i have large areas of my yard mulched. you have a lot of questions, i'll throw out a couple of answers/observations and let others take on the rest: - you can significantly decrease the amt of mulch/frequency of refreshing by using black or brown landscaping fabric. i recommend it VERY HIGHLY. you can also use newspaper and (for areas with no plantings) glossy catalogues and magazines. (this winter i used all the christmas cataloges i was sent unbidden to block the weeds in a large area -- worked like a charm, and one less thing that needs to be trucked to the dump). i have a bed in full sun with landscaping fabric that i mulched lightly three years ago -- it still looks great. whatever you do -- overlap A LOT. at least 6 inches. - i recommend mulching incrementally rather than all at once. spreading mulch is by far my least favorite gardening task -- it is HARD WORK. better to buy a couple of bags a month and spread it where it needs to go. - the longer you have mulch, the less often you need to replenish. eventually you get rid of weed seeds in the given area. i have a couple of beds that i have had mulched for five years -- they hardly EVER need replenishing. - consider layering an inch or two of leaves and yard waste under your mulch. less mulch you have to use, and it enriches the soil. - consider using pine bark mulch. it's the least ecologically-harmful mulch out there (aside from free mulch from the dump) - check for free trash tree and line-clearing mulch from the dump. i mulched a couple of areas with it last year. breaks down quickly, but, hey, it's free. - i am slowly transitioning away from wood mulch to pine straw. it is SO MUCH cheaper and easier to spread. you have to block the weeds with newspaper. -bagged mulch is (strangely enough) about the same price as mulch from the local landscaping company. it's also easier to handle. however, it's much easier to get a big load of mulch delivered and dumped near your site. it just depends on how much area you need to mulch.

What's your purpose for wanting to use them? Do you have insect/fungal problems with your trees? Generally the use of any pesticide is not warranted or recommended unless there is a specific need for it. FWIW, I've never used any pesticide in any form on any of my maple collection, either in-ground or in containers. What few aphids that may appear in early spring get washed off with a strong spray of water only.

I fought this for years and here is where it lead me. Using synthetics can and will produce more as well as more dependable results 100% of the time IF you know exactly what you are doing. That means if you don't hold a degree in the field,it will be hit and miss even asking questions of people who hold the degrees and know exactly what they are doing. Problem is the expert must see and touch the plant,know history of soil&run fingers through it and know precisly what has been done including but not limited to,daily weather,amts & timing of water and nutrents up to that point. Organic is the way to go for even for the most dedicated gardeners. Organic is more forgiving of neglect and mistakes eventhough the mistakes and neglect will reduce production,it's not intolerable amounts. Non-organic mistakes often result in drastic results up to and including 100% loss. An often incountered one is where fertilizer is applied then miscalculation of weather and/or moisture occurs. Another is where insectiside is used to rid a pest that is effecting a plant by eating leaves or sucking some juice but not killing it nor ruining all fruit. Benificials on neighboring plant is eradicated and a pest that was being kept in check or shows up suddenly mushrons and ruins one or more crops. Very few things you do organicly will result in such sweeping results,good or bad. The soil should always be in transition for the lack of a better term. This addresses fertilize applications. In any container or plot , I try to insure there are diverse types and stages of finished compost. That insures that as micros are consumed replacements are being produced. I believe far too much gravity is afforded N being tied up by deterioating matter. Dumping a lot of fresh material like saw dust with huge amounts of exposed surface will definitly starve plants until rate of decomposition slows. A case where there is negitive results but usualy recovers enough to produce a fair to poor crop. Turning under green cover like vetch can realy supply season long crop fuel. I just cannot stress enough how important it is to understand your plants and that will happen with experience and experience will come sooner by asking inteligent questions of those willing to help. In an effort of convincing sceptics that it is possiable to read plants,I offer some off topic evidence. Try this out if you know a rancher,not nessarly an old crusty one, a cowperson in their 20s is quite capiable. Drive him/her to a herd they have never been around and without leaving the seat of the vehicle they can tell you; very near the age,the sex,weight and breed/mixture of breed for each animal while average person is deciding what color they are. If alowed to walk near them (many cattle dislike and will run away from strangers) closly estimate stage of pregnancy while our novice wonders why the one giving birth within a week is not fat as the one who has 3 months to go. Think about human faces. Isn't it amazing that we can differinate all of them. Practice!

I also really love the Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo, it's dirt cheap and doesn't harm my very delicate fine hair. I just stumbled upon it too. I had bought it for my husband and he didn't use it so I had this huge bottle and used it and was surprised at how well it did for my fine hair and plus, it doesn't make my scalp itch, that has become an issue for me. I also found a conditioner that I love, it's Martix Biolage, the detangling one. Finally, a conditioner that doesn't make my scalp itch AND actually takes the tangles out of my insanely tangle prone hair. I used to shampoo daily because I styled my hair every day. Now, I just put it in a ponytail and call it done. I wash my hair about every third day now. I'd be very afraid to put baking soda in my fragile hair...I'm sure it would destroy it. I once (ONE TIME) used Dr. Bronner's liquid Castile to wash my hair and it damaged it so badly that it had to grow out before it was normal again. UGH! I'm lucky that I have hair, don't get me wrong, but my hair is very weird! My scalp is also very oily...so I cannot go very long without washing. Three days is pushing it and I can only pull it off because I wear it in a ponytail. I also can't stand the smell of stinky hair...UGH! It gets stinky after a couple days. That's when I know it's time to wash!