Texas Gardening: Mulch, 1 by Dogs_N_Petunias

Dogs_N_Petunias wrote:
I think I must have confused things by not stating my original question clearly.

Photo is of shredded cedar mulch put down over a year ago. As you can see, it did not break down at all. I applied it 1 to 2 inches thick.

In my vegetable garden, whatever I mulch with this year is going to be worked into the soil somewhat before planting the next year. We've made giant quantities of llama/oak leaf compost for many years (and gave it away to gardener neighbors) but this was the first time we've made a whole new garden with it. And my veg garden was an enormous success for a first year garden. Strangers were stopping by wanting to know how on earth I grew such tomato plants. I think we achieved the perfect soil balance and don't want to take any chances with messing that up. So I guess the only safe thing to mulch with is shredded oak leaves.

But in my flower beds, for instance, since I don't use chemical fertilizers, I like to add some compost early spring and one year I tried adding it leaving the cedar mulch in place and that was a real mess. Anything I tried to plant I would hit a wad of cedar mulch with my hand shovel and I noticed quite a lot of symptoms that appeared to be nitrogen deficiency that season. I think I'm going to look for some shredded pine bark or other wood and try it in a small area and was just wondering if there was one brand or size shred that anyone preferred.