Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within mulch Search permies
Advance search Google search
Register / Login
Full online Permaculture Design course and Appropriate Technology Course video Rocket Mass Heaters Sepp Holzer 3 in 1 Documentaries Farming terracing aquaculture Permaculture bootcamp with people wielding tools Green Living Book
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
skip the mortgage thread boost PDC ATC vids solar dehydrator permaculture bootcamp sketch with tools
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Tereza Okava
  • Andrés Bernal
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • M Ljin
  • Matt McSpadden

Wow mulch is amazing!

 
Jennifer Lowery
Posts: 153
30
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 13
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm a newbie gardener and this is the first time I've used mulch.  For the past month I've been having to water the soil multiple times per day because of the evaporation from mid day sun.  Some days were up near 90F in early April!  

I just used a weed whacker on a bunch of fall leaves in wheel barrow.  Then used some expanded metal grate to sift out the smaller pieces.   Layed that all over the beds between the plants.  I actually managed to get away without watering mid day today an it got up to 77F.   Plants seem happier as well.. more perky.. but I guess this could be my imagination.

Is leaf mulch a good mulch to use?  I would use straw but didn't buy any bales last fall so none on hand, also I like the fact there are no seeds in the leaves.
 
Timothy Markus
pollinator
Posts: 981
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
245
I like...
duck tiny house chicken composting toilet homestead
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Leaf mulch is good to use.  Straw doesn't have any seeds; it's the stalks of cereal crops.  It can have herbicide residue, depending on the crop, which can cause major problems with your garden.  I've used straw as mulch without any issues and have grown straw bale gardens with no issues.

You can also use wood chips or cardboard (I prefer to take all the tape and stickers off).  I've found mulching to be very helpful and it was a game-changer for watering for me also.

A piece of land is worth as much as the person farming it.
-Le Livre du Colon, 1902

 
Marco Banks
gardener
Posts: 1774
Location: Los Angeles, CA
568
I like...
hugelkultur forest garden books urban chicken food preservation
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 12
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Oh the wonders of mulch!  Your eyes are not deceiving you -- it makes a huge difference and you'll see that almost immediately.  My favorite is pine straw, but I mulch with wood chips, compost, chicken straw (with poop), or any other organic source of carbon.

1.  Mulch retains water and inhibits evaporation (as you mentioned).
2.  Mulch keeps the soil surface temperature low (as you also mentioned).
3.  Organic/carbon mulches break down and become compost/soil organic matter.  In this way, mulch continues to feed the soil for months.  (not so with rock mulch, plastic mulch, or other kinds of mulch). Mulch builds SOM.
4.  Mulch smothers weeds and keeps them from growing.  When weeds or grasses do grow, they are easily pulled because of the mulch keeps the soil so soft and friable.
5.  Mulch creates a perfect habitat for worms and other helpful soil biota.  Yes, mulch also gives a home to slugs and other baddies, but you get way more than you lose.
6.  Mulch just looks attractive.  Nothing like a nice layer of chips or pine straw to even out the appearance of a bed.  In the dormant season, a thick layer of mulch "puts the bed to rest" for the winter.
7.  Mulch feeds soil microbes—both bacteria and fungi.  Microbial healthy soil is the key to nutrient density in food, plant health, and the foundation of the soil food web.
8.  Mulch sequesters carbon.  Every worm that takes a bite of that decomposing mulch and then poops it out down in the soil profile helps sequester carbon where it's most needed.

"The rule of no realm is mine.  But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, these are my care.  And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything that passes through this night can still grow fairer or bear fruit and flower again in days to come.  For I too am a steward.  Did you not know?"    Gandolf

 
Daron Williams
gardener
Posts: 2167
Location: Olympia, WA - Zone 8a/b
1043
5
I like...
hugelkultur kids forest garden fungi trees foraging books bike homestead
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Yeah, I love mulch. Leaf mulch is fantastic and I use a ton of it but I also rely on wood chips a lot too. In my area wood chips are fairly easy to get so I end up using wood chips the most. But every fall I make sure to get fall leaves from people in my area. I also use some of the leaves to make what is called leaf mold. It's basically fall leaves that are put in a big pile (3ft x 3ft min) and left to sit for 1-3 years. The result is a dark material very similar to a forest floor that is great for your plants.

