Mulch in the garden
Leslie Boss
garden. I don't know why I had this thought but I am now considering the
idea as I've had a lot of weeds come up with the manure I put down early
this Spring.
What are your thoughts on laying mulch in the vegetable garden and if
you would, which one would you put? Pine Bark or Cedar Mulch?
Thanks,
Leslie
--
See you in the flower patch!
Visit me at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/trapperboss
USDA Zone 6a (The Garden State)
Night23
Sed5555
>you would, which one would you put? Pine Bark or Cedar Mulch?
>
I use mulch in the vegetable garden every year. It not only keeps down the
weeds but helps to maintain moisture so that the roots are not subjected to
alternating wet and dry periods. I personally like Cedar mulch because I like
the color and the way it smells.
sed5555
Kevin or Marie Russell
especially in the heat of summer but the earthworms seem to love it and I
love not having to weed nearly as often. In the fall, I till the newspaper
under and it's gone by spring.
Tried straw, but there were tons of hay seeds and it turned into more of a
mulched cover crop. Tried wood chips, but those were a pain to move out of
the way in the fall and spring...
Jessicat
tradition, but have never had weed problems with newspaper. A little dirt
sprinkled over the paper to keep it from being moved by the wind was not
enough to start weeds. I've never seen wood mulch used in veggie gardens,
but in my flower garden it just gave the slugs more convienient hiding
places. I've avoided it since that experiment. It was an annoying thing to
have to go though and remove it. For some reason I've never had problems
with the slugs with newspaper mulch.
Jessica R
"Kevin or Marie Russell" <mariemil...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:9gjr70$8qpq$2...@newssvr06-en0.news.prodigy.com...
Paul Onstad
>
> I use newspaper covered with grass clippings. Takes quite a bit of grass,
> especially in the heat of summer but the earthworms seem to love it and I
> love not having to weed nearly as often. In the fall, I till the newspaper
> under and it's gone by spring.
Grass clippings alone make a good mulch. I've tried newspaper underneath but
a corner sometimes gets raised by the wind and it blows off.
-Paul
Leslie Boss
hay as it is supposed to not lay down seeds. However, I briefly remember
trying hay at one time or another and I thought it started to mold. Or,
perhaps that was in the fall when it started to rain a lot or something.
Salt Hay sounds OK?
Leslie
simy1
> I've always thought it was a bad thing to put mulch down in a vegetable
> garden. I don't know why I had this thought but I am now considering the
> idea as I've had a lot of weeds come up with the manure I put down early
> this Spring.
>
> What are your thoughts on laying mulch in the vegetable garden and if
> you would, which one would you put? Pine Bark or Cedar Mulch?
>
> Thanks,
> Leslie
I would weed first, to make sure the existing weeds don't go to seed. Then I
would go with leaves (if you have them somewhere from last fall), cardboard,
or burlap, because they are weed free, and effectively prevent further growth.
The latter two work best from the beginning (that is, you lay them down first,
then make holes thru them, and plant), but if you have large
plants, like tomatoes or squash, it's a snap to cut either to fit around the
existing plants. Burlap is best in a no-dig situation, because it allows seeds
to sprout, but then smothers them by not allowing them to shoot up. So it
is a real one-shot weed treatment until you dig and bring new seeds up.
Nurseries sell rolls of 4 ft wide burlap cloth.
Greg Cook
the fall. I usually just mulch with grass clippings. As a matter of fact,
the only reason I have a lawn is to grow mulch for my garden! It does take
a lot of grass. My neighbors are happy to dump all their grass in my yard!
I use every bit.
----Greg
prairi...@hotmail.com
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/grcook/wine/
On 6/18/01 2:10 AM, in article 3B2D6237...@home.com, "Leslie Boss"
Tony Miklos
simy1 wrote:
> existing plants. Burlap is best in a no-dig situation, because it allows seeds
> to sprout, but then smothers them by not allowing them to shoot up. So it
> is a real one-shot weed treatment until you dig and bring new seeds up.
> Nurseries sell rolls of 4 ft wide burlap cloth.
It doesn't stop grass does it? I was just planning on using it to
control erosion and cover grass seed in a swale that I dug.
Faymow
under them. Do you let the clippings dry first before you apply it as a
mulch? I have a lot of grass that I'd like to use for mulching since there
is too much to compost.
"Greg Cook" <prairi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:C6CC.18D91%prairi...@hotmail.com...
Ann
>I've always thought it was a bad thing to put mulch down in a vegetable
>garden. I don't know why I had this thought but I am now considering the
>idea as I've had a lot of weeds come up with the manure I put down early
>this Spring.
>
>What are your thoughts on laying mulch in the vegetable garden and if
>you would, which one would you put? Pine Bark or Cedar Mulch?
I use grass clippings, they keep the weeds down, and either their gone
by the end of the season or I till them in in the fall. I wouldn't
use any of the bark mulches in a vegetable garden (for that matter, I
don't like them in perennial borders, either).
--
Ann, Gardening in Zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************
Pat Kiewicz
says...
>
>When I use grass clippings, they seem to dry into a mat and the slugs hide
>under them. Do you let the clippings dry first before you apply it as a
>mulch? I have a lot of grass that I'd like to use for mulching since there
>is too much to compost.
I use a mulching mower and usually let the clippings go back to the lawn,
but sometimes I'll gather clippings for mulching in the vegetable garden.
I always lay them out on the driveway to dry in the sun first. That way
they never mat or get smelly in the garden, and are *much* easier to spread.
The clippings dry quickly, and are easy to gather up with a broom and a
snow shovel 'dustpan.'
--
Pat in Plymouth MI
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)
Greg Cook
the plant stem. I do have slugs, but I don't really do much about them.
They munch on my greens and leave everything else pretty much alone. I
don't really notice an increase in the slugs from when I didn't use mulch
until now.
----Greg
prairi...@hotmail.com
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/grcook/wine/
On 6/18/01 11:38 PM, in article
yhwX6.36247$bK6.2...@news0.telusplanet.net, "Faymow" <Fay...@Home.Not>
wrote:
Edwin Kalat
if I can get enough clippings. I put a little drt on the paper and wet
it down. It works well and by spring all the paper has rotted. Peanut
husks are great as is the salt hay but you have to buy them and the
newspaper is free. Edwin Kalat
simy1
I don't know. It definitely stops anything broadleaf, and the occasional
wheat or oat berry sprouting a grass blade out of manure. It might act
different with fescues and quackgrass, which have thin and wide blades,
and also with seed and existing clumps. I am guessing that it will stop
grass from growing for the most part, just because I never noticed grass
growing thru burlap.