Top 3 organic mulch

[Yogi]

Mulching is an essential practice for any vegetable garden. It helps retain soil moisture, suppresses weeds, and enriches the soil with organic matter. Mulch also regulates soil temperature, providing a stable environment for plant roots.

Curious to learn more about the best mulch options for your garden? Discover three essential mulch types that can transform your vegetable garden into a thriving, sustainable oasis.

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

Yes, I use all 3 for different applications. Straw can be good to add shade for growing grass sprouts & to lessen mud, but it also can carry molds & chemicals that retard some plants' growth or can actually kill things like potatos if you get a contaminated batch. Its also good to note that not all dry leaves, or barks like coir are good for mulching for the same reason. Where you source them from is important, so they don't spread a pathogen into the soil as they break down. Some leaf litter also releases chemicals into the soil as they get wet and decompose that can retard growth or kill certain plants that don't normally grow in the conditions near the plant the leaves are sourced from, or they are just flat our allelopathic & toxic to other plants. So, for instance magnolia, walnut & madrone are horrible to use as mulch as they are toxic to most other plants, but maple, apple & birch can be quite benneficial to a varriety of other plants. Oak leaves are good for winter insulation if the plants mulched can tollerate tanins & pine needles can be good for some acidic plants or things that like turpinoids, but oak and pine will harm those that don't. So mulch is great as long as you pair the right type with the plant you are trying to support & get a clean pathogen & pest free source.

 

[Yogi]

Yes, I use all 3 for different applications. Straw can be good to add shade for growing grass sprouts & to lessen mud, but it also can carry molds & chemicals that retard some plants' growth or can actually kill things like potatos if you get a contaminated batch. Its also good to note that not all dry leaves, or barks like coir are good for mulching for the same reason. Where you source them from is important, so they don't spread a pathogen into the soil as they break down. Some leaf litter also releases chemicals into the soil as they get wet and decompose that can retard growth or kill certain plants that don't normally grow in the conditions near the plant the leaves are sourced from, or they are just flat our allelopathic & toxic to other plants. So, for instance magnolia, walnut & madrone are horrible to use as mulch as they are toxic to most other plants, but maple, apple & birch can be quite benneficial to a varriety of other plants. Oak leaves are good for winter insulation if the plants mulched can tollerate tanins & pine needles can be good for some acidic plants or things that like turpinoids, but oak and pine will harm those that don't. So mulch is great as long as you pair the right type with the plant you are trying to support & get a clean pathogen & pest free source.

Thank you for sharing these important insights! You’re absolutely right about the potential risks and benefits of different mulch types. Sourcing clean, pathogen-free mulch and pairing the right type with your plants is crucial for healthy growth. Your detailed explanation will be very helpful to many gardeners!

 

[nvidura]

I've found mulching to be a game-changer in my vegetable garden. It keeps the soil moist, reduces weeds, and helps the plants thrive.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

There was a lady wrote a book I read years ago that had a 'Hay garden'. She had a foot of loose hay all over and just separated a place down to the soil when she wanted to plant. If weeds made it through she would break them off and drop a good handful of hay on them. You would have to be careful sourcing it nowadays, a lot of hay is grown with weed killers.
I get a lot of leaves, mainly oak, I pick them up with the lawnmower and try to get a last mow in as well so I can mix them with the grass cuttings, seems to work better than either on their own.

 

[big rockpile]

The only thing I haven't tried is Coco Coir but it is a consideration for potted plants.

Right now I'm using Cardboard and Straw in my Garden. Leaves for my Lawn.

big rockpile

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Dad was bright, won a county major award in competition with 500 others to read agriculture and got a 1.1, I asked him what he used on his garden once, "Anything I can get". It's a good philosophy, don't go spending more growing your veg than it would cost to buy them, there are leaves, compost heaps, local stables, lawn mowings, loads of stuff that's free, and it's hard to make it too nice for most things. If it looks a bit to raw to use straight off just stick it in the compost for a bit, it all gets there in the end.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Right now I'm using Cardboard

I'm cautious about cardboard, some of it has been recycled more than once and has recycled plastics added to it to hold it together. If it looks good I put it on the paths and see what happens when it gets wet, if it is just made of wood it will fall apart pretty quickly, if it takes too long it can go on the flower beds, I don't want micro-plastics in my veg,. though I am probably old enough it makes very little odds now. Might even help hold me together

 

[big rockpile]

I soak and pull apart all my cardboard when putting it down.

I'm considering later pulling up my mulch and planting my Cover Crop in between the rows of my Fall garden.

Maybe just plant Cover Crop in half the garden. That would be easier.

big rockpile

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Thinking about Mystic Moon Tree's post I realised that most of the things mentioned go straight on the compost heap before they make it to the garden, so they are all mixed up and rotted down, then I mulch with it and mix into the tilth as I hoe. Put on as is most of those things would get in the way.

 

[Meadowlark]

I soak and pull apart all my cardboard when putting it down.

I'm considering later pulling up my mulch and planting my Cover Crop in between the rows of my Fall garden.

Maybe just plant Cover Crop in half the garden. That would be easier.

I would say it depends on your purpose...that is, weed control or soil building. Optimal soil building in my experience is based on the use of plant matter and that includes green manure, as well as animal manure which is just plant matter that has gone through an intestinal tract.

In either event, I would never use cardboard for either purpose...unless I knew for certainty what was in it!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

In either event, I would never use cardboard for either purpose...unless I knew for certainty what was in it!

An unlikely certainty, I wonder if setting light to it might give a clue, some of them look like they might melt and drip.

 

[big rockpile]

Using mainly for weed control but it breaks down fast so till it in.

I also use Compost and Cover Crop of Rye and Red Clover.

big rockpile

 

[big rockpile]

Just got to thinking most the bedding for my Worms is cardboard and they seem very happy.

big rockpile

 

[redback]

Compost is the best top dressing for when plants have established themselves. All the mulches mentioned above are best on the compost heap first.

In this hot, dry Australian summer straw mulch HAS to be applied in winter only. It must be damp and decomposing by the time summer arrives because of the bushfire danger. Damaged straw bales of old, rained-on and decomposing pea straw are sold at a lower price by farmers and are better value than new bales. Unless straw is damp the wind will blow it around.

Leaf matter on this one-acre garden is just raked up onto the nearest bed so the paths are kept clean. Coir is only suitable for pots because of its' cost.

My chooks (hens) are terrific at decomposing all grass clippings and garden greens. All the half-eaten leaves, weeds, dying or damaged plants etc. can just be thrown over the fence into the chook yard. Their henhouse has a deep (100mm/4") litter on the floor and this straw is renewed every 2-3 months. It can go on the compost or be used as mulch because it has been scratched so much that is has become finely shredded. The chook manure gets incorporated to all their coop and yard toppings and thus does not cause nitrogen drawdown which is a concern with wood chip and straw mulches. By piling much of the organic waste a garden creates onto the chook run soil I not only allow the soil there to stay alive beneath the toppings, but I can plant into that weed-free soil when the chooks are rotated to another pen.

Mostly I don't mulch in Spring or Autumn when I plant (seed or seedling) but water in deeply. A week or three later I normally weed the close-in weeds and drop them on the topsoil to form a mulch. As the plant grows, I weed again and top dress with my own, fertile compost. This treatment keeps the soil growing richer every year with the accumulating organic matter.