Grass clippings and leaf mulch! I got a leaf mulcher last year and took all of my neighbor's, and my own fall leaves and mulched them. I think it's the best mulch now, after having used it!
Where I live I have a bunch of palm trees that shed fronds all year. They drop as they dry in the Australian sun and are my primary source of carbon. I throw these through my Hansa and turn them into mulch and it works a treat. I think the main thing is that if it feels like straw in shape and texture, it'll work like straw. Although couch and nut grass punch right through it, but that is easily solved by the glove of death.
Thank you for this informational video. I have a question about mushrooms. I spread new layer of mulch this year, then, I have all kinds of weird mushrooms on the top of the mulch. Is it normal for woods chip mulch? will those mushroom make soil bad? how can I get rid of mushrooms?
Totally normal and not bad. :) They're just part of the natural decomposition of wood chip. Obviously they're not mushrooms you want to eat, but otherwise very beneficial, especially to soil health. :)
have you had any experience with using lawn clippings as mulch around vegetables? I've been using straw but have thought about trying grass because even though straw is cheap grass is free. Thank you for sharing the knowledge
If you have space, I suggest you to try black oat (Avena strigosa) It produces lots of straw and have a very aggressive root system, able to soften very hard clay soils
Thank you Robert for sharing. Can I use the wood chips on the top of the weed that grow over the mulch? It seems I used the wrong mulch the first time and with a bit of rain it almost completely cover the mulch in a weeks time
Question: Last year I purchased a couple cubic yards of mulch. After a couple months I began to distribute some of the mulch. As I began shoveling the mulch into a wheelbarrow I found pockets of termites. I’m pretty sure they were already in the mulch when it was delivered. I was so concerned with the spread of the termites to our home and the likely population growth that I had the material removed from our property. I have never found termites in mulch before, are they a real concern? What should I have done if removing the mulch wasn’t the right thing to have done? Thanks
Great video! So, what about grains that straw containes? Aren't they germinate? I used straw in my vegetable garden this year and had more barley then vegetable... I would never do this again. Why your garden is so clean using this type of mulch?
They can work, but they need to be applied at exactly the right time. Weeds germinate at various times so how do you apply it correctly for all the weeds?
Thx Robert. For years now we've been happily mulching our large veg garden with straw purchased each fall at our local garden center in northern Ontario. Recently, we heard about straw as a source of glyphosate, due to spraying. Is this a concern in vegetable gardens?
glyphosate is not a concern - it won't transfer to other plants. However, some other herbicides can affect future seedlings. It does not seem like a major problem, but has been reported.
Is there any link between the type of activity in the soil (e.g. fungal vs bacterial) and the type of mulch used? For example, I've was told that mulching strawberries with wood can cause problems due to fungal growth, but mulching with straw is ok.
What about aged wood chips? Wood chips that have been sitting on a bed for over 20 years? If they get mixed down into the soil, do they take nitrogen from the soil to continue to decompose? Should this still be avoided from being mixed into the soil? Also, what about pine bark chips and dried pine needles?
Wood ships would not last 20 years sitting on soil, unless maybe it is extremely dry. If they look like wood - don't dig them in. If they look dark and are soft more like peat moss - dig them in.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 OK. Actually in my case I have an 3ft X 5ft area and is under an eave, next to a side walk that has had bark chips sitting on it for about 22 years. The bark chips are still there but I bet a fair amount of them have decomposed. But the area is very dry . We used to have a quarter of a whisky barrel filled with soil for planting store bought flowers sitting on top of it.. Would the bark chips (if mixed down into the soil) rob nitrogen and should be left on top?
I like deciduous leaves as mulch, but only if they're smaller leaves. The really big leaves seemed to stick together a lot more, creating a kind of slimy skin on the soil. So if I'm stuck using big leaves, I mulch them into smaller bits first. :)
Great! Thanks for Real care for Our Planet! When I see these plastic land scapes and they Are " certificate organic " farmers i am out of my mind. And they use it for 5 years! How much micro plastic Is in their soil. Stupid progress.
I like watching gardening videos but I have a hard time with all of these mulching videos. You guys must not have slugs in your area. Mulch produces the most luxurious slug environment that one can imagine. Slugs in your vegetable garden do all kinds of damage and is one of the grossest things you can imagine. Do you have a video on controlling slugs?
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Sir, you explained very well. Thank you very much.
I need more mulch! Thankyou.
Grass clippings and leaf mulch! I got a leaf mulcher last year and took all of my neighbor's, and my own fall leaves and mulched them. I think it's the best mulch now, after having used it!
Where I live I have a bunch of palm trees that shed fronds all year. They drop as they dry in the Australian sun and are my primary source of carbon. I throw these through my Hansa and turn them into mulch and it works a treat. I think the main thing is that if it feels like straw in shape and texture, it'll work like straw. Although couch and nut grass punch right through it, but that is easily solved by the glove of death.
