Garden Gurus: Gneed Gnosis!
OK. We’ve poked around on the Intertangles and have not found the kernel of info that I want to find: What top mulch should I put on my veggie garden? Various websites go into the relative benefits/costs of different mulch material, but there are various obstacles:
- don’t have an oak tree
- don’t have composted leaves
- don’t have buckets of coffee grounds
- never have seen buckwheat hulls for sale anywhere
- don’t trust my grass clippings to not have weed seeds in it
- have plenty of needles from my conifer trees, but I don’t know if that will make my garden soil too acidic for veggies
- not interested in plastic or landscaping fabric–too much work
I have gained a tiny modicum of experience gardening over the last two summers, but I still have much to learn. I’ve never mulched, really. I think last summer I spread some good compost from a bag I bought at the home improvement store around some of my plants. Did it work? I dunno.
Straw? Is straw the best choice? Where do you buy straw here, in Sacramento?
Argh. I wish I had grown up on a farm. That would make all this stuff second-nature to me.
December 31, 1969 at 5:00 pm
May 16, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I think you can find straw at any Western Feed. http://www.westernfeedonline.com/
Also the Sacramento Master Gardners have composting workshops http://groups.ucanr.org/sactomg/Sacramento_County_2006_Composting_Workshops/
Hope this helps
May 16, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Check out(Cherylyn)’s LJ. She’s been posting a lot about the victory garden in the back yard. Most of the mulch has been straw, if I remember correctly.
May 17, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Composting requires maintenance every three days or so. Unless you want that kind of ongoing practice/commitment, I don’t recommend the undertaking.
I swear by two things:
2″ of a top dressing called Paydirt, and then
2″ of shredded (not chipped, I repeat: shredded) redwood bark mulch on top.
If you double-dig your beds before planting, mix generous amounts of Paydirt with your native soil. If plants are already in, lay down under the mulch and call it good.
That + your drip system should do you very proud.
You can get all these things at Capital Nursery and they work like a charm.
May 17, 2009 at 11:51 pm
My esoteric sources say you need a weed blocker, then compost or composted wood chips, or wood chips, then 3 inches or more of straw.
Here’s the weird bit: for the weed blocker, use wet cardboard. But not just wet cardboard — wet cardboard with one side peeled off (leaving the corrugations). And not just one side with the corrugations exposed, but two pieces with the corrugations exposed with plugs (or grain spawn) of Oyster Mushrooms (or Garden Giants) sandwiched in between. The mycelia penetrate deep into the earth, form a symbiotic relationship with the plant roots, and exchange moisture and minerals for nutrients. In some experiments plant growth more than doubled.
Also, I know this guy who could bring you a truck-load of composted wood chips from Los Gatos next Sunday-ish. Assuming you were willing to feed him some fresh tomatoes or zucchini bread.
May 18, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Uh … mushrooms? I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment. I know I would love love love a truckload of composted wood chips. I have so many places to put them, not just on the veg garden! I don’t have any tomatoes or zucchini bread yet, but you can bet your truck bed that I’ll supply some over the summer!