Boiling bark

[treebeard55]

Stacy, my problem with rubber mulch is that it doesn't hold any water, except what adheres to the outside. The same is true of poultry grit, but grit at least has the weight to act as ballast, and has all those sharp edges to promote root branching.

I'm sure beyond reasonable doubt that the fungi in the picture are involved in breaking down the fresh bark in the mix. I've never seen them appear except when I've used fresh bark rather than composted.

 

[stacy allen muse]

no, no, no... the rubber mulch was just a joke... I was at lowe's the other day and saw it, and it reminded me of this whole debate over boiling the mulch...

 

[treebeard55]

no, no, no... the rubber mulch was just a joke...

OK, I walked right into that one, didn't I?

 

[edprocoat]

I was just reading this thread. You guys put a lot more thought into this than I would ever do, its all interesting and I have nothing to add, especially anything close to all the technical and chemical facts posted here.

But,

I want to share with you an experience I had with pine bark chunks I bought last year, they were sold at a gast station of all places and said something like Canadian pine bark nuggets, these things were two to four inches and looked just like pine bark you would see anywhere except they were real big pieces. I bought a 50# bag for $6 to put in front of a shed door where the rain and my entering had created a nice mud pit. I planned on dumping it in the spot that evening, then it poured raining for three days, the bag had little holes like somebody stuck a half inch dowel all through it, I suppose for ventilation, anyway it got soaked inside. I set it near the door and thats where it stood through the rain and the next night after the rain the weather dropped to 18 degrees and two days later it was 48 degrees so I opened the bag and all my big hunks of pine bark had broken down into little pieces no more than an inch and many smaller than a half inch. I assume they soaked with water , froze then expanded and split up.

Probably useless info, but interesting.

ed