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Originally Posted by COMPOSTER
Drew, I can only tell you what my experience is with pine or cedar bark mulch vs ramial wood chips. I have used cedar or pine bark mulch in the same area for 7 of the last 8 years. I always wondered why the soil never seemed very moist and there was little evidence that earthworms were interested in inhabiting the area, even after heavy rain. I was adding small amounts of compost (most is dedicated to the vegetable beds) every year and I wasn't making any progress in noticeably improving the soil. No nice crumbly top layer not much in the way of earthworm castings, nothing. Dry dusty soil underneath 2 inches of pine bark mulch. I kind of felt like a failure. Last year I used the ramial wood chips and the soil is much different this year. Nice crumbles on top and lots of evidence of earth worms. I'm not willing to attribute this 100% to the wood chips but I think they have made a substantial difference in the moisture that is retained in the soil over the bark mulch.
Just my experience.
Glenn
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I only use the pine mulch for my blueberries, and I really have not had that problem. I do hand water though. It must be kept very moist, and so far so good. I'm not seeing the water I pour into the mulch doing anything but draining down past it. It may not keep it that moist, but hard wood bark, or wood chips are out of the question for blueberries. It makes too much compost that is neutral. If my soil was naturally acidic, it probably could be used. It is not. I have to work hard to keep the PH low.