New Type Mulch

[durgan]

www.durgan.org/URL/?TBJMF 5 May 2010 Laying Softwood Mulch.

The mulch is sold for bedding for domestic animals. It is made from softwood, and I decided to use it for mulch this year. It is easy to lay and appears to be ideal. Cost per bag is about seven dollars. To cover the area in the photos three bags were utilized. One bag fills the wheelbarrow.

There was sufficient rain yesterday so the mulch was laid to keep moisture from evaporating to some degree. There are few weeds in my garden, so weed control is not the primary use.

[bluelacedredhead]

Durgan, you paid $7 per bag? Seems Too much? Two years ago, shavings were $5 a bag at most feedstores?
I checked Pleasantridge Saddlery (Brantford) online to see if they listed bedding, but no luck. But if you phoned them, they might be able to direct you to a more economical source.

[PVP]

Yes, I don't know what that stuff sells for in Canada (home of soft wood species for cryin' out loud) but down here in southern Indiana, that stuff goes for around 3 - 4 bucks a bale. I use it to store tender bulbs over the winter and then toss the used stuff into the garden here and there.

But using it wholesale for mulch, even at what I pay per bale, seems a bit extravagant! Besides, when dry it tends to blow around in a good breeze. I'd also be a bit concerned whether it will rob nitrogen or cause acid as it decomposes on top of garden soil.

My preferred mulch is clean wheat straw from as source known not to have used Milestone (aminopyralid) as a broadleaf herbicide. Old rotted or spoiled alfafa hay also is nice and you can get it for a song after it's no longer fit for feed.


Peace, PV

[durgan]

May 23, 2010 6:46:57 GMT -5 bluelacedredhead said:

Durgan, you paid $7 per bag? Seems Too much? Two years ago, shavings were $5 a bag at most feedstores?
I checked Pleasantridge Saddlery (Brantford) online to see if they listed bedding, but no luck. But if you phoned them, they might be able to direct you to a more economical source.

I pick the bedding mulch up at Princeton. At first I never looked around, since I was just testing as to its feasibility. So far I am more than pleased. It is a big improvement over the free wood chips available in Mohawk Park. These chips were too large in many cases. The bedding chip bag is about 78 liters expanded about one large wheelbarrow full.

Applying the chips is simple and only takes a few minutes. Straw I found to be not comparable as to ease of use. But this is my first year, and I may have to change my opinion.

Nitrogen depletion is not an issue until worked into the soil in the Fall, then I will add some Urea (nitrogen pellets), plus I plant a cover crop of annual clover to fix nitrogen in the soil.

With strong wind I found that the mulch stays in place. Apparently the binding is sufficient, and we have had some fierce winds recently.

[tomc]

Durgan, if you amend your garden with manure or compost, the bugaboo of nitrogen depletion will never happen. Oh I suppose if you added an equal amount to a depth of several feet IE one yard of garden soil, to one yard of shavings it might depleate available nitrogen. But I'm not sure even then.

That said there are crops that do not like bark or shavings around their feet, asparagus is one for me. Makes em twisted and unatractive.

[bluelacedredhead]

Dec 5, 2010 22:29:37 GMT -5 tomc said:

there are crops that do not like bark or shavings around their feet, asparagus is one for me. Makes em twisted and unatractive.

We just had 4 very large trees cut down on our lawn. Three were in very close proximity of my little (year old) asparagus patch. I didn't use the shavings in/around the Asparagus or Herb Patch, but I wasn't that concerned about removing them from the lawn adjacent to the asparagus. Too late now cuz it's Snowing!!

But I appreciate you mentioning this Tom. If the snow melts, I'll go over the area again with a rake.