mulching, your thoughts are required.....

[Big Al]

....please.

I've dug out my no dig, no weed book for my elderly neighbour to read as he is going to kill himself digging his garden one year and I started reading it again myself. In it the author recomends growing through a mulch and quotes an American woman called Ruth Stout http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic- ... ystem.aspxwho was still gardening and writing about it at 96 prior to her death in 1980 who recomended that you grow your crops and flowers through a mulch of anything. She recomends straw and manure but also mentions white clover and waste material which would go on the compost heap.

I'm tempted to have a trial of this idea in one of my veg plots with the clover as it fixes nitrogen into the soil but I'm not sure about the other idea of all the compost heap material as my compost heap is sludgy at the moment being cold winter time.

So then the question is what do you all think of this idea? For more info just goog** Ruth Stout.

TIA
Big Al


edited to add link

[grahamhobbs]

I'm a great believer in mulching, but I'd question a couple of her recommendations. She says start with 8" of mulch, great idea, but for most people fairly impractical - where do you get that much in one go. I don't know the climate where she is, but mulching with some green material will only encourage slugs. Mulching with hay, you need to be careful that you are not introducing a load of grass seed,
Growing clover for use as a mulch is I guess is ok, but the nitrogen is in the roots not the tops you're mulching with. My experience is that green manures like this are more trouble than they are worth in a garden situation. Whilst growing, clover is a haven for slugs and weeds to establish. Digging out the roots is also hard going.
Having said all that I'd say mulch as much as you can.

[Big Al]

I don't know the climate where she is

It could be either quite hot or relatively cool but sunny............ as she died in 1980.lol.
Thanks for your reply.

[bonniethomas06]

I have been thinking of not digging my ridiculously overgrown potato patch and just planting the pots, mulching with horse manure and putting black plastic over it all, then cutting the holes when the leaves come through. I am hoping this will kill all of the grass growing underneath. But I am just too scared to try!!

Will have a look at this site though, thanks.

[darkbrowneggs]

I have been using lawn mowings as a mulch on my deep beds for a few years now.

It has pluses (is that how you spell that) and minuses (ditto)

I have a large veg garden so I simply wouldn't keep up with the weeding, and I think mulch is better than weed
It gives me something positive to do with the lawn mowings (lawn is large too)
The worms take it down and as I am heavy clay it is a help
It warms the soil in the cold, and shelters it from the sun
It conserves the moisture in the dry (of which just lately we have not had much)

I am sure I have more slugs despite introducing hedgehogs, building a pool for frogs and toads nearby, and running ducks round the garden whenever I can, and cosseting the wild birds through the winter
I have A LOT of mice with all the ensuing damage they cause
It tends to get kicked off and onto the paths making them slippy when wet, and untidy looking when dry, and also encourages weed growth in the paths

But .......I am still going to do it.

[boboff]

definately recommend it for soft fruit beds, where weeding is a pain in the preverbial.
if you have it for esle where then why not, got to help

[gregorach]

As others have said, in the UK climate, it's a trade-off between reduced weeding and increased slugs. Mulching really comes into its own in hotter, drier climates where slugs are less of a problem and soil moisture loss is the big issue. I compromise - I mulch over winter with compost and leaf mould (we get tons of leaves delivered to the allotments by the council every autumn) but clear most of the remaining leaf mould off for the growing season. I also use the spent compost from the greenhouse like a mulch during the growing season (particularly on my tatties - saves digging) as it's less weedy than open soil. For slug control, I use regular applications of Nemaslug.

[hmk]

I have been thinking of not digging my ridiculously overgrown potato patch and just planting the pots, mulching with horse manure and putting black plastic over it all, then cutting the holes when the leaves come through. I am hoping this will kill all of the grass growing underneath. But I am just too scared to try!!

Will have a look at this site though, thanks.

I'm going to do something similar for the bit of my allotment that is slightly (ahem) overgrown. I'm going to do it like this-

Cut down any vegetation growing on the site. A mower is ideal for this if the land is flat. Water the ground well if it is very dry.
Spread manure on the ground/soil surface at the normal rate.
'Plant' your seed tubers by laying them out on top of the manure layer at the normal spacing. It may be advisable, in a cold spring, to plant no-dig potatoes a little later; this is because if you cover a cold soil with a thick mulch it will tend to stay cold and take longer to warm up.
Cover each row of seed tubers with a few inches of hay or old straw. Mark the rows, or leave a bare path between each row so that you do not stand on the tubers before they come through.
Check regularly for shoots emerging through the mulch, and help through any that are pushing the mulch up, rather than growing through it.
Keep topping-up the mulch as the shoots grow, covering the whole area, including paths.
When the mulch is about 15cm thick and the plants are growing well, top-up the mulch with grass mowings. This will form a mat which will help to keep the mulch in place and also exclude light from the developing potatoes.
Add more grass as necessary. Watch out particularly for blackbirds who love to pull the mulch around.
To harvest the crop, pull back the mulch and remove as many tubers as you require. They will be growing on the soil surface. You can take out a few tubers and leave the plant to grow, as long as you replace the mulch to exclude light. If you want to harvest the whole crop it is best to remove the mulch from an area, pick up all the tubers and replace the mulch.
Pests: slugs do not seem to be any more of a problem with this method than with any other; the mulch makes a nice damp haven for passing frogs and toads who will eat slugs. Land infected with potato eelworm would give a better crop using the no-dig method. Mice can be a problem as the tubers are so easy to get at. To avoid this do not leave tubers on the ground for too long in autumn.