I have pine straw mulch and the mimosa pudica and spurge and clover is growing everywhere. In the spring the cleavers were everywhere.
love grass clippings for veggie mulch
Thanks Robert. That was great, useful information.
Thank you 💚🙃
Thank you for this informational video. I have a question about mushrooms. I spread new layer of mulch this year, then, I have all kinds of weird mushrooms on the top of the mulch. Is it normal for woods chip mulch? will those mushroom make soil bad? how can I get rid of mushrooms?
Totally normal and not bad. :) They're just part of the natural decomposition of wood chip. Obviously they're not mushrooms you want to eat, but otherwise very beneficial, especially to soil health. :)
Yes, and 99% of them are beneficial to the garden.
Thanks friend
have you had any experience with using lawn clippings as mulch around vegetables? I've been using straw but have thought about trying grass because even though straw is cheap grass is free. Thank you for sharing the knowledge
Leave the grass on the lawn
If you have space, I suggest you to try black oat (Avena strigosa)
It produces lots of straw and have a very aggressive root system, able to soften very hard clay soils
Do I need to pull the weeds that are there before I lay the mulch, my weeds in my ornamental garden are only grass.
Thank you Robert for sharing. Can I use the wood chips on the top of the weed that grow over the mulch? It seems I used the wrong mulch the first time and with a bit of rain it almost completely cover the mulch in a weeks time
Great advice thank you, can I ask how do I fertilise then do I pull back the much
You can pull it back - but I just spread it on top and water it in.
Question: Last year I purchased a couple cubic yards of mulch. After a couple months I began to distribute some of the mulch. As I began shoveling the mulch into a wheelbarrow I found pockets of termites. I’m pretty sure they were already in the mulch when it was delivered. I was so concerned with the spread of the termites to our home and the likely population growth that I had the material removed from our property. I have never found termites in mulch before, are they a real concern? What should I have done if removing the mulch wasn’t the right thing to have done? Thanks
can we use blue spruce needles as mulch in flower beds and vegetable bed .?
yes - no issues.
Great video! So, what about grains that straw containes? Aren't they germinate? I used straw in my vegetable garden this year and had more barley then vegetable... I would never do this again. Why your garden is so clean using this type of mulch?
If you use it thick enough, germinating seeds do grow.
Just learning I need to use more mulch but how do you feel about pre-emergents?
They can work, but they need to be applied at exactly the right time. Weeds germinate at various times so how do you apply it correctly for all the weeds?
What Is your opinion on synthetic NPK fertilisers ? Why do organic farmer avoiding them ?
Chemophobia 😐
Thx Robert. For years now we've been happily mulching our large veg garden with straw purchased each fall at our local garden center in northern Ontario.
Recently, we heard about straw as a source of glyphosate, due to spraying. Is this a concern in vegetable gardens?
glyphosate is not a concern - it won't transfer to other plants. However, some other herbicides can affect future seedlings. It does not seem like a major problem, but has been reported.
Is there any link between the type of activity in the soil (e.g. fungal vs bacterial) and the type of mulch used? For example, I've was told that mulching strawberries with wood can cause problems due to fungal growth, but mulching with straw is ok.
That is nonsense.
What about aged wood chips? Wood chips that have been sitting on a bed for over 20 years? If they get mixed down into the soil, do they take nitrogen from the soil to continue to decompose? Should this still be avoided from being mixed into the soil? Also, what about pine bark chips and dried pine needles?
Wood ships would not last 20 years sitting on soil, unless maybe it is extremely dry. If they look like wood - don't dig them in. If they look dark and are soft more like peat moss - dig them in.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 OK. Actually in my case I have an 3ft X 5ft area and is under an eave, next to a side walk that has had bark chips sitting on it for about 22 years. The bark chips are still there but I bet a fair amount of them have decomposed. But the area is very dry . We used to have a quarter of a whisky barrel filled with soil for planting store bought flowers sitting on top of it.. Would the bark chips (if mixed down into the soil) rob nitrogen and should be left on top?
If you ve got Bindweed. God luck mulching it
Have you ever mulched with 🍁? If so, what is your opinion of results?
I like deciduous leaves as mulch, but only if they're smaller leaves. The really big leaves seemed to stick together a lot more, creating a kind of slimy skin on the soil. So if I'm stuck using big leaves, I mulch them into smaller bits first. :)
Yes. But I don't use very thick layers unless I know they won't smother plants.
Mulch works for everything EXCEPT bermuda grass. What do you do about that horrible stuff??
One grass Is not the problem. We must do something in Our garden.
Great! Thanks for Real care for Our Planet! When I see these plastic land scapes and they Are " certificate organic " farmers i am out of my mind. And they use it for 5 years! How much micro plastic Is in their soil. Stupid progress.
I like watching gardening videos but I have a hard time with all of these mulching videos. You guys must not have slugs in your area. Mulch produces the most luxurious slug environment that one can imagine. Slugs in your vegetable garden do all kinds of damage and is one of the grossest things you can imagine. Do you have a video on controlling slugs?
Sounds like you need chickens