Mulching

Anytime is a good time to mulch your landscape, but fall is especially great. Covering bare soil before we get heavy fall rains and adding another few inches around the trees you mulched last year will really pay off next summer.

Mulch moderates soil temperature, retains moisture, inhibits erosion and weeds, and feeds the soil food chain. All this allows a longer growing season, reduces summer waterings, helps root growth during the winter, and much more.
I’m referring to what some call arborist chips, not the beauty bark or cedar “play chips” that are sold at nursery supply places. Woodchips hold water and break down relatively quickly whereas bark is naturally hydrophobic (it repels water, not helping much in the dry summer) and takes many years to turn into soil.
So get out there and mulch your landscape! Calling large tree removal companies or signing up for a service I recently became aware of (chipdrop) are two solid options for acquiring woodchips. I’m also now selling pickup truck loads of chips in the Seattle area. Contact me if you’re interested.
Some more information on woodchips from WSU and Linda Chalker-Scott: Arborist Wood Chip Mulches – Landscape Boon or Bane?
See also: The Myth of Pretty Mulch