What do you like to mulch with?

[Redbaron]

That's a good point Ozark. When using grass clippings, if you collect them straight from the mower they get hot fast. When you just mow and let them dry and then pick them up next day, they don't get hot.

So be careful about using hot grass clippings directly around plants. However they are awesome for kicking a compost pile.

The dry clippings are great for directly around plants.

Scott,

The paths between my garden beds is rye grass in the winter and Bermuda grass in the summer. I don't have any problems with the Bermuda growing in my beds until I mow the paths with my old bagless hand mower. I try to keep the grass clippings from blowing up into my beds because if any joints of the Bermuda stems make it into the beds intact, they root and grow fast. They are easy to pull if you notice them quickly. If you don't notice them, they send their roots deep in the bed and it becomes a battle to keep it out of the beds.

Ted

[Ozark]

When we lived in Southern California we had to have a new cesspool dug, and the company used some real impressive digging equipment. Our neighbor had a Bermuda grass lawn, and in spite of my best efforts Bermuda grass had eventually spread and taken over our front yard where the hole was dug.

I remember standing by the edge of the new hole and seeing Bermuda grass roots sticking out into the hole EIGHTEEN FEET below the surface! And I'd been trying to pull the stuff out to get rid of it. Once you've got Bermuda grass I think you've got it.

I do like the Ozarks. No gophers, no tumbleweeds, and Bermuda grass is rare and grows in small isolated patches that aren't invasive. I think our winters are too cold for it, maybe.

[Qweniden]

So I bought a couple of cubic yards of cedar mulch to spread everywhere because I thought it was the best looking mulch. Ive since read that it can cause the soil to be too acidic for vegetables and herbs.

Ive read in at least on place that the acidity issue with this mulch is overblown and it isn't that big a deal.

Im not sure what to believe.

Did I make a mistake?

[Crandrew]

I used a 2 in cocoa shells layer last year on all my beds. It worked great, since it doesn't break down in one season. I think I'm going to be doing it again.

[Hotwired]

While I was reading this thread earlier a bell went off in my head. About 10 years ago, I went out into the woods next to my house to gather some leaves for composting. I raked up a pile of leaves and staring me in the face was some of the blackest richest soil I had ever seen. It was about a foot thick and the result of decades of decomposing Maple leaves and branches. I spent the day hauling it back in my mower trailer, fifteen trips in all for 5 yards. I filled my flower beds and that year I had incredible flower gardens. I figured that I saved $240 in purchased compost http://imageshack.us/a/img19/6571/compost1f.jpg .

Sorry to derail the conversation - back to Mulch

Hotwired NY 5b

Hotwired,

That sounds like a great find. I'm always looking for spots on my property where leaves have been retained for many, many seasons for leaf mold and rich soil beneath. It may only be enough soil to fill a few flower pots, but it is rich, natural soil.

I've been watching a cow shed beside a country road near my house. When the shed was originally built many years ago, I'm sure the shed had eight foot tall openings for the cattle to enter and depart. Today, the cow manure has built up over the years under the shed so deep, the roof is barely high enough for the cows to enter it. I've thought many times about contacting the sheds owner and asking him to allow me to haul some of the soil from under the shed so his cows can continue using it for shelter. It could be a good deal for him and me.

I've also been building a compost pile for a few years where I keep adding a mixture of organic materials to the top and allowing it to compress and compact naturally with moisture and time. I will keep adding to it for a few years and allow the natural processes to occur. At some point, I will remove some of the soil from the bottom of the pile and see how well it grows plants. My goal isn't to create great compost. It is more to create great soil with high natural worms, insects, bacteria, and fungus performing their work. Over the years, I've added trailer loads of manure, trampled hay and manure from around cattle feeding rings, leaves, bags of alfalfa pellets, bales of wheat straw, small branches and bark, and any other random organics I can collect to the pile.

Ted

[temora]

I would also go with straw or pine needles. Easy to remove and compost down at the end of the season, but I've also used burlap bags with paper underneath. They rot down after a couple of years and the worms just love them if you lift them up in the spring.
We've also got a mulch up here called nincompoop. Mostly a combination of horse manure and straw but no wood. Breaks down after one year into black earth.

[Tracydr]

Any ideas on how to deal with the Bermuda? I have Bermuda pathways and it creeps into my beds. I'm also trying to start new beds but the Bermuda is nearly impossible to remove.

[b54red]

Ted I experimented with many different forms of mulch for onions and finally settled on bark fines. They don't stop all of the weeds but they are light enough not to retard onion growth and they are easily spread after planting the onions. I usually plant my onions and wait about two weeks and then spread the mulch from the onions out about 6 inches. The second best mulch I have found for onions is fine grass clippings saved from the summer before. The only problem with the grass clippings is they tend to break down a bit faster than I would like and need reapplying well before the onions are ready.

b54red,

The mulch I currently use is comprised of about 50/50 pine bark fines and nuggets not exceeding 1" in size. My problem is the fact that by the time I need to add mulch, my onion tops are at least 18" tall and growing close together. I plant my onions so that when fully grown at 4" or 5" in diameter, the bulbs are often touching each other. When the tops are that tall, a stiff breeze can blow them over. Once an onion top breaks over and is lying down, the bulb growth seems to stop. They can stay in the soil for a long time, but growth seems to stop. I also plant them so shallow that the onion bulb is usually totally above ground when fully grown. Since very little exposed soil is visible, I believe it is best to wait until I harvest the onions to apply mulch to the soil.

This photo will give you an idea of how closely I plant. The onions in the photo are only about 1/2 grown.


This is a photo of some of my onions when they first start putting on tops in the spring before bulb development starts.


Ted

[b54red]

Ted I use only bark fines and apply them when the onion plants are very small. I also plant my onions very shallow so as not to have to move dirt aside so the bulbs can grow. The problem with planting shallow is the onions are much more likely to lay over when they get a bit larger. I use the bark fines like soil to hold the onions upright but unlike soil they don't pack or hinder the growth of the bulbs. Once planted and mulched I only need to pull a few small weeds that come up through the bark fines and apply liquid fertilizer until the onions are ready to harvest. I also space my onions about the same as you.

I have found that Bermudas are more consistent and keep better than most of the other varieties I have tried. I love the taste of Vidalia types but they are poor keepers. I also grow several other varieties each year but they are inconsistent in making good bulbs. I would love to find a red onion that I could count on but so far each one I have tried will make one year and not the next. Have you found a good red onion for your area?

[Tracydr]

Beautiful onions!
So, the question I had with using grass clippings in the south is how to keep Bermuda grass from spreading into the garden? Seems like anytime I've got a seed or grass clipping anywhere close to the garden, the Bermuda takes off. Also, would love to find something that helps prevent it from spreading throughs the garden, since its in the pathways and under my raised beds. I started my raised beds by laying thick layers of newspaper and cardboard down.
I now use newspaper, thick layers and straw for the mulch on most things and it helps, but the grass still creeps in on the edges, around the seams and on top of the straw.
I hope I move somewhere that has winters cold enough that Bermuda can't survive!

[Crandrew]

why cant I find FINE bark fines anywhere near me. HD, Lowes, Armstrongs...I mean nobody has it.

[paulgrow]

I totally agree with Hotwired.
Don't use municipal mulch on food you never know what residue is in it.
Especially with the Imperlis fiasco, no one knows how long that might last before it breaks down,