I noticed this this year as well - normally I just use regular thick (4mm) black plastic as mulch, this year I did half my beds with regular, and half my beds with IRT, just to see what the difference is. So far for exactly this reason - I much prefer just the regular, thicker, black plastic mulch. We'll see as the summer goes on if it appears as if the IRT gives any benefits over the regular plastic, but so far the regular stuff is winning. As far as what to do about it... not sure, I just pull them as they come through, otherwise I'm letting them grow in the hopes that they will just cook as mid summer arrives. We'll see.

I'm guessing it's the fescue. Our TTTF (sodded a year ago November) has been putting out those heads the past week and I was worried about the same thing. But I'm sure more educated minds than I will have a better idea.

I suppose your friend is talking about bark mulch, which can support certain fauna, like wood lice, that *may* attack plants (although they usually don't). Thick wood mulches can also harbour rodents. Otherwise, mulches are generally beneficial. As with everything, common sense goes a long way. I never use organic mulches here for my warm season crops because they keep the soil too cool, even in at the height of summer. Plastic works much better for me. On the other hand, organic mulches work very well for potatoes, chard and other cool season crops.

Here are some very interesting articles I found regarding inherent problems with hardwood mulches - robbing Nitrogen and Artillery Fungus. Be sure to read about the Artilery (Shotgun) Fungus: http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=766&bhcd2=1176401499 http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3304.html http://aginfo.psu.edu/news/july97/fungus.html http://aginfo.psu.edu/PSA/ws2000/green5.html "Hardwood tree bark (oak, maple, etc.), even from large trees, contains a large concentration of cellulose that is not protected from rotting. Therefore, hardwood bark mulches, like ground wood from almost all tree species, rot readily and cause most of the nuisance mold problems in the landscape. The finer the product is ground, the more severe the problem can be! These materials are low in nitrogen content. The fine particles (less than 3/4" diameter) in such mulches cause nitrogen immobilization in soil. The microflora that decomposes the wood particles takes up the nitrogen required for growth of plants. The result is that the plant becomes starved for nitrogen. Some mulch producers screen all particles smaller than 3/8" out of high-wood-content or hardwood-bark mulches, which avoids most of the nitrogen immobilization problem. The best way to avoid all these problems and bring about beneficial effects by mulching is to add nitrogen to woody and hardwood bark products followed by composting to lower the carbon to nitrogen ratio. Blending of grass clippings with wood wastes before composting is one way to achieve this. Addition of poultry manure or urea to supply 1.2 lbs. available nitrogen per cubic yard of material satisfies the nitrogen need also. Some landscapers add 10-15% by volume composted sewage sludge to hardwood bark or wood wastes, and this makes an ideal product that has performed very well in landscapes. These amended products should be composted at least six weeks. This process kills plant pathogens, eggs of insect pests, and produces a nitrified product that releases plant nutrients rather than ties up nitrogen. As mentioned above, the microorganisms that have colonized these products reduce the potential for growth of nuisance fungi and provide control of many plant diseases."