Cultivate abundance for people, plants and wildlife - Growing with Nature

 
Shawn Foster
gardener
Posts: 272
Location: Idaho panhandle, zone 6b, 30” annual rainfall, silty soil
208
2
I like...
foraging rabbit books chicken food preservation cooking fiber arts medical herbs bee seed sheep
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Yes to mulch! Makes such a huge difference. I use just about anything I can get my grubby little paws on for mulch. Straw here, wood chips there, leaves over there. Pine needles around the blueberries. Saves so much on both watering and weeding.
 
Jamin Grey
pollinator
Posts: 225
56
I like...
duck forest garden chicken cooking building
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 9
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Leaf mulch is great! It breaks down quickly though - barely lasting me through winter, but improves the soil well.

Pulling up grass/weeds and using those as mulch works great too, and lasts me about a year (ditto for straw).

Cardboard (cut holes for planting) and newspaper (water it good when laying it, so it doesn't blow away, and it'll stay put thereafter) both work great too, lasting for a year or two. Your local recycling center may give you some for free.

The best, though, is woodchips, which last 2-3 years and retain moisture very well, while also letting water through at excellent rates.

My city (or maybe it's the county?) has a giant woodchip pile where I can get all I want for free. Tree cutting companies have to dump theirs somewhere, as well as the local government clearing powerlines of tree growth.

You shouldn't need to *buy* mulch. I view store-bought bags of mulch as a scam for middle-class people to put on their front lawns. =P

Mulch is available for free all over the place if you know where to look. Compost too (check your local dump - those bags of leaves people rake off their lawns gotta go somewhere - ditto for all those green yard waste trash cans filled with the grass clippings from mowing everyone's lawns). Manure is also often available for free if you can find some animals and ask their owner.
 
Michelle Heath
gardener
Posts: 533
Location: WV
177
I like...
kids cat foraging food preservation medical herbs seed
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I generally use partially composted wood chips for mulch but right now I don't have any ready to use yet.  So my husband shredded leaves for a few hours and I should have enough to mulch all of my garden beds.  

I'm in zone 5b and put out one bed of potatoes 3/28 which is a bit early for this area.  I've covered the bed against frost but when we had a late snow and temps in the mid 20s last week I covered the plants completely with the shredded leaves and then covered them with an old bedspread.  When I pulled the mulch away there was no damage to the potato leaves whatsoever.  So the leaf mulch does double duty as a mulch and as a soft insulation against frost.  

Forever creating a permaculture paradise!

 
steve bossie
Posts: 673
Location: Northern Maine, USA (zone 3b-4a)
81
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
i prefer to get green arborist wood chips to use as mulch. weeds won't grow in green chips and as long as they stay on top they won't rob N. put down 3in. of fresh every spring. don't have to water or fertilize anymore.
 
Rebecca Norman
gardener
Posts: 2564
Location: Ladakh, Indian Himalayas at 10,500 feet, zone 5
890
I like...
trees food preservation solar greening the desert
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 5
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I love mulch! There is very little "waste" biomass available here in the high desert where I live, so I use what I can get -- whole leaves along with sticks on perennials, just woody stuff like sticks and small chunks and chips of wood picked out from construction shavings on the trees, chop-and-drop weeds and spent flowers on vegetables. In November I scored some big sacks of dry leaves, but I don't have a weed wacker or any kind of shredder, so I used them whole on the outdoor beds, with sticks and broken tools on top to protect from wind, and now in spring I'm digging them into the beds. I crumbled a small amount of leaves in a bucket with clippers, and am using them around small seedlings.

I like that the leaves, unlike the woody stuff and many of the chop-and-drop stems, decompose and seem like a great thing to mix down into the soil when the time comes to redo an annual bed.

I water with a hose and recessed beds, so I don't have to wet the mulch. I can just run the hose at one spot and watch carefully to see if the water is reaching all parts of the bed under the mulch.

Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.

 
Mike Barkley
gardener & hugelmaster
Posts: 3803
Location: Texas
2077
I like...
cattle hugelkultur cat dog trees hunting chicken bee woodworking homestead ungarbage
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Leaf mulch is amazing stuff. I think most of us here on permies agree with that. Five or six experienced gardeners right here already. It's hard to go wrong with leaves.

