What do you like to mulch with?

Qweniden · January 3, 2013

I normally use straw but its a bit messy and not that pretty. Any recommendations?

kath · January 3, 2013

I like shredded leaves because they're free and they keep the worms happy but pretty isn't a consideration when it comes to mulch in the garden.

jerryinfla · January 3, 2013

I'm with Kath -- shredded leaves!

TightenUp · January 3, 2013

i used pine needles over the black breathable tarp which worked awesome this past season. i also used straw on my raised bed which got the job done.

hurricane sandy didnt allow me to get to the garden with the pine needles until this last wknd so i decided to bag and throw out the pine needles along with the dead plants and leave the black tarp in place for next year. i will just fill in the planting holes with compost in the spring. this will be a first for me

the straw was incorporated in the raised bed and covered with horse manure last fall. i will add some organics and compost in the spring about a month before plant out

Hotwired · January 3, 2013

I like straw because it diffuses the raindrops and minimizes the "Up-Splash" onto the tomato leaves http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6307/pruninggarden.jpg . Septoria Leaf Spot is a real problem in my area. I use weedcloth under the straw http://imageshack.us/a/img808/6869/55343335.jpg and tucked it under pavers along the fence. I hate weeding, especially around fences. Of course there were 260 feet of pavers to set. Being Lazy is a lot of work.

FarmerShawn · January 3, 2013

I use leaves when I can get them, but I don't have many trees. However, I do have a large lawn, so I mow in the morning of a sunny day, let the clippings dry, then go over the lawn again with my DR lawn vacuum to pick the clippings up, and I mulch with the resulting "hay." They're nice and clean, fine and easily placed tightly around the plants, and are almost gone by fall when I till them in. They do have to be pretty deep, though, to really suppress the weeds through the summer - I usually try to get a depth of at least two or three inches.

Tracydr · January 3, 2013

Pine needles and straw on top of newspaper.

checkerkitty · January 3, 2013

Leaves and lawn clippings, when I can find them. I'll bet your city has a brush recycling department that is part of solid waste management. Ours does and they sell mulch and give away Christmas tree mulch. That might give you a source of local and, maybe, attractive mulch. I'll be getting my hands on some of this soon for multiple uses in the yard.

Hotwired · January 3, 2013

I would be cautious of Municipal mulch, depending where you live. Florida and California both had a serious blight epidemic with Palms and a lot of gardeners used the infected woodchips. Up North, the freezing temps kill a lot of the spores, but not all. Gardening is tough enough without importing other peoples problems.

Farmer Shawn... A DR - I'm envious. Grass & Leaves helps make some nice compost - no shortage of leaves up your way. I'd be vacuuming my neighbors leaves up. I wanted a DR Tiller but my wife couldn't understand spending that kind of money since I have raised beds. I love my toys, so I built my own http://imageshack.us/a/img141/7143/tiller4.jpg .

peppero · January 4, 2013

i like to use wheat straw leaves and pine needles. works for me. jon

Redbaron · January 4, 2013

I have found over the years that fresh green grass clippings over paper are generally the best. Especially if the grass clippings have clover etc in them. As they decay quickly, they release a lot of nutrients in the soil. They also make a pretty good "crust" for blocking weeds.

But actually just about any mulch will work. The only one that causes me to be very careful is sawdust and walnut leaves. Even that works, but you need to watch your nitrogen closely and walnut produces a natural herbicide that affects certain plants like tomatoes.

tomakers · January 4, 2013

I like to use leaves, but I will use anything available. Wood chips or sawdust are fine if you don't till them in, at least in my experience. I don't have any walnut trees around, or at least I don't know where they are and they haven't bothered me.

Tom

lakelady · January 4, 2013

last year I made new raised beds, so I didn't use anything for weed suppression in 2 of the beds because the beds were completely compost. no weeds at all. One bed I used salt hay. Didn't notice any difference in the growth, a bit in moisture conservation. This year I'll have to do it differently I think, but for me, leaves are so abundant and free so I'll likely use shredded leaves.

ScottinAtlanta · January 4, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by checkerkitty

Leaves and lawn clippings, when I can find them. I'll bet your city has a brush recycling department that is part of solid waste management. Ours does and they sell mulch and give away Christmas tree mulch. That might give you a source of local and, maybe, attractive mulch. I'll be getting my hands on some of this soon for multiple uses in the yard.

We have to actually know the source of our mulch here in Atlanta, because there are so many pecan trees here. You can't use anonymous mulch from your neighbors or the city, unfortunately, without knowing the trees involved.

That said, I do use shredded oak leaves as mulch.

January 4, 2013

I like to use pine bark nuggets. I purchase the inexpensive large bags of small nuggets. They seem to decompose into the soil well over the winter. Since I plant about six hundred onions in January, I can't add fresh mulch until June when the last of the onions have been harvested. I haven't found a way to add mulch over the onions without causing the onion tops to break over stopping their growth. I would like to plant the onions into the mulch, but that causes the onions to be planted deeper limiting their bulb size.

I have tons of oak leaves blowing around, but it is a lot of work to shred them. If I don't shred them, they become a nesting place for all kinds of insects. I thought this past spring I would gather a lot up and add them to my beds. When I started raking them up, I found millions of live grasshoppers that had survived the winter by snuggling down into the leaf piles. I also found a lot of other insects like spotted cucumber beetles in the leaf piles.

