[maddave]

I've just cleared and dug over my rhubarb and separated a few crowns. The soil around the crowns is now all bare and ripe for weeds!! I have access to loads of wood chips the council drop off at the site, so can I cover the crowns in this wood chip as a mulch, or would this have a detrimental effect on the plant?

Thanks.

[JayG]

Wood chips contain very little nitrogen of their own, so the organisms which break it down have to 'borrow' it from their surroundings - this is not such a problem with a mulch because they can't actually 'suck' it out from the underlying soil to any significant extent.

I'm not an expert rhubarb grower - I'd guess that the crowns should not be covered too deeply, but someone with better knowledge will no doubt be along sooner or later to advise on that.

[Kristen]

On heavy soil I would plant Rhubarb with crowns slightly above soil level to prevent rot etc. and I would not cover them in winter as the frost helps break dormancy, so I agree not to cover the crowns themselves with mulch.

[maddave]

Makes sense.  Thank you.