Best Inexpensive Mulch?

DixyDoodle · #1 04/19/13, 07:03 PM

More garden help needed, please!

What did you find worked best for vegetable garden mulch? Basically to keep the weeds down?

This year, I'm trying layers of newspaper with mulch on top. I'm just not sure what the best mulch would be?

Last year's attempt at just using straw was a pain. First of all, straw is hard to come by here, and secondly, it looked horrid. Ok, and third, the weeds just grew up around it.

Some people say use grass clippings, but wouldn't that put weed seeds into the garden? What else can I use? Thanks once again!

watcher · #2 04/19/13, 07:49 PM

I use newspaper. Just lay it on the ground and anchor it down with either a bit of dirt or sticks poked through it. My MiL lays old carpet down in the walk ways and piles straw around everything. Both are cheap.

bassmaster17327 · #3 04/19/13, 07:55 PM

I just lay down newspaper then put some straw on top of it, it works well and I really don't care what it looks like

Plantman · #4 04/19/13, 08:16 PM

I use newspaper and old hay. It works really well. I have also used oak leaves and when the veggies are done just turn it all under with some fertilizer and you are ready for the fall garden. Here in Texas we get a spring and a fall garden. Love it.

Joshie · #5 04/19/13, 11:46 PM

How do you get the paper to work? I've never had any success with using it. I find that a thick layer of grass clippings works well. My problem is that I never have enough clippings. Plantman, don't you have problems with weeds when you use hay? We've got plenty of old hay but I've been nervous about using it on the garden.

MullersLaneFarm · #6 04/20/13, 04:28 AM

Newspaper needs to be a few layers (like 10-12) thick. And it needs to be added to throughout the year as it breaks down.

Straw is much better than hay, because straw contains less seed than hay does.

For me and my lazy gardening ... I've picked up thrown out carpet at 'curbside sales'. I don't care if it has been pee'd on by the cat and defecated on by the dog, or thrown up on by the owners. I cut it into strips as wide as my tiller and place it down the rows of the garden.

Around the fenced edges of the garden, I like putting down roofing shingles.

Sure, I still have weeding to do right around the plants where I don't mulch, but by using carpet (which lasts for years), I don't have that much weeding to do.

15-30 minutes a day will keep it under control all garden season long.

Wolf mom · #7 04/20/13, 06:50 AM

Pine needles! 3-4 inches thick.
We have a few "free trash day" here & when we do, people put bags of pine needles out for pick up. I go around & fill my pick up with as many bags as I need.

They disintegrate slowly & really help clay soil. When I go to plant at the next season, I just rake them off into a pile & reuse after planting along with adding new. I cover the seedling lightly as I plant, (wind protection) them pull the needles away as the plant get hardier.

I use straw to cover my strawberries for the winter as I think the hollow "tubes" help hold in the heat.

Actually, I believe the best way to contain weeds is to prepare your soil first. I double dug my garden before I ever planted & got rid of all the roots I could. I also have put cardboard (from boxes) in the bottom of my rows before I back filled the rows. It' a lot of work initially, but works well for me, and I have few weeds.

Like they say in cooking and painting, it's all in the prep work.

Mike in wny · #8 04/20/13, 07:10 AM

i use cardboard from sheetmetal shops it comes inbetween the sheets of metal and is 4ftx8ft and 5ftx10ft works great

Callieslamb · #9 04/20/13, 07:42 AM

Grass clippings. Put them on thinly so they don't pack down and keep water from soaking through. Keep adding as the season progresses. Friends that bag will save theirs for you. There won't be weed or grass seeds if you mow before the grass gets to that stage. Straw hasn't worked for me either. If I had a chipper that could chop it up, it would work much better. Pine needles are good too. If you have acidic soil, add lime with them. Finely chopped wood chips will work- add more nitrogen to the area to offset the nitrogen the chips will use up decomposing.

ronbre · #10 04/20/13, 08:38 AM

use any weeds you pull as mulch as well as those in the fields and along side, they make good much.

if you don't have anything on your property that you can use for mulch you can go to your nearest tractor supply type store and pick up bales of pet bedding, they work quite well, look a little shocking until they get weathered but they feed the soil well, and a bale goes a long way. if you need thicker put the newspaper or cardboard or shredded paper under the bedding. Aspen is better than cedar if it is available.

