Mulch Removal this Spring - when?

[Bowfin]

Up here in Duluth I've got 2 young apple trees mulched with straw over the root system. I also have a blueberry bed and strawberry bed mulched with straw.

This being a very warm early spring my thinking is to keep the mulch where it is for a while yet. This should keep the frost in the ground and soil temps down as long as possible and hopefully delay early leaf-out which may make the plants vulnerable to a hard frost we will probably get yet. However, I suppose the mulch may also start to decay the plants if the warm weather remains - especially over the strawberry beds - any thoughts?

[KEN W]

I agree.....The muclh on my raspberries and strawberries will stay on for awhile yet.I'll keep an eye on them under it for the next 2 weeks or so.I don't want my early strawberries blooming if a frost hits and kills the blossoms.....no strawberries

[Powerstroke]

I would be way more worried about the frost than any sort of decay.

I've still got a layer of mulch over parts of my garden in the metro area and we've had 80* temps. My lilacs are leafed out and the grass is growing, but I'm not seeing any breakdown of the grass clippings and leaves in the garden. You should have no worries about the straw mulch.