Argue for your limitations and they are yours forever.

 
roberta mccanse
pollinator
Posts: 195
Location: Near Libby, MT
77
I like...
dog
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have just signed up for the chip and drop program. It was a bit of a challenge because my address doesn't show up on goggle maps. Now I will wait, hopefully, for a "drop". Wind storms here brought down lots of trees and branches so there may be arborists working in the area. We flagged our smaller fruit trees so no big truck will run over them by mistake.

I have been laying cardboard on my garden paths, weight them with rocks because of the wind, and would love to be able to cover them with mulch. Because I garden on the roof everything has to be hauled uphill. I can do that a load at a time. Persistence wins! PQ is more important than IQ. Lots of pine needles here, never enough, good for things like asparagus and berries as our soil is alkaline. (Ground squirrels got the asparagus, so never mind that. Does anyone have a good rat terrier to spare?)

Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land... by choice or by default we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs. (Stewart Udall)

 
Patricia Boley
Posts: 61
Location: Sterling, OH
14
I like...
dog chicken food preservation bike seed homestead
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Timothy Markus wrote:Leaf mulch is good to use.  Straw doesn't have any seeds; it's the stalks of cereal crops.  It can have herbicide residue, depending on the crop, which can cause major problems with your garden.  I've used straw as mulch without any issues and have grown straw bale gardens with no issues.

You can also use wood chips or cardboard (I prefer to take all the tape and stickers off).  I've found mulching to be very helpful and it was a game-changer for watering for me also.




I've gotten dirty straw on more than one occasion, so that is not necessarily true in my neck of the woods.  It's difficult finding clean straw.

Pat B.

 
Anne Pratt
pollinator
Posts: 431
Location: Hudson Valley, New York, USA
137
I like...
hugelkultur dog forest garden fungi foraging books chicken cooking medical herbs homestead
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Roberta, I waited a year for chipdrop and then started calling arborists. Fortunately, a local tree company is headed by a guy who lives a mile or two away, and is generally eager to dump chips. He is so happy to have a place to donate chips that he came over with his tractor to push the pile to where my husband wanted it!

I know chipdrop was operating in my area, but I was never the lucky recipient. This works better!

. . . bathes in wood chips . . .

 
roberta mccanse
pollinator
Posts: 195
Location: Near Libby, MT
77
I like...
dog
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thanks. I will try to reach some arborists here. I don't think that there are many but worth a try.

In the meantime we scored two more bathtubs from a Restore yard sale. We will put them up on blocks and no nasty ground squirrel will be able to climb into them.

Each generation has its own rendezvous with the land... by choice or by default we will carve out a land legacy for our heirs. (Stewart Udall)

 
Marco Banks
gardener
Posts: 1774
Location: Los Angeles, CA
568
I like...
hugelkultur forest garden books urban chicken food preservation
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
See if ChipDrop is in your area.

https://getchipdrop.com/

I just got a load from them about 3 months ago, an it was less than 2 days from request to drop off --- beautiful stuff.  It's not always good stuff, but you've got to take the good with the bad.  In our area, there are a lot of palm trees, and palm mulch is a tangled mess to work with.  But as long as it doesn't have any palm in it, I'll take any wood chips -- even eucalyptus.  All carbon is good carbon.

"The rule of no realm is mine.  But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, these are my care.  And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything that passes through this night can still grow fairer or bear fruit and flower again in days to come.  For I too am a steward.  Did you not know?"    Gandolf

 
s. lowe
pollinator
Posts: 867
221
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've been using fresh lawn clippings as mulch this.year, the garden seems to love it but I can barely keep up, by the time I'm ready to now the last batch has been almost fully integrated into the soil. I'm interested to see how it effects things after a full year of use. I'm only a few months in so far but my golden bamboo is firing off 3 or 4 new shoots!
 
Julie Reed
pollinator
Posts: 469
123
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Jennifer Lowery wrote:   I just used a weed whacker on a bunch of fall leaves in wheel barrow.



Thanks for that idea Jennifer! I’m down to almost no lawn but I keep a lawnmower with bagger for shredding leaves. It never occurred to me to use the weed wacker (which I need for the fence line) to shred leaves, but I could use it like an immersion blender in a 55 gallon drum with leaves, and now I can get rid of the mower! I can easily weed wack what little lawn there is.
I like leaves the best for soil building because worms LOVE leaves, especially wet shredded leaves. And lots of happy worms= great soil.
Not much I can add to the mulch discussion except that if slugs are a problem, things like leaves and grass clippings are worse than wood chips. I have mostly raised beds which helps a lot, but I find that switching to wood chips has really cut down on the slug population in my case. If you want the wood chips to decompose faster, keep in mind that the more wet/dry cycles they go through the faster they will rot down (only true for dry chips, not green).
 
