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Mullein for chop and drop?

 
pollinator
Posts: 343
Location: Dry mountains Eastern WA
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I live in Eastern Washington….the DRY side of Washington State.  The beautiful side.

If you scratch the ground here, plow or plant you get mullein.  Lots and lots of mullein.  I do not use it but I was looking at those big fluffy soft leaves crowding along my driveway and wondered if there was any reason I couldn’t chop and drop them in my garden like I do comfrey? The comfrey keeps my beds nice and weed free and is such great organic material…But there is SO much mullein here. No blooms or seeds yet so just those big beefy leaves.

Any thoughts?
 
pollinator
Posts: 1518
Location: Southern Oregon
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If there are no blooms or seeds how do they come back? I find chop and drop, or mowing of organic matter is good in any area where you want things to grow. Only in roadways and paths do I put the grass collector on the mower.
 
Janet Reed
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Location: Dry mountains Eastern WA
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It’s too early for bloom/seed here.  I’m just wondering if anyone had used mullein gor this purpose?…
 
Stacy Witscher
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Sorry I misunderstood, I thought you were saying it never does.
 
gardener
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Location: Cascades of Oregon
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Depending on where it is I chop and drop mullein. In spring the leaves have detached from the chopped stalks I pick up the sunflower like stalks and they go into a hugel bed or compost pile. Since it is such a maintenance free plant in those areas that I do let it go to a mature seed head I collect the seeds and broadcast them. A single plant actually produces a large amount of seeds. The wife mixes it in with the bird scratch or in bird feeders. To collect the seeds I carry a five gallon bucket and wack a doodle them around inside the bucket and the little poppy like seeds pile up. The small mullein forest is a favorite place for the wild quail to zip into.
 
Janet Reed
pollinator
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Location: Dry mountains Eastern WA
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Excellent!  Thank you..
 
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