I have a huge pile of wood chips from silver maples that were cut down a month ago.Since then there has been a tremendous amount of rain and ice due to an ice storm.Are the chips of any use now?
You will have to compost these some first. Never use fresh wood chips, as they will steal nutrients from your plants. If anything, they are more usable now than they were fresh, but they are still not ready. This article will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/basics/compost-as-garden-mulch.htm
We applied brand new lucerne hay mulch to our potted dwarf mango a week ago, and in three days it had some furry white stuff on it. We removed it and replaced it with more dry new mulch from the same batch, and the following day it had the same furry growth, which is almost web-like, but we don't think it's web. It seems to appear after being watered. Does anybody know what this is and how to deal with it?
This is a harmless fungus. These are present in the hay, and help to break it down into nutrients over time. This is nothing to worry about, but if you would like to get rid of it, then spray it with peroxide without getting it on the mango, which looks very healthy by the way.
I don't have photos because I washed it away with the hose
Fungus in mulch is very common.
These links will help you.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/mulch/common-mulch-fungus.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/fungus-lichen/what-is-slime-mold-slime.htm
This interesting thing is growing in my mulch. I had it last year also. A few come up and then seem to disappear. I assume its some kind of fungus. Can you help?
Yes it's a mushroom, the fruiting body (spore producing organ) of a fungus. Probably growing on the decomposing mulch. It's probably harmless but am unable to identify the type, so don't eat it unless you get a positive ID, some mushrooms are deadly poisonous. You can lift it out with a trowel or a plastic bag over your hand like dog walkers pick up poop, and throw it in the garbage. Or let it be and as you have observed in the past, they dry up and go back into the mulch and soil.
if I leave the hardwood mulch under the pine straw can it cause mold/fungus.
We just went through an extremely hot and humid weekend and when I went out to look at my flower border, there was a fine mold on top of the cocoa bean mulch. An article on your site says to spray with 25% water 75% white vinegar, but will this harm my plants? This is my first year of using this type of mulch...
This can harm the plants, and I would advise this between crops, or before planting. White, or gray mold is normal, and harmless, and sometimes beneficial. Other colors such as dark green, black, or dark gray can indicate a problem.
I would, instead, suggest spraying with pure peroxide. Avoid the plants when this is not diluted, but spraying the mulch will be just fine.
This may be a silly question but is there an easy way or just easier to rake leaves on mulch without removing all the mulch?
If you have a leaf blower or can borrow/rent one, use it on the lightest setting (not holding the trigger). It will be enough air to move the leaves without moving too many wood chips.
If there aren't too many leaves and you aren't too fastidious, you can leave them to decompose. Also, I use a small width rake in my garden beds that seems easier; I also use it to get leaves out of bushes.