How do you mulch yours?

[hedgewizard]

All right, it's time to begin to put some sections of the patch to sleep for the winter here in the top half of the world. Ideally, this means a really good (and I mean 10cm deep) layer of mulch, but I can't conceive of how I'd get that much stuff in. My pumpkin patch alone would need 2 cubic metres of mulch!

So folks, post. Do we mulch? Which areas? With what, and how deep? Where do we get it from? How much do we pay or trade for it?

[Wombat]

I's the old time vs money thing. I buy in hay and straw and let the chooks dig it over. I also put in grass clippings. I am aiming for about 2 - 3" but at the moment on most patches it is 1 - 2"

Nev

[wulf]

It varies, depending on what's available. At the moment, I've got a pile of compost which, because of less than exacting discipline in what goes in and not enough storage space to let it sit for long enough, is still quite fibrous (ie. lots of twigs still found in there). It will do a good job as a mulch though and I can dig it in next spring.

When you mention "rough compost" do you mean stuff that has been shredded but not actually composted down or stuff like mine that has had some time to break down but hasn't fully decomposed?

Wulf

[Stonehead]

The problem with the quiz is that you can give only one answer - I use most of them!

Some areas are sown with green manures, some mulched with well-rotted compost and then covered, some mulched with straw and/or grass clippings, some mulchedd with wood chips (chipped from the odd bits left after we've felled and cut trees), and some covered with sheets of old cardboard. Some areas are also used for growing and over wintering.

It depends on what the intended use is next year, how soon it will need to be dug, how much time is left to sow and grow the green manures, and what we have available. My preference is for green manures or the wood chips - the latter because having them spread out through a cold winter helps break down the cellulose and then they compost better when stacked over the following spring, summer and autumn.

[hedgewizard]

What, so you rake it back up again in the spring?

Wulf, by rough compost I mean anything that's chopped up but isn't fully composted. That would include anything that hasn't been composted at all. I read an article a while back where an aussie (I think) was wondering if composting was as vital as people think because it was his experience that the worms will pull stuff down into the soil anyway - which is fine but does tend to remove nitrogen in the short term from what I hear.

Point taken about the poll Stoney, it's just been a while since we had one! I'll fix it if I can...

...can't. Rats. Never mind, I read all the text anyhow :-)

[dibnah]

depends on the enviroment,I mulch with cardboard with compost possibly a bit of straw depending on how fibrous it is on my plot where the soil is very sandy so as to try and add some structure to the soil, at home where the soil is heavy clay, I only use paper and compost during the winter when there is not alot growing just as a week suppressent. At my plot I will plant seedlings through the mulch but at home I don't as it creates a slug themepark.

[the.fee.fairy]

I'll be putting fully and partially composted 'compost' on half the patch, and using the other half for stuff.

Then, in January, i'll probably compost the opther half and then dig in a good layer of well rotted manure of some kind (either horse or mushroom). I quite fancy some mushroom manure actually this year...it smells a little better than horse and the dog doesn't steal chunks of it...

[Diana]

I use most - usually in combination

Don't rake it up - plant through it

[Millymollymandy]

I'm confused here by your terminology.

In autumn/winter we put compost or manure on the earth and one can either leave it but far better IMO to dig it in, as it won't help retain moisture the following year unless it is mixed in with the soil, under the surface. Left on top it will just dry out and not do what it is designed to do - add nutrients, retain moisture and improve the structure of the soil.

In spring one puts mulch on TOP of the earth to supress weeds and retain moisture; this can be done in the veg patch in very hot dry areas but is more usually done in flower beds/round shrubs and young trees. Mulch doesn't usually have any benefit to the soil as it is designed to stay on top of it (unless you use well rotted garden compost but you don't use horse muck for this).

Mulch can be leaves, straw, bark or wood chippings etc. I won't mulch my flower beds and shrubs again because whilst it retains moisture for a short period it also unfortunately blocks any moisture from penetrating through it the other way - i.e. rain or hose pipe! The other big downside is that the chickens love to scratch it all away and scatter it all over the lawn.

[hedgewizard]

No confusion MMM, it's just that people do mulch with compost. I'm told that if you've got reasonable soil and a good worm population there's no need to dig it in because the worms pull it down for you (except in winter), but that's no good in areas where you're trying to build fertility because the worm population there is generally low.

Slugs seem to be a perennial problem with mulching as heavily as some books recommend, and for that reason I'm cagey about it. Acting as a water barrier is another factor, although that can be overcome by half-burying plant pots and watering into them, or by laying leaky pipe under the mulch.

So far no-one has said they're importing vast quantities of organic material into their garden from outside, and that's interesting. Tells me nobody really does the annual 3-inch mulch treatment! (so far) This is something of a relief as I couldn't see how I was going to afford to do this myself.

It looks like the raised beds (where I go for full occupancy using green manures to fill the gaps) get nothing, and are manured once and composted once during their 4-year cycle. The squash patch (where I need to build fertility) can get a couple of inches of manure just where the planting holes are, and some rough compost elsewhere, and then mulched over with cardboard until the spring. The tunnel beds (since the don't get rain erosion) just get compost dug in. Only the soft fruit beds (not in yet) look like they'll need the full mulching treatment! (contradictions and advice not only welcome but actively sought)

[dibnah]

Acting as a water barrier is another factor, although that can be overcome by half-burying plant pots and watering into them, or by laying leaky pipe under the mulch.

the mulch should act as a water retainer water well before you put the mulch down the mulch will then prevent most of the moisture being lost and the soil drying out.

[ina]

I use all sorts of mulches, too - and I'm going to use another one that hasn't been mentioned yet: wool. The dirty bits around the fleeces that get taken off and chucked out anyway, and crutchings. Haven't actually done that before, but a friend of mine uses it around bushes and trees, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I wouldn't put manure and compost out late in autumn or winter. Too much of the nutrients just wash out, they can't get utilised by plants during the dormant period. This, of course, doesn't apply everywhere - depends on climate and soil type.

[red swirl]

Might depend on why you are mulching ... here (Australia), the purpose is mainly to prevent moisture loss through evaporation & cool the roots. But I'm guessing, as you're going into winter, your purpose is somewhat different? Usually here people recommend waiting until the soil warms up a bit before mulching ...

[Millymollymandy]

So far no-one has said they're importing vast quantities of organic material into their garden from outside, and that's interesting. Tells me nobody really does the annual 3-inch mulch treatment! (so far)

OK never mind the terminology I will be adding at least 3 inches of well rotted horse muck on my veg beds and flower beds until I run out of the stuff. Flower beds take preference because they are dotted around the property and more of a pain to water than the veg patch. And it will get well and truly dug in.

Sadly what seems like a lot of horse muck rots down to not a lot. We are only left with about 2m3 of the stuff to use this winter which isn't anywhere near enough. Still, already got loads collected for the next winter!

[hedgewizard]

I'm considering using a cat-vomit mulch. They're eating so many crane flies and then honking them up in the kitchen that I think this could be a viable bulk organic source.