Mulching

[Nicos]

This year we have decided to try and use as much mulching as possible to try to both conserve water and reduce the effort of keeping plants hydrated.

If you have any thoughts, tips and ideas about mulching please feel free to share/ add links.

I’ll start with this link from the RHS

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=979

[Plot70]

I have used fresh comfrey on a couple of my beds. The sun dries it to a dust that settles into the soil.

[MelanieSW]

I have used fresh comfrey on a couple of my beds. The sun dries it to a dust that settles into the soil.

I do the same with borage of which I have enormous, self-seeded amounts.

[MelanieSW]

This year I also bought several bags of Strulch (late night post drinks online purchase - it is really not cheap). It's supposed to last up to 2 years, let's see. So far it has worked well, and everything looks very tidy. It also seems to deter snails and slugs, there are fewer casualties this year. Noticeable side-effect: snails now really latch on to bits of the plot that have not yet been strulched.

[roitelet]

I use straw, grass cuttings, wood chips, and dead leaves. Grass cuttings on the veg plot that last for a season before being dug in. Straw lasts longer and again on the veg plot, the same with dead leaves. Wood chip on the flower beds lasts longer and only needs topping up each year. Make sure the soil is moist before putting it on and that all weeds are removed. They all keep the moisture in and reduces the weeding. Don’t put grass cuttings on too thickly in one go as they heat up just put on a thinish layer and add to it as it dries out.

[Snoop Puss]

I'm using well-rotted muck on my beds, no-dig style. It seems to be doing a good job as a mulch, but being dark it gets extremely hot and the soil underneath gets surprisingly warm, though perhaps no warmer than it would if directly exposed to the sun. But because the muck layer is so deep, plants go directly into it rather than into the soil. I think I need another paler mulch on top.

[peanut]

Grass clippings for me.

[Bren In Pots]

Grass clipping and leaf mould.

[ameno]

I use whatever I can get my hands on.
A lot of my tender crops I grow through black plastic, and for everything else I will use manure, garden compost, spent hops, straw, grass clippings, comfrey leaves and stems, cardboard. Whatever I can get for free.

[Mr Bones]

The beds are mainly compost mulched with just a few under rotted wood chip. Paths and areas round the tunnel are mulched with fresher wood chip.

[bikermike]

As a no-digger here, my beds should all be mulched. They aren't, as I'm not perfect, but boy can you tell the difference, even on beds that haven't been mulched for a year or two.

In the UK, woodchip/woody mulch isn't recommended as it adds slug habitat. It may be different by you. Local advice needed.

Otherwise, compost compost compost and mulch as thick as you can. Do you have neighbours whose garden waste/kitchen peelings you could take?

I have used coffee grounds direct as a slug-repellent/mulch, but others have said it's bad for plants. I have never noticed the difference. Annoyingly, my source was a railway station cafe that has closed for covid.

I keep thinking about a hot composter, but they are expensive and require maintenance. All we lose is the cooked waste, so I'm not sure from a sheer volume point of view, they are worth it, but may be different, depending what you can get.

Woodchip is no longer abundant near us, the biomass boilers are buying it up, which is frustrating. But what I have done is use fresh woodchip as paths (over plastic) and then when it rots down, add it to compost.