I like to run my riding mower over the leaf piles so the material will be added to the soil instead of simply blowing away. Often, the piles are against fences or under thick stands of trees where my mower can't reach them.

Ted

January 3, 2013	#1
Qweniden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 267	What do you like to mulch with? I normally use straw but its a bit messy and not that pretty. Any recommendations? Last edited by Qweniden; January 3, 2013 at 07:56 PM.

January 3, 2013	#3
jerryinfla Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Central Florida Posts: 377	I'm with Kath -- shredded leaves! __________________ Jerry - You only get old if you're lucky.

January 3, 2013	#4
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	i used pine needles over the black breathable tarp which worked awesome this past season. i also used straw on my raised bed which got the job done. hurricane sandy didnt allow me to get to the garden with the pine needles until this last wknd so i decided to bag and throw out the pine needles along with the dead plants and leave the black tarp in place for next year. i will just fill in the planting holes with compost in the spring. this will be a first for me the straw was incorporated in the raised bed and covered with horse manure last fall. i will add some organics and compost in the spring about a month before plant out __________________

January 3, 2013	#6
FarmerShawn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,001	I use leaves when I can get them, but I don't have many trees. However, I do have a large lawn, so I mow in the morning of a sunny day, let the clippings dry, then go over the lawn again with my DR lawn vacuum to pick the clippings up, and I mulch with the resulting "hay." They're nice and clean, fine and easily placed tightly around the plants, and are almost gone by fall when I till them in. They do have to be pretty deep, though, to really suppress the weeds through the summer - I usually try to get a depth of at least two or three inches. __________________ "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers

January 4, 2013	#11
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	I have found over the years that fresh green grass clippings over paper are generally the best. Especially if the grass clippings have clover etc in them. As they decay quickly, they release a lot of nutrients in the soil. They also make a pretty good "crust" for blocking weeds. But actually just about any mulch will work. The only one that causes me to be very careful is sawdust and walnut leaves. Even that works, but you need to watch your nitrogen closely and walnut produces a natural herbicide that affects certain plants like tomatoes. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

January 3, 2013	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I like shredded leaves because they're free and they keep the worms happy but pretty isn't a consideration when it comes to mulch in the garden.

January 3, 2013	#5
Hotwired Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ithaca, NY - USDA 5b Posts: 241	I like straw because it diffuses the raindrops and minimizes the "Up-Splash" onto the tomato leaves http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6307/pruninggarden.jpg . Septoria Leaf Spot is a real problem in my area. I use weedcloth under the straw http://imageshack.us/a/img808/6869/55343335.jpg and tucked it under pavers along the fence. I hate weeding, especially around fences. Of course there were 260 feet of pavers to set. Being Lazy is a lot of work.

January 3, 2013	#7
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Pine needles and straw on top of newspaper.

January 3, 2013	#8
checkerkitty Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 239	Leaves and lawn clippings, when I can find them. I'll bet your city has a brush recycling department that is part of solid waste management. Ours does and they sell mulch and give away Christmas tree mulch. That might give you a source of local and, maybe, attractive mulch. I'll be getting my hands on some of this soon for multiple uses in the yard.

January 4, 2013	#10
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	i like to use wheat straw leaves and pine needles. works for me. jon

January 4, 2013	#12
tomakers Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Cranberry Country, SE MA - zone 6? Posts: 353	I like to use leaves, but I will use anything available. Wood chips or sawdust are fine if you don't till them in, at least in my experience. I don't have any walnut trees around, or at least I don't know where they are and they haven't bothered me. Tom __________________ I never met a fish I didn't like. Last edited by tomakers; January 4, 2013 at 09:55 AM.

January 4, 2013	#13
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	last year I made new raised beds, so I didn't use anything for weed suppression in 2 of the beds because the beds were completely compost. no weeds at all. One bed I used salt hay. Didn't notice any difference in the growth, a bit in moisture conservation. This year I'll have to do it differently I think, but for me, leaves are so abundant and free so I'll likely use shredded leaves. __________________ Antoniette

January 4, 2013	#15
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	I like to use pine bark nuggets. I purchase the inexpensive large bags of small nuggets. They seem to decompose into the soil well over the winter. Since I plant about six hundred onions in January, I can't add fresh mulch until June when the last of the onions have been harvested. I haven't found a way to add mulch over the onions without causing the onion tops to break over stopping their growth. I would like to plant the onions into the mulch, but that causes the onions to be planted deeper limiting their bulb size. I have tons of oak leaves blowing around, but it is a lot of work to shred them. If I don't shred them, they become a nesting place for all kinds of insects. I thought this past spring I would gather a lot up and add them to my beds. When I started raking them up, I found millions of live grasshoppers that had survived the winter by snuggling down into the leaf piles. I also found a lot of other insects like spotted cucumber beetles in the leaf piles. I like to run my riding mower over the leaf piles so the material will be added to the soil instead of simply blowing away. Often, the piles are against fences or under thick stands of trees where my mower can't reach them. Ted Last edited by tedln; January 4, 2013 at 01:22 PM.