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TAKE ACTION

Follow our simple, low cost, effective action plan to protect your yard from unexpected environmental changes and soil degradation. Contact your neighborhood association, local businesses and public entities. Share outreach materials. Discuss individual strengths, commonalities, highlight strategy variations, and most of all share successes. 

MULCH STRATEGIES

I am prioritizing this on my home page because I had some questions about current mulch applications. Our community sees the tree saving benefits of mulch during drought. However, climate change is affecting the top layer of soil differently than drought dry conditions. 

 

There are multiple strategies if mulching in 2024. See the following recommendations. To reiterate, the erosion blanket was more successful than the following options when partnered with light mulch mixture and clover seed. However, I tested all three variations and each application returned varying degrees of positive results. I believe mulch is a great strategy. However, we need to adapt application if soil quality is at risk.

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OPTIONS: My suggestion for 2024/2025 MULCH are to THIN MULCH/CLOVER SEED, THIN MULCH/REDISTRIBUTE/BIO-DIVERSIFY or SKIP/WAIT TO MULCH if soil is at risk. You will know soil is at risk if you see early leaf loss and/or leaves changing color early in the season.

 

THIN MULCH/CLOVER SEED: Soggy or not aerated soil can lead to root rot which will diminish tree nutrient uptake from the soil. If thinning mulch, responsively to soil or signs of leaf loss, I'd suggest an inch or less of mulch. This should help the fungal network near the top soil balance growth cycle responsively to niche ecosystem requirements.

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My strategy in 2023 applied a light mulch, no more than an inch thick. I mixed wood mulch with charcoal and lava rock. The lava rock is my preference, as it will nurture fungal deposition in the soil. Fungus has the ability to, more rapidly, breakdown harmful soil compounds, a variable responsible for diminished leaf output. 

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Both the charcoal and the lava rock are less dense than the wood, which will not deter other plant growth like weeds and spontaneous native growth (having a different purpose than mulch alone). I found the lava rock and charcoal to have great benefits when partnered with wood mulch.

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Wherever a light mulch application was applied, weeds and native plant growth (around the trunk of a test plot tree) provided bio-diversity with a space to flourish. This helped balance topsoil restoration. The spontaneous growth gave insects protection from climatic variation. Again, furthering soil quality by improving the niche geo-specific ecosystem. 

 

I would also encourage a seeding of mini clover or white dutch clover with mulch. This may seem to contradict current practices, but the clover protects from drought dry conditions and survives during high rains. The clovers ability to bounce between high rains and drought dry soil provides consistency for top soil, which cultivates fungal deposition near the first 3 inches of soil. 

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THIN/REDISTRIBUTE/BIO-DIVERSIFY: If you have already applied standard mulch and are seeing early leaf loss, a different approach would be to thin out and redistribute your mulch with a rake and then bio-diversify. Thinning and redistributing will help the soil aerate better. 

 

I suggest partnering this pullback strategy with biodiversity. This means adding shade sturdy plants in with your mulch ground cover. This could include swamp milkweed, clover seed, kale, cruciferous vegetables, Irish moss, Sempervivum varieties, etc... Clover seed as explained in the THIN section grows fast and produces a better microbiome. Kale because it is hearty and has an extended growth cycle through many fall and partial winter months. Cruciferous because they feed a healthy ecosystem. Irish moss and sempervivum because they cultivate air quality at different levels of the urban environment. Swamp milkweed has a smaller leaf than normal milkweed, so the cell cycle replenishes at a different pace. Also, the swamp milkweed and clover continue to support pollinators' needs.

 

Additionally, I want to suggest to plant seed with intention. It is important for successful aeration, when soil is at risk, to plant variation of height, shape and size. This strategy will assist in evaporation, letting water molecules rise different levels before splitting into elements in the atmosphere. If planting on restored soil, avoid large leaves which create dome like structure (or umbrellas) which would trap harmful soil compounds (like phosphorous).  

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SKIP/WAIT TO MULCH: In Spring 2025, I'd suggest skipping or waiting to mulch. Skipping would give a space to apply an erosion blanket. Then secure the blanket seams and edges with wood mulch/lava rock/stone. Or if your mulch practice is serving your arbors, I'd wait 2 weeks after snow melt to apply the mulch.  Waiting to mulch, even flower beds, will let the soil balance and develop a stronger biome through aeration.

 

This early spring aeration and evaporation is like a soil restart. It is the time when the atmosphere communicates with the earth, through the top soil. This communication affects the entire biome. I would say it is similar to the thought process which motivated scientists to save corals by playing the sound of a healthy reef (Playing thriving reef sounds on underwater speakers ‘could save damaged corals'). The atmosphere is using the top soil to receive information in the form of chemical and kinetic signaling. These messages send signals to insects, seeds, roots, etc.. to wake from dormancy, disperse nutrients, and have offspring. By applying an erosion blanket and securing with stones, before mulching, you may nurture the biome with a stronger start.

