We have wood chip mulch in our condo's parameter mainly to cover the bare soil until we decide whether we'll put an outside patio in. Some smaller trees would have to be cut down to do so but they do provide shading. I wouldn't have thought she'd build a nest in an otherwise unshielded area but there she is. She scraped and stacked most of the mulch surrounding her nest to a sort of bowl shape and over the course of several days laid 16 eggs before she settled down. Once she settled in, she started plucking down from herself that acts as sort of insulation. When she leaves twice a day to eat, she'll cover her eggs. On a warmer day, it may be kind of hap-hazard..but I notice on colder days, she does a better job.