JoePa · #11 04/20/13, 09:20 AM

I grow grass in the paths between the rows of plants - so I only have to pull some weeds that grow between the plants in each row - I mow the grass in the paths with a hand push mower - my garden looks beautiful with the grass growing in the paths

jwal10 · #12 04/20/13, 09:41 AM

I get several loads of hardwood chips from the tree trimmers and pile them up. All the leaves mixed in make them compost fairly quickly. After several months they cool down and make great mulch....James

hippygirl · #13 04/20/13, 10:26 AM

Well, I nor anyone I know gets a newspaper, my mower leaves nothing but grass dust behind (an exaggeration, I know), and I fiddled around and didn't shred my leaves like I SWORE I was going to do, so I went with pine straw this year.

I've read conflicting reports about PS lowering the pH of the soil, but as that part of the garden is on the sweet side anyway, if it does lower it somewhat, no worries...and NO ADDED WEEDS from straw.

am1too · #14 04/20/13, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixyDoodle

More garden help needed, please!

What did you find worked best for vegetable garden mulch? Basically to keep the weeds down?

This year, I'm trying layers of newspaper with mulch on top. I'm just not sure what the best mulch would be?

Last year's attempt at just using straw was a pain. First of all, straw is hard to come by here, and secondly, it looked horrid. Ok, and third, the weeds just grew up around it.

Some people say use grass clippings, but wouldn't that put weed seeds into the garden? What else can I use? Thanks once again!

What about grass clippings?

where I want to · #15 04/20/13, 12:08 PM

I have bagged leaves in the fall to use in the spring. I use redwood leaves (yes they have sort of "needles but in the late fall they shed them in long leaves) or alder or maple- whatever I can get. I use card board first, which cuts the amount of mulch that's needed on top it.
If you haven't used something like paper or cardboard or whatever as a weed barrier, then the mulch needs to be 2 or 3 inches thick at minimum- with straw, much more. I prefer 4-5 inches deep.
Many people use too thin a layer of mulch and find weeds growing right through it.

Raymond James · #16 04/20/13, 12:11 PM

I have used several layers of newspaper and what ever I had /could find on top. Leaves, grass clippings, spoiled hay or straw. In the fall I add some chicken and cattle manure and turn it all over.

I currently have a large round bales worth of straw. It fell off of a truck and was laying on and beside the road all busted up a short distance from me. It took three trips but I got it loaded up and put in a pile by the garden. I did wait two days to see if someone else was going to get it.

I have also had this happen with hay. Again I usually wait a couple of days but then will go clean it up.

am1too · #17 04/20/13, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshie

How do you get the paper to work? I've never had any success with using it. I find that a thick layer of grass clippings works well. My problem is that I never have enough clippings. Plantman, don't you have problems with weeds when you use hay? We've got plenty of old hay but I've been nervous about using it on the garden.

Get all the grass clippings you need bagged and setting at the curb for trash pick up.

willow_girl · #18 04/20/13, 07:38 PM

I like cardboard better than newspaper ... for one, it's easier to put down on a windy day!

I usually raid a dumpster ... nice to get boxes that already have been flattened and are good to go!

Joe.G · #19 04/21/13, 07:25 AM

I have a Buddy that owns a Saw Mill about two miles from my place, I get as much Bark mulch,Saw dust and wood chips as I need. I use the Bark Mulch in Flower and Veg gardens, Ialso use it for walk ways and other Landscaping Projects.

I use Wood chips and saw dust in the barns and for the animals.

It looks nice last a while and best yet it is free for as much as I need.

You can also stop and talk to the guys trimming trees, they are always around here looking for places to drop the stuff, check with the state or county/town also they have piles of it around here they are looking to give away.

I would try a saw mill first since the wood there is usually healthier and cleaner, and I also know what type of wood I am getting which give different color to the mulch, since he stripes the wood in groups.

I also use landscape fabric or cardboard below the mulch.

Post Carbon · #20 04/21/13, 03:14 PM

Be wary of grass clippings. My dad put out a sign once, for people to drop them off, and he put them on his garden, or made compost with them, and it killed off his garden. If people have put herbicide on the grass, it will be in the clippings and will kill off any broadleaf vegie you put in. Really discouraging.

I had told him "get leaves, get leaves," and he ignored me until the garden disaster. After that, he asked for people to drop off their LEAF bags, and never had a problem. Plus all those leaf bags!! He never had to buy trash bags again!

So use only grass clippings from trusted sources.