 

Again, if you have seen early leaf loss, wood density degradation (when wood easily breaks or is rotten), a perennial off schedule, or even a lack of insects, wait to apply mulch. I would wait at least 2 weeks, to guarantee consecutive days of sunshine after snow melt. And if waiting longer to mulch, until the AFMAUE erosion blanket strategy shows improvements in the microbiome (like an increase insect population), I'd suggest keeping mulch thin and biodiversifying throughout the mulched area. 

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My website publication is a work-in-progress. I want to publish and share. However, I am not done with these post. 

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NOTE: I want to emphasize the purpose of space and size/shape variations. When planting seeds or filling in your garden, avoid creating a dome that would trap aerated toxins under leaves. The soil may aerate, but if it gets trapped by a plant (similar to a fern dome shape or a quadrant of hydrangea) then the top soil holds the toxins, like phosphorous, weakening the insect populations. Plus creating paths for the water to flow with stones, pavers and bricks may help with aeration and soil retention. The stones should slow and direct to water, changing the kinetic relationship in the ecosystem.

Tree Health

  1. RAKE or sweep leaves. Do not ignore leaf fall. If you intend to properly use your leaves as mulch, we’d suggest mixing with lava rock or charcoal, as the mulch will better aerate, allowing the soil to breathe. Additionally, I would suggest a thinner layer with biodiversified support of trees.

  2. My suggestion, is to start this application now or in early spring, March 2025. If AFMAUE soil care strategy was applied earlier, then we suggest bio-diversifying ground cover by adding clover seed to help with soil nutrient retention. Clover seed will grow fast and early, helping with perennial soil cycle restoration. This process is about restoring, preserving, and diminishing risks. Therefore, the start date should be chosen based on your space's individual needs (e.g. Maybe you apply the lava rock, clover seed and erosion blanket on the earth surrounding a pine before winter. Or, you apply the process in mid August when you notice a domino degradation pattern near a watershed by your house. Or, you want to start in late February for prepare for a stronger veggie garden.)

  3. In Spring 2025 or Fall 2024, if leaf cleanup is complete, I'd unroll an erosion blanket around the perimeter of the trunk base. The blanket should be light enough that it sits above the earth, without smashing grasses/ground cover under it. As an example, I worked with a terrace tree, a tree on the grass space between the street and sidewalk. I covered the exposed earth at the base of the trunk, 10 by 5 ft on the long sides and 1.5 by 3 feet on the short sides. This is specifically important because the amount of covered earth is not directly related to the tree's size. More so, the AFMAUE soil coverage should be responsive to the rise and amount of exposed earth.  The purpose is to limit an exponential exposure of toxins, like phosphorus, in a repeating cycle. 

  4. On a slight slope, I dredge out clayish soil along the curb, about 2.5 to 3 inches deep and 1.5 inches wide with a spade. I was mindful to respect the current root structures near the topsoil. Then I tucked the erosion blanket edge into the dredged space, securing with lava rocks. The purpose of the lava rock is to mitigate soil loss. Where if we used plastic stakes, the ground may be exposed to leaching of the nutrients and runoff. The lava rock step can be skipped. However, I would suggest it. Lava rock has been studied and proves beneficial in feeding healthy soil fungal networks. And the lava rock when applied correctly with the erosion blanket will help preserve nutrient depositions in the soil biome.

  5. We also placed lava rock along the edges of the erosion blanket (on the interior), around the trunk base, and mixed it into my wood chip mulch. We found that the lava rock did much more than lightly secure the erosion blanket. As late seeding of clovers started growing in bulk around the lava rock in abundance (vs. slower where there was no lava rock application). 

  6. Notes on research: My suggestions are a work-in-progress. Adaptive practice priorities are published first, they include: Native and edible plant suggestions for soil microbiome health. Biodiversity seed selection to restore shared soil goverance. Waiting to mulch to help mitigate root rot. Minimize, skip or thin mulch to create responsive soil care. I will go into detailed with methodology, supportive research, etc, response timelines... Except being a community interest, 'out-of-pocket' nonprofit is a slow process. 

Strategy Highlights

  • Native and edible plant suggestions for soil microbiome health.

  • Biodiversity seed selection to restore shared soil governance.

  • Waiting to mulch to help mitigate root rot. 

  • Minimize, skip or thin mulch to create responsive soil care.

  • Variate size, shape and height of plants for better aeration.

  • Create pathways which direct the water away from vulnerable species. Direct toward rain gardens, water collection opportunities and drier pieces of your land. 

hands holding soil with a small leafy plant growing
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