Mulching

[Bigmallly]

Was killing a bit of time & came across this which I thought was interesting. I know quite a few grapes are gurus when it comes to mulching but It may be of interest to any newcomers.

http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/245.pdf

[chris]

Good read, thanks for posting. I made the silly mistake of mulching my spuds in planter sacks, but put half a sack's worth of depth them.

Oh well, at least my spuds won't need cooking !

[Kaiya]

Thanks, I learnt something! Don't put grass to close to brassicas, it may dry onto the leaves.

[jdlondon]

Don't put bark chips in the soil? Too late. I used it to bulk out my raised bed and also because it would soak up water and therefore help provide water for the plants.

And I still have a big bag left which I'm going to use in my new bed. Surely I can help with the loss of nitrogen by using fertiliser that provides nitrogen?

[alldigging]

Bark = hugelkulture

[Bigmallly]

Bark = hugelkulture

I think there is a difference between Hugelkulture & Mulching..........

[Florence Fennel]

Interesting BM, thank you. I don't mulch much.

[Bigmallly]

Interesting BM, thank you. I don't mulch much.

I have recently become a convert Flo, anything to retain moisture.

[chris]

Same here, after reading about it for so long on here too, I've only recently started to try it. Thanks to VC, I've found a cheap supply of straw too, considering I was buying a small bag for my chooks to nest in @ £4 a pop (half a carrier bag size). I am now getting probably 100 times that amount for the same price Bit more expensive than back home, but still £4 isn't going to break the bank to save water.

I'm going away soon too, so I'll be mulching my stuff at home and on the lottie as I'll be stuck with out being able to water some things.

[veggiechicken]

Did you go to 3 Counties Chris? Is it £4 a bale? The straw that was in the GH is on the tattie bed now. Its surprising how much straw there is when you shake it out.

[alldigging]

I think there is a difference between Hugelkulture & Mulching..........

jdlondon said they put it in the soil.

[veggiechicken]

jdlondon said they put it in the soil.

Here's a link to Taff's Hugelkultur http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ngy_61581.html
There's big difference between mulching and mound-building!

[Kaiya]

Don't put bark chips in the soil? Too late. I used it to bulk out my raised bed and also because it would soak up water and therefore help provide water for the plants.

And I still have a big bag left which I'm going to use in my new bed. Surely I can help with the loss of nitrogen by using fertiliser that provides nitrogen?

Not an expert at all - but I tend to assume with all these things that while repeated application of wood to soil will cause nitrogen issues, a one off is unlikely to upset the balance (if you think about it - there's a lot of soil there, and you've probably added other things to up the nitrogen as well), plus you benefit in other ways - lightening up the soil etc.

[binley100]

My gh borders at the lottie are mulched with newspaper and grass clippings . Bark chippings are kept for mulching round the fruit and on the paths, grass cuttings for other stuff.....

[jdlondon]

HUgelkultur - you learn something new everyday! Thanks, alldigging, VC.