| I used to have a self seeding garden - but the drought has put paid to that. Not even the weeds are sprouting!! Normally, I mulch with leaves (not natives because they don't tend to break down very well) and grass clippings (spread out and kept away from the trunks/stems). The council kindly supplies bags for leaf collections in autumn and I get a lot of leaves this way - I always ask first. Any soft prunings/spent annuals/etc are run over with the lawn mower (although I have heard that some people have mulching machines for this purpose) and that also goes on as mulch. I rake up the debris from under my pine trees and use to mulch around camellias. I had a lot of small animal life leaving under the mulch which I believe adds to soil fertility (but they seemed to have died of thirst). Any leaves which do pop up are easily removed. I might be a bit cynical but I think that the idea of pine bark mulch was thought up by some whizz kid in the timber industry who didn't know anything about gardening. Think about it - not even pine seeds sprout in it. I also use the fine stuff from the bottom of the wood heap - and several kurrajongs and one peppercorn tree have sprouted. They are currently living in pots waiting for "better days" to move to a rural home. | 
