Q. If I use compost around
plants and trees, do I still place wood mulch over the compost? Is it needed,
or redundant?
A. Regarding fruit trees,
wood chips applied 3 to 4 inches deep on the surface of desert soils is always
a good idea. It is also a good idea for many traditional landscape plants, like
photinia, mock orange and roses, to have wood mulch or wood chips on top of the
soil rather than rock. All these plants are healthiest if rich compost is applied
as a fertilizer in the spring.
Under some circumstances, some plants get by without wood
chip mulch or compost applied as fertilizer. Trees and shrubs that are truly
“desert adapted”, or suitable for desert landscapes, can get by without wood
chip mulch or compost. All they need is a little bit of fertilizer in early
spring every year. These are plants such as mesquite, acacia, Texas ranger and
palo verde.
In desert landscapes, with the surface of the soil
covered with small rocks suitable for walking, your only alternative may be
feeding plants with fertilizers applied from bags, a.k.a. mineral fertilizers. These
can be applied directly to the surface of the soil near drip emitters and
watered in.
Would desert adapted plants
be healthier with compost and wood chip mulch? Definitely. But they can
tolerate our desert soils without compost and wood chips better than
traditional landscape plants.
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