Got to be better than digging up couch grass!

HMK

[grahamhobbs]

I may have given the wrong impression that I thought mulching increases the number of slugs. I do not believe that, in fact I think mulching (with the right things) reduces the number of slugs. If you spread uncomposted material, the slugs will certainly be attracted to some wilting leaves - a prime example for some reason are broad bean leaves, they love them.

Whereas adding composted mulches, to me, appears to reduce the number of slugs. Also the shredded clippings from tree pruning, which are probably on the acid side and great around soft fruit bushes, seem to positively discourage slugs.

Black polythene, unfortunately is a great attraction for slugs.

Also it took me a long time to learn that when it comes to grass, it has to be short back and sides. Keep your grass paths well mown if you don't want slugs.

[Big Al]

I have been thinking of not digging my ridiculously overgrown potato patch and just planting the pots, mulching with horse manure and putting black plastic over it all, then cutting the holes when the leaves come through. I am hoping this will kill all of the grass growing underneath. But I am just too scared to try!!

Will have a look at this site though, thanks.

It works like magic.

Clear the big twiggy stuff like brambles annd then water the ground really, really well. lay out your black polythene which I bought from a builders merchants for £35 a roll. It is 100 sq m and comes in 4m wide x 25 m long. It's used for putting under concrete floors etc.

Peg it down and lay bits of wood , bricks, stones etc onm the top as it will life in the wind. Where you want to plant your tatties cut a cross in the plastic and dig a hole with a trowel about 6 inches deep. Stick in your seed potatoe and cover with a good handfull of manure. Repeat over the area you want to grow pots and then wait.

the leaves will grow and you can tease them out of the cross in the plastic. Bear in mind you have to water a lot more as the plastic stops water getting to the ground, sounds obvious but some people are thick. Also you need to put handfulls of feed like chicken manure into each hole as the tats grow or use liquid feed when watering. I done it for 2 years and each year lifted the plastic and dug a bit over but the yield was not as good as growing potatoes in the regular way but they for me were a bonus crop because I could not have cleared the plot the normal way of digging it over. The soil does become very deficient on goodness this way but as it's only for a clearence job you can get away with it without damaging the soil too much.

HTH

BA

[bonniethomas06]

I have been using lawn mowings as a mulch on my deep beds for a few years now.

It has pluses (is that how you spell that) and minuses (ditto)

.

Doesn't it make the soil very acidic though browneggs? Do you compost it first? Only I tried it round the bottom of my runners once and it scorched the leaves.

I hate myself...caved in and dug/weeded the potato bed today...just can't summon the leap of faith required to no-dig. But will still be growing them through black tarpaulin.

[roger ramjet]

Just behind my house several big old black poplar trees have been felled. The guys doing it have left behind a large pile of wood chippings.
I collected several barrowloads this morning with the intention of using it for a mulch around my raspberrys and other soft fruit bushes.
The chippings are fresh and the heap is quite hot due to it decomposing.

Any advice on how long I should leave the heap before distributing it around the fruit canes and bushes?
I know that if you dig this stuff in the ground it can reduce the fertility temporalily whilst it rots
I have already laid well rotted garden compost around my canes and fruit bushes.

Roger Ramjet

[darkbrowneggs]

I have been using lawn mowings as a mulch on my deep beds for a few years now.

It has pluses (is that how you spell that) and minuses (ditto)

.

Doesn't it make the soil very acidic though browneggs? Do you compost it first? Only I tried it round the bottom of my runners once and it scorched the leaves.

I hate myself...caved in and dug/weeded the potato bed today...just can't summon the leap of faith required to no-dig. But will still be growing them through black tarpaulin.

Not really sure as I don't "test" the ph of my soil. But I am on very heavy clay so whenever the soil is bare and I remember I sprinkle Lawrence Hills recommended clay soil improver of 4 gypsum to 1 dolomitic limestone, so maybe it balances each other out.

all the best
Sue

[grahamhobbs]

Just behind my house several big old black poplar trees have been felled. The guys doing it have left behind a large pile of wood chippings.
I collected several barrowloads this morning with the intention of using it for a mulch around my raspberrys and other soft fruit bushes.
The chippings are fresh and the heap is quite hot due to it decomposing.

Any advice on how long I should leave the heap before distributing it around the fruit canes and bushes?
I know that if you dig this stuff in the ground it can reduce the fertility temporalily whilst it rots
I have already laid well rotted garden compost around my canes and fruit bushes.

Roger Ramjet

It won't do any harm to put them straight around the bushes, I've been doing this myself. The only thing is that they take a long time to rot down, this is an advantage really, but it means that if you need to did the ground say next winter you will be digging in lots of undecomposed woodchips. These will then take even longer to break down (and take nitrogen from the soil).
I wasn't expecting to dig the ground too much after putting down a 6" mulch, the raspberries thrived in it but it also turned out to be a perfect medium for bindweed that went beserk.
So, depending on how much you take, you could consider piling it in a big heap and letting it decompose somewhat in the warm heap before using it as a mulch.

[roger ramjet]

Well I've plenty of time to ponder on this as the ground is wet at the moment, the mulch, if I use it, will come into its own in the drier summer months. I am not thinking of digging that ground where raspberries, red currant, black currant and gooseberrys grow as I only planted them last year and it is reasonably free of deep rooted weeds.

I will leave the chippings in a big steaming heap for now

Roger Ramjet