                                
Posts: 1
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have an idea and would welcome candid feedback. We have some heavily wooded areas with oak trees that have a carpet of leaves and nice top soil. My idea is to run a tiller over the top 3” s and breakup the leaves and mix them with the soil. Then either use that as a mulch or run it through a compost pile with organic chicken manure to make it heat up.
I have about 3/4 acre of garden and am in desperate need of mulch.
We got burned by bad hay that went through our horses and then 4 months of composting and still contained residual herbicide. ( From a hay supplier who promised clean hay).
Thanks for any help.
 
Rob Lineberger
gardener
Posts: 814
Location: Durham, NC
339
I like...
hugelkultur gear urban cooking building writing woodworking
posted 5 years ago
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm not saying it is a bad idea to use those oak leaves as much/compost.  But I am saying if I had a three inch layer of leaves protecting my hardwood tree roots, I'd gratefully leave it alone.  You're basically trading off benefits.  If you have a mulch emergency, maybe siphon off some of those leaves but I'd leave as many as you could.

There are alternatives that might work for you.  For example, based on a youtube video I bought a cubic yard of cedar hamster bedding and one of aspen bedding from a pet store.  I mixed them together.  They expanded and fluffed up enough to mulch three 8x4 raised beds and a 6ft herb spiral. I was able to afford the $20 or so, so it was convenient for me and it's beautiful and smells good.  I've heard of people freesourcing buckwheat hulls, coffee sacks, shredded paper (watch out for ink contaminates, maybe not a great idea,) newspaper, paper pulp, cardboard, municipal wood chips, palm fronds, pine needles,  pine cones, and straw.  I've heard of people making $10/hr to "clean up" brush.  I guess what I'm saying is, ponder your local resources a bit before disturbing years worth of organic matter.

Please give me your thoughts on my Affordable, double-paned earthbag window concept

 
Michelle Heath
gardener
Posts: 533
Location: WV
177
I like...
kids cat foraging food preservation medical herbs seed
posted 5 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I don't think I'd run a tiller over the root area of trees.  I had a relative break the times of his tiller doing that.  If you are going to collect leaves I'd suggest doing it at the edge of the wooded area or in a place where there's an access road.  Most of the leaves we've collected for mulch have came from the road that borders our property. It has been abandoned by the state for years and the landowner above us is happy that we're keeping them out of the road as they can get quite slick when they build up.  

There are alternatives but sometimes you have to do some searching. One year I used the blooms of chestnut trees after they dropped.  Looked like I mulched with fuzzy caterpillars but it did the job.

Forever creating a permaculture paradise!

 
Rob Lineberger
gardener
Posts: 814
Location: Durham, NC
339
I like...
hugelkultur gear urban cooking building writing woodworking
posted 5 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
yes!  collecting leaves from a road sounds like a great solution.

Please give me your thoughts on my Affordable, double-paned earthbag window concept

 
Jen Fulkerson
gardener
Posts: 1896
Location: N. California
904
2
I like...
hugelkultur kids cat dog fungi trees books chicken cooking medical herbs ungarbage
posted 5 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
You might be careful collecting leaves from the road, or side of the road, even if no one is spraying bad chemicals there is still contaminates from the vehicles driving on the road.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

 
Jules Silverlock
steward
Posts: 4667
Location: Queensland, Australia
1040
7
I like...
dog trees books bike fiber arts medical herbs bee seed solar homestead composting
posted 2 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I too love mulch! It's made such a difference in my yard compared to my neighbors and provides so many benefits. I use a combination of living mulch (chop and drop), organic sugar cane which is abundant locally, and regular homemade compost applications to improve my soil/keep the plants happy.  

Helen Atthowe talks about her mulching practices in more detail here from a new excerpt from the permies Garden Master Course. Take a look if you have a few minutes to spare.


Watch the Garden Master Course: Soil Health with Organic Plant Residue and Living Mulch clip

For those interested, you can join in the discussion about the excerpt here:
https://permies.com/w/organic-plant-residue


Explore the Permies Digital Market - ebooks, movies, building plans, courses, and more. Oh my!

 
I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...