Way too much mulch

I had the good fortune to chase down a tree-trimming truck who deposited a couple of loads of chipped branches and leaves in my driveway. After several backbreaking weekends, I’ve redistributed the mulch around the house in a nice 12 inch deep raised bed design. We have heavy clay soil here, so I put down a good 8 layers of newspaper before dumping down the mulch.

I’m ready to plant my shrubs (got a few soft touch holly and an azalea) but now I’m not sure how to actually do the planting in all that mulch. I’m thinking to maybe just repot the shrubs in larger containers and then place the containers down in the mulch. Conversely, I could remove the mulch and newspaper from where the shrubs would go and dig down to loosen the native clay soil and then add more soil to actually plant the shrubs so the roots would be able to stretch out.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi acector,

Fresh wood chips will eventually become good mulch in 6 months to a year and there is a raging debate about if they cause nitrogen depletion or not. Are these hardwood chips or pine? If you spread the wood chips 12" deep that is far, far to deep. Mulch should be spread around 2-3" deep, maybe 4" at most. The newspaper is fine and is good for killing weeds, grass and it will break down into the soil.

What I think I would do is take up all of those wood chips and get myself some compost/leaf gro/manure and dig up the area that I wanted to plant my hollies and azaleas in and mix those into the clay and then plant. I'd get some pine fines or pine straw and spread that as the mulch around my newly planted plants.

I'd use the wood chips either as paths, after cutting an edge to a bed to separate the lawn from that bed, or I'd let them sit and break down for a few months and then use as mulch.

Now onto the clay soil issue because this I have and have been gardening in for a long time.
There are a couple of ways to approach clay, you can buy plants that are 'clay busters' and there are a lot of them for all light conditions. Daylilies will thrive in clay as will asters, astilbes, many grasses there are so many to chose from. What I've done mostly since is use my shredded fall leaves on my garden beds and as they break down they make a nice leaf compost and then when I dig in the clay I can mix it into the space I'm planting it. I also just plant clay busting plants right in it and mix in some compost as I plant.

Good luck!

I love free wood chips! I get a car sized pile every other year! I build raised beds out of them with sticks and big pieces that didn't compost last year and then cover them with humus that I buy in bulk mixed with my own compost. They work fine for planting if you do something fairly shallow rooted the first year. Also covering the wood chips with a tarp and letting the sun bake them composts them fairly quickly - just watch as they get really hot!

I used fresh wood chips about 10 years ago and all the shrubs I had planted in that particular bed died (Mostly forsythia and a couple lilacs). I can not say if it was from nitrogen depletion or not but I am now weary about using it.
Its also possible that a good portion of the chips came from walnut which could have had the same ill results.
Anyway, I'd be careful and use it sparingly till you are confident with what your results will be.

I like your style. You ran down a truck for free mulch! I’ve gotten freshly chipped, hardwood leaves and branches from a local park after their spring clean-up. Although I have to shovel, load and truck it home myself. Never got 12 inches delivered for free. My experience is these clippings breakdown faster than store bought mulch. Still, well played.
Sounds like you’ve done a lot of work putting down that mulch. I think your shrubs will probably survive in their current containers, if put in a shallow hole and covered/disguised with a few inches (not twelve) of mulch for a few months. I routinely use this method with shrubs that I haven't the time or immediate inclination to plant properly. I do this with larger houseplants moved temporarily outdoors to the garden. Currently have a dracaena near the daylillies.
If you do use this temporary method, check under the mulch periodically. Water your shrubs/plants often, especially during dry, hot weather. Make sure big roots are not growing out the bottom of the pot's holes. Do eventually plant them properly. They will not thrive in pots forever. As you said, the roots need room to spread.
Early autumn is a good time to plant shrubs and get bargains. Shrubs that have been in pots all summer go on sale at the end of the season, especially at the big-box home improvement stores.
If you've already planted, in the soil not the mulch, don't fret too much about the clay. The plants you've chosen are forgiving. Mulch only about 3 inches high around the plantings to about 3 inches past the branch spred. Fertilize with Hollytone (a brand name) or something similar for plants that like the soil a bit on the acidic side. Both of your shrubs are this type of plant.