Put rocks in the bottom of your pots to give your plants better drainage. Dig a bigger hole and back fill with amended soil when you are planting a tree. These are two bits of gardening advice that are not uncommon to hear but have been shown to be the wrong thing to do to help your potted plants stay healthy or to have newly planted trees thrive. I saw them again in the context of being debunked in a great article that I tripped across earlier today. I was familiar with the mythical nature of most of the advice being debunked but was actually quite happy to read one about using wood mulch that I had often wondered about.
I use a lot of wood mulch. I recommend that people use wood mulch to help their gardens thrive and make taking care of them less of a chore. However I do live in an area where it is not uncommon to find termites. What do termites like to eat? Wood of course! According to the article, wood chips are way down on the list of wood related things termites consider appealing because of its lack of nitrogen and phosphate.
Check out the other debunked garden myths. They will help you invest your time and money wisely in your garden. Happy gardening. And remember if you are in North Texas or similar areas, if you haven't already tucked in some winter annuals so they can start getting established before the first frost takes out your warm season color, get to it ASAP.
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