It's the end of September, and I'm about to mulch my garden beds (shrubs/perennials). Looking for input into what is the best product. I'm thinking of using "Fish Compost" as it will add nutrients. Last year I used a "fine dark bark mulch", which looks nice and keeps the moisture in, but doesn't really add much nutrient. I live in Victoria, so we get a lot of rain in the winter.
Composted leaves are the best. Fish compost isn't good for fish or the marine environment in general (ecologically unsustainable).
Bark Mulch depletes nitrogen from the soil while it decomposes. You need to fertilize with some-thing.
It doesn't really deplete soil nitrogen unless you mix it in with the soil. Left on top it is beneficial in many ways. I used to use mushroom compost as a top dressing when it was readily available to me. It worked very well, but did have some odour for a week or so. I now use wood mulch for a ground cover (as i get it delivered for free by arborists) and fertilize as necessary and have good success where I am using it. It keeps the weeds down and moisture in, and also looks nice.
I often have plants become more green after applying arborist wood chips (and ground up foliage) to the surface of the soil around them. I once heeled a poorly colored rhododendron into a fresh pile that was still on the hot side and instead of it being damaged it became more green. You would expect that as the ground up tree material aged it would give off nutrients.
