posted 8 years ago
When we lived in Tacoma, everyone would put that stuff down by the truck load. I know it well.
First, try to improve one area at a time rather than the entire thing. Portion off the space into smaller parcels and focus on improving the soil in one parcel before moving on to the next.
Second, you'll need to get some nitrogen integrated into that beauty bark. Compost, manure, coffee grounds, grass clippings . . . anything high in N will not only speed up the break down, but also attract worms and other beneficial biota. You might just consider sheet mulching right over it. If the bark is over a foot deep, I'd consider raking it back to about 6 to 8 inches and spreading the excess bark elsewhere. You can just broadcast it out onto a lawn where it will sink down into the grass or get mixed with grass clippings when you mow. With a Starbucks on every corner, if you could hoe a couple of buckets of coffee grounds into the mulch, you'll see a marked improvement in the soil within a year.
Third, you've done the right thing by pulling the plastic out. Now that the bark is in direct contact with the soil below, it will decompose much faster. The plastic has stopped water from throughly wetting the bark all the way to the soil below. That, in turn, keeps the worms from wanting to tunnel through it --- dry bark is a bad worm medium. When it rains, does the water soak down into the depths of the mulch, or does it tend to sheet-off and stay dry a few inches down? You may need to get in there with a hoe or rake and loosen it up a bit -- integrate some air.
Fourth, next year, consider sewing some sort of cover crop into those beds (after you've composted on top of them all this winter). I used to save marigold seeds and then rake them into the beauty bark mulch at my parents place. They came up like weeds. Keeping a living root in the ground growing all next year will go a long way toward pumping sugars and starches into the soil profile (root exudates), and that will feed the soil food web. A multi-species cover crop mix can be found on the interwebs through various seed companies. Find a cool season mix.
Fifth, beauty bark is really acidic. Plant acidic soil loving veggies: carrots, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, dill, endive, garlic and alpine strawberries.
Finally, you can utilize that space even if the majority of it isn't very good soil yet. Just dig out a small hole and try to get down to the native subsoil below the bark. Then backfill the hole with good soil or a mix of soil and compost. THEN plant your seed or transplant your plant into the hole. Thus, you don't have to great soil throughout the bed, just in the little hole where you plant your pumpkin/tomato/pepper/cabbage.
Go Seahawks.
"The rule of no realm is mine. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, these are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything that passes through this night can still grow fairer or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I too am a steward. Did you not know?" Gandolf
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