Joanie

I planted some trees into a raised bed that formerly held vegetables. First I mixed various bagged soil mixes into our sandy (and rock-hard when dry) soil and added a LOT of Perlite to make a nice fluffy mixture that will hold water well in our hot dry days, but also drains quickly. (When you step into it you sink almost ankle deep!) But the neighborhood cats delighted in such fluffy goodness, and the dog quickly discovered the hidden treats that the cats donated. So I put some landscape fabric over the bed, with good sized holes cut out for the trees. The fabric is water permeable but not cat permeable. To keep the fabric down and in place, and to keep the soil moist and cool over the summer, I then mulched with bagged wood chips. They look and smell rather like redwood but aren't, and they are supposedly natural.

Question is, will the water draining through these chips hurt my trees? If they are used for landscaping and around flowering plants and don't harm them, and we use bark chips in our soil mixes sometimes, is there any reason to be concerned? Acidity or whatnot?

Please, if anyone has a concern, let me know. I don't want to lose the trees that are now stretching their roots and branches in these nice raised beds!

Joanie

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