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Grass clippings make excellent—and free—garden mulch.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Mulching your vegetable garden is a must for a variety of reasons. Garden mulch derived from organic (often free) materials like grass clippings, leaves, and pine needles will stifle weeds, retain more moisture, and cool the soil, which in turn conserves water, as well as build soil fertility, which is the basis for organic gardening. And let's make no mistake, mulching also makes a gardener's life a whole lot easier.
Pioneering gardening author, the late Ruth Stout, considered the godmother of mulching, certainly made no secret of it. She preached the benefits of mulching, including less human labor, in the classic The Ruth Stout No-Work Gardening Book (Rodale, 1975), and later in Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent (Lyons Press, 1998). The good news? It's never a bad time to mulch. So if your veggies plants are currently growing in bare soil, get some garden mulch down! The average backyard gardener can likely gather enough organic material from his or her own yard, says gardening expert Fern Marshall Bradley, author of Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver
Here are the ins and outs of different types of garden mulch for veggie gardens:
• Grass clippings
While it is a good idea to leave grass clippings in your yard to improve lawn health, you don't need to do that every time you mow. Bradley suggests collecting grass clippings from your untreated lawn two or three times a year, and using them as vegetable garden mulch to provide a natural nitrogen injection that will help your veggies thrive. You can even collect from neighbors—just make sure they don't use lawn chemicals.
• Chopped leaves
When leaves drop in the fall, drive your lawn mower over them to chop them up. Bag the chopped leaves (if your mower has a bag collecting them, that will save you some of work), and spread them as vegetable garden mulch in the spring. Bradley warns against using whole leaves as a mulch. They could form thick mats that might restrict water absorption.
• Compost combo
While compost alone isn't the best mulch because once it dries out, beneficial microorganisms are lost, Bradley says you can put down an inch or so of compost and then top it off with grass clippings to keep conditions ideal. Just be sure if you purchase compost or get it from a municipal facility, you know what it was made from—some places use human sewage sludge (something prohibited in the National Organic Program), and some municipal compost could contain herbicide residues that can kill your plants. To do a test on compost, fill a tray with it and plant a few annual seeds. If seed germination rates are poor, or if seedlings look sick, the pH of the compost could be poor, or it could contain pesticides. Either way, you don't want to use it on your garden.
• Straw and hay
These are great mulches, just make sure you are getting weed-free straw or you'll wind up defeating the purpose of tamping weeds down with mulch. Organic Gardening magazine warns against putting straw or hay right up to the base of your plant stems, though, since that can creating inviting conditions for slugs and other garden pests.
Well I appreciate this but
Well I appreciate this but few points are still unclear for me May be i am missing something.Indeed we can comment on all your post with great effort but try to simplify things..
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To do a test on compost, fill
To do a test on compost, fill a tray with it and plant a few annual seeds. If seed germination rates are poor, or if seedlings look sick, the pH of the compost could be poor, or it could contain pesticides. Either way, you don't want to use it on your garden. SEOTexter
I recommend staying away from
I recommend staying away from plastic mulch all together. In addition to the points listed here, plastic mulch can retain too much moisture if the plastic is covered with a layer of organic mulch for appearance hermes handbags, it can freeze & create the need to take it up in the fall, if used on slopes any material placed on top will wash away or slide off, and- most importantly- And most importantly, I know that its organic and pesticide-free because they came from my very own garden!
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Vegetable Garden
In my point of view, Mulch is a protective covering placed over the garden soil and is mainly used to keep weeds out and moisture in. There are many advantages to using mulch in your vegetable garden. When added to a garden shortly after seeds germinate, it prevents weeds from growing by depriving them of sunlight. Seo Rankings
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Best time for mulching
Autumn is the main time for mulching. Then it retains heat in the soil over winter giving a higher starting temperature in the new season. It also protects delicate soils from the ravages of winter rains and erosion. you should know how can you make your hair grow faster
I don't mulch
I actually don't mulch the heck out of my garden. I think that is the beauty of a garden and that is beautiful to see. internet marketing
very helpful
Thanks for this post. I almost definitely agree with what you are saying. I have been talking about this subject a lot lately with my father so just maybe this will get him to see my point of view. I think all your tips are great! Break it up and list it down. It always looks better and more readable when you write your points that way. Thanks for the tips! Moving Pods
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Living Mulch
Plant a low growing legume (dutch clover or new zealand clover) in your garden, then dig a hole in the clover to plant tomatoes, peppers, etc. Let your imagination run wild, mulch plus nitrogen fixation at the same time!
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and one trick from my grandfather from canada - to use for a mulch the straw
Great info on mulch
yea, best wishes in this summer's growing season.Thanks !
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Thanks
Thanks for the supper post. nice to see the grass texture everywhere. We might lives in different continent but surely most of us love nature...that is one of the factor bringing us together.
It is also a great way to save money
Being a do it your self kind of person is a great way to be green and save money. Another good option to beautify your garden is to add some pink flamingos They are not technically green, pink to be more precise :)
You can use them to make compost manure.
Really some useful tips here
Really some useful tips here. Garden mulching is not only beneficial for your gardens, it actually helps me save a bit too on the fertilizers. And most importantly, I know that its organic and pesticide-free because they came from my very own garden!
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Great ideas for gardening
These are some really great suggestions for keeping your lawn healthy. Having worked for a lawn care company I would recommend trying these out. This reminds me of working so hard to pay for school around the time i learned about grants to pay off student loans.
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soil-dwelling microorganisms and earthworms boost plant health; and that it keeps your veggies dirt-free—make your life as a gardener that much easier. Gresham Chiropractor
Dead Leaves? Brilliant!
Considering the giant oak tree I have in my yard, I'm long on leaves and short on grass. The tree canopy pretty much keeps any grass from growing on the east side of my lawn, so thus, no grass clippings. I never thought about using chopped up leaves, I just kind of assumed that they were dead and worthless at that point.
Thanks for the great advice, looks like I'll have some delicious vegetables this year!
- I recommend staying away
- I recommend staying away from plastic mulch all together. In addition to the points listed here, plastic mulch can retain too much moisture if the plastic is covered with a layer of organic mulch for appearance sake, it can freeze & create the need to take it up in the fall, if used on slopes any material placed on top will wash away or slide off, and- most importantly- disposal of plastic mulch is considered by some to be an environmental issue.
It's a good investment.
This is a great article with a lot of very useful tips. A few points I'd like to make:
- If you chop up the leaves on your lawn and decide (for whatever reason) that you won't be using them for compost, it's okay! New research from Michigan State University shows that chopped leaves left on the lawn not only add organic matter and nutrients, but they also may have compounds that suppress dandelion seed germination.
- I recommend staying away from plastic mulch all together. In addition to the points listed here, plastic mulch can retain too much moisture if the plastic is covered with a layer of organic mulch for appearance sake, it can freeze & create the need to take it up in the fall, if used on slopes any material placed on top will wash away or slide off, and- most importantly- disposal of plastic mulch is considered by some to be an environmental issue.
In short, mulching requires a lot of time and attendance, as well as patience and the willingness to do your research. In the end, though, the benefits of investing your time in your garden can be priceless.