Question
I recently saw a garden show that added bloodmeal to a patch of soil where a stump had been ground to add back nitrogen that the decomposing wood was taking from the soil.       
I use a wood chip mulch once a year and am wondering if I should also add the nitrogen back to the soil?
                        Thank you

Answer
As long as the wood chip you use is mature, i.e. at least six months old, then the addition of nitrogen fertilisers is not required.  However, plants use large quantities of nitrogen each growing season and so a annual application of nitrate based fertilisers would be beneficial even if you were not mulching your borders with bark chips.


Rgds,

Dean.