Here is a great link regarding cedar mulch: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cedar-mulch-good-gardens-66364.htmlbpiela said:
One of the benefits seems to be that it "inhibits bacteria and fungus growth that could harm the surrounding plant".
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What do you use for mulch?
- Thread starter bpiela
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One of the benefits seems to be that it "inhibits bacteria and fungus growth that could harm the surrounding plant".
Found this link from Howard Garrett, some gardening guy....
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Mulching-Newsletter-Update_vq4530.htm
He basically says something similar to my local nursery owner, that any mulch is better than no mulch. From other things I have read, I probably need to be sensitive to the amount of nitrogen in my soil. I like the idea that the cedar mulch does repel some insects including beetles. I had a pepper maggot issue last year so if cedar mulch will help with that, good times will be had.
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Mulching-Newsletter-Update_vq4530.htm
He basically says something similar to my local nursery owner, that any mulch is better than no mulch. From other things I have read, I probably need to be sensitive to the amount of nitrogen in my soil. I like the idea that the cedar mulch does repel some insects including beetles. I had a pepper maggot issue last year so if cedar mulch will help with that, good times will be had.
I use hay. Don't use straw (wheat straw) unless you are intent on planting wheat. Left to weather a year it's ok but a new bale will f-up your garden. I would be hesitant to use any of the generic "colored" mulch due to the chemicals involved in coloring it. I've never used cedar so I have no thoughts. Would mulch would be hard to get to break down and till in in the fall IMHO. Chipped up wood mulch would work. I like hay. Cheap. Readily available. Minimal weeds. Tills in good. Builds up my clay soil.
Arrggggggg! lolmeinchoh said:
Consider it a winter cover crop.dlsolo said:
nope never had that happen my friend .gangaskan said:
I had one stalk of what looked like barley or something that came up around my Comfrey plants that I mulched with it but that was it.ColdSmoke said:
Maybe this isn't wheat straw? Sorry I am no expert on straw and hay.
I am going to concentrate on leaves. I know a guy growing awesome plants in nothing but leaf mold.
millworkman
Extreme Member
Wood chips fresh from the tree trimmers.
Sawdust/wood shavings from a duck carver buddy, grass clippings and year old straw. Nothing grew here but weeds. It was an old gravel parking lot and takes 15 min to dig a hole. I just lasagna layered it and built on top.
Sawdust on top of rocks for hostas
Cardboard/newspaper topped with grass clippings work well to knock down the weeds and hold the moisture.
Live mulch like grass/weeds is best IMO if you have the room to space out your plants. You must have grass that grows good and stays green all year. You just need to give the plant a head start and be able to weed eat it down. You also don't want to disturb the living culture below. Just remove enough to get the root ball in. Then the ph is insignificant. The heaviest part of your lawn that bogs your mower down or a very hard to control weed area work best. I just cut a bucket lid to make it easy to weed eat.
You can flip the sod but you will suffer a nitrogen loss. It will come back if you can grow good grass and weeds without watering. The trick is to limit the big sucking nute weeds like dock and dandelion that are near the plant.
That's how I do it for free!
Sawdust on top of rocks for hostas
Cardboard/newspaper topped with grass clippings work well to knock down the weeds and hold the moisture.
Live mulch like grass/weeds is best IMO if you have the room to space out your plants. You must have grass that grows good and stays green all year. You just need to give the plant a head start and be able to weed eat it down. You also don't want to disturb the living culture below. Just remove enough to get the root ball in. Then the ph is insignificant. The heaviest part of your lawn that bogs your mower down or a very hard to control weed area work best. I just cut a bucket lid to make it easy to weed eat.
You can flip the sod but you will suffer a nitrogen loss. It will come back if you can grow good grass and weeds without watering. The trick is to limit the big sucking nute weeds like dock and dandelion that are near the plant.
That's how I do it for free!
The straw from wheat is loaded with the heads of wheat and parts of them. When I used them the whole garden was filled with green wheat starting to grow everywhere! I got lazy and didn't let it weather for a season before I used it (to let all the crap sprout first). Hay is mainly cut grasses (and some weeds) but not loaded with seeds. By it's nature hay is cut more when it is actively growing and the grass (and weeds) have not gone to seed like harvested wheat has. I've used chipped up tree limbs too with good results also. At $3-$5 for a large bale of hay I can mulch my garden for $20-$30 or so and it is easily transported in my truck.
I'm just using Sugarcane husk atm.. But looking into better options
Looking to revitalize this thread to see how everyone did this year with their mulching.
I stuck with the cedar mulch and it worked well. Minimal weeds. No pepper maggots! That was huge. One thing I did notice towards the end of the season, I fertilized less often and the leaves on many of my plants got very light colored, showing a nitrogen deficiency. That could have been avoided but I basically didn't reread this post until now and quite frankly I forgot about the suggestions that it would cause this deficiency. Now that it is cold and my garden has died, I brought out the tiller to dig the mulch under the soil for the winter. Not sure if that was a good idea. I think if I use cedar mulch again, I might just shovel it out of the garden at the end of the season instead. My garden isn't too huge where the work would be overwhelming.
I will probably try the straw next year since I did pick up a couple of bales and didn't use them. They are currently in front of the house for the autumn decorations but will be moved back into the garage over winter.
I stuck with the cedar mulch and it worked well. Minimal weeds. No pepper maggots! That was huge. One thing I did notice towards the end of the season, I fertilized less often and the leaves on many of my plants got very light colored, showing a nitrogen deficiency. That could have been avoided but I basically didn't reread this post until now and quite frankly I forgot about the suggestions that it would cause this deficiency. Now that it is cold and my garden has died, I brought out the tiller to dig the mulch under the soil for the winter. Not sure if that was a good idea. I think if I use cedar mulch again, I might just shovel it out of the garden at the end of the season instead. My garden isn't too huge where the work would be overwhelming.
I will probably try the straw next year since I did pick up a couple of bales and didn't use them. They are currently in front of the house for the autumn decorations but will be moved back into the garage over winter.