What do you do for mulch?
lindalana 5b Chicago
24 days ago
last modified: 24 days ago
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Asparagus bed, What do you use for mulch?
Comments (28)The absolute BEST mulch to use is cocoa shell mulch. Approximately 2 - 3 inches will keep most weeds down, and there's no ill effect upon the soil. Lasts for a couple of years before it needs refreshing. The serious down side is that this stuff can be VERY poisonous to dogs, who are attracted by it's chocolatey fragrance. So I wouldn't use it unless you have a jump proof fence around your garden. Cocoa shell is somewhat available in the MD/PA areas, as a by product of Hershey's chocolate making process in PA. Not sure about other areas....See MorePelleted fertilizer and mulch question
Comments (4)I use that kind of fertilizer once in early spring. I put it on top of the old mulch. I always procrastinate with replenishing mulch, so I always have weeds to pull and then I'm smoothing the mulch back in place. That seems to knock most of it down somewhat. Just when my garden is almost out of control, I dash off to get more mulch and add a new layer....See MoreWhat type of mulch do you use?
Comments (19)Barb - pine straw is indeed pine needles. The place I am planning to get it from ships 40 lb bales - awkward and heavy, thus the shipping charge I am sure. According to their site, "Each bale covers approximately 120 square feet at 2.5 inches thick" which is plenty for me, probably for several years, so it really is cost effective. Of course, free would be better, but....If you find anywhere locally that has pine straw available, and it is nice clean stuff, please let me know! Glad you find my novice posts on the Conifer Forum useful; I love conifers, and would really like to get a nice collection of dwarf specimens going, but the expense....There are some wonderfully knowledgeable collectors on that forum and at least we get to see pictures of how it should be done! kareng_grow - obviously, you don't have the right kind of pine trees there....:p Sorry you hate the stuff, but it seems to be recommended by a lot of people so I would like to try it out. The link below gives reasons why pine straw is a good mulch to use - of course, it is from a place the sells the product so they aren't gong to say it is lousy, but it matches what I have read elsewhere from actual gardeners. Of course, what won me over is their 11th reason - that zoos use it. :-D (In a list titled "Ten ways..." they include 12 reasons - ??). mtny - thank you for letting us know why you don't like pine bark mulch. I am planning to start using ponderosa pine nuggets as a mulch and I am also concerned about transporting pine beetles along with it; unfortunately, the companies that sell the nuggets don't, obviously, list their sources, and certainly don't state that it is "from pine beetle killed trees." How do you avoid this potential disaster? Holly Here is a link that might be useful: Reasons to use pine straw...See MoreWhat do you use for mulch?
Comments (34)Suncoastflowers, I've never run into dog poop in any of my leaf bags in 5-6 years of 200+ leaf bags/year, but maybe it has something to say for my neighbors. I can't imagine they'd be any happier to be scooping up dog poop to deposit along with the leaves any more than you'd be happy to be on the receiving end of the poop. Even with gloves or those "leaf grabbers" you'd have to have your nose so close to the handful that it would be an unpleasant experience for the homeowner enough to discourage them. If you can't count on people to do something courteous (and leave out the poop), at least you can count on them to do something self-serving. Not saying it can't happen, just that I haven't seen it. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts, plastic pull ties. huge branches - those have been in the leaf bags, but I can deal with those. Cynthia...See Morelindalana 5b Chicago
13 days agolindalana 5b Chicago
10 days agolast modified: 10 days agodjacob Z6a SE WI
4 days agomiles10612
4 days ago
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