AS SOME of you who have personally heard my tirades on
the subject can attest, | am not a big fan of bark mulch.

As a matter of fact, | believe it
along with other hog fuels (a very
fitting expression) should be
banished from the garden.

{ am firmly convinced that bark
mulch does much more harm than
good; acidifying the soil, stripping
the nitrogen out of the soil, and
locking the iron, phosphorus and
other valuable nutrients into the
soil.

| am sure it is a breeding ground
for bugs and diseases of all sorts
and, rather than discouraging
weeds, it can, in time, actually en-
courage some of the most obnox-
jous weeds such as_horse-tail,
morning glory, salmon berries, and
that ilk, to flourish.

When wood fibre (including
bark mulch) decomposes in an ox-
ygen poor environment, ‘certain
chemicals are produced which,
although not necessarily fatal, are
certainly injurious- to plant
development.

The bottom of a layer of bark
mulch is rotting in an oxygen poor
environment and any nearby plants

are being slowly and systematically
poisoned.

And besides, [ think bark mulch
looks unattractive when it is first
put down and then positively
disgusting a few months later. At
its best it looks as though someone
has tried to landscape an old
sawmill site,

And black plastic, why it just
ain’t natural. Not only further in-
hibiting the exchange of gases (ox-
ygen) at the root zone; but also
making it more difficult for the
plants to get sufficient water.

Another one of my pet peeves
happens to be negative people.
You know the guy with all the
answers that says you can’t do it
that way; and when asked for an
alternative usually shrugs his
shoulders and says ‘‘Beats me; but
you can’t do it that way.”’

Weil, fortunately, 1 have some
alternatives and they are ail
groundcovers. Basically, a
groundcover is any plant that is
planted in mass to cover the
ground. Sound simple? Good, it’s
supposed to.

The idea is to set the plants close

enough so that they will quickly
grow together, forming a mass of
growth through which weeds can-
not compete,

Quickly and mass are the opera-
tive words here, The foolish people

20 - Friday, March 13,

1987 - North Shore News

ifies soi

this poor gudgeon’s fuel will be
spent long before that ivy does its
job.

Be sure that you plant your
groundcover in good soil, water
them as required, feed them occa-

over the

garden gate
by Geoff Tobiasson

that plant junipers 5 and 6 feet
apart and then wonder why they
have to weed for the next 10 years,
deserve everything they get.

And so do those that plant slow
growing, sparse or non-evergreen
materials. But the worst one is the
poor soul that was talked into
planting a potentially good
groundcover, lets say ivy, and then
told to cover the area with bark
mulch. Hope may burn eternal but

LYNN VALLEY resident Leanne Arnold learned a valuable gardening lesson on pruaing and tree roots recent-
ly. During heavy winds a large tree fell across her property barely missing her home. Surveying (he damage
with Leanne are four-year-old Crystal Preston and three-year-old Darcy Ariald.

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sionally, and keep the weeds out
until such time as the plants have
grown together. If you do this, the
maintenance required later will be
only minimal,

The following are some of my
favorite candidates for ground-
cover plant materials in this area:

Cotoneaster Dammerti grows in
a wide variety of soil and sun con-
ditions although deep shade and
overly wet soils are to be avoided.

It spreads very quickly at a height
of 4 inches, rooting as it runs, it is
particularly useful on banks and
cascading over walls.

Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursa_ (kin-
nickinnick) is very similar in ap-
pearance; somewhat slower grow-
ing but with a nice display of pink,
spring flowers especially ‘Van-
couver Jade’, a recent introduction
from the UBC botanic gardens.

AIL the heathers work well
although those in the Erica group
usually require less maintenance
than the Cal/lunas.

In the right locations, the
evergreen Azalea can be massed to
create a dramatic effect as is seen
in the Japanese gardens.

These are not the only good sub-
jects for groundcover use or even
the best. Pick up one of the many
books on the subject, such as
Sunset’s or Ortho’s and lookup
Campanula, Vinca, Pachysandra,
Juniperus, Hedera, Hypericum,
Thymus, and many other interest-
ing materials.

Be creative and experiment:
these plants are generally inexpen-
sive and can offer many enjoyable
surprises whereas gardening in hog
fuel offers little of anything — ex-
cept perhaps slivers,

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