hardwood mulch brings in wood eating critters that can be detrimental to the landscape.

Me?  I’m surrounded by mulch snobs.  I’ve long been surrounded by soil and compost snobs—of course the mulch world would be the same. I think increasing critter populations is a good thing.

I will say I also learned about proper and improper mulching from Leaf and Limb as well.

At the Plant we trade whiskey for mulch.  The men and women in their iridescent green vests—the ones who maintain easements like power lines.  When they come down Lorax Lane and drop chips, we reward them with whiskey. It’s our spin on Chipdrop.

They are bringing us "arborist mulch"—and we consume mountains of it.