Favorite Mulch for Veggie Garden

What is your favorite mulch for the veggie garden? How does it work for keeping the weeds down? Do you turn it under in the fall?

Brenda

Brenda--
Anything I can get my hands on! Oaks leaves, pine needles, grass clippings, hardwood in bags, mulch is me. I mulch, therefore I am.....

Works superbly for keeping our Texas size weeds down and builds the soil from the top down. Till, turn it under, never! Weeds here grow year round--just different ones in the winter.

Debbie
mulch girl
the thicker the mulch...the better!

Debbie,

I saw you talk about your mulch addiction in your thread on fireants too. You should have used the name for DG: mulchgirl. =) Looks like you are a busy gardener! I love mulch too.

It's a must in Texas. It's also a "lazy" way to build the soil in your beds.
Debbie

Does anyone use straw for mulch? If so, how did it work for you? This will be my first big veggie garden.

Brenda

I use straw in my veggie garden. It does cause a lot of weeds to pop up, from the seeds that are in it, but then I just mulch them some more. It seems to work well enough. This is my first year trying this, so I'll know more as the garden season progress. We'll see how these weeds fare.

By-the-way, be careful bringing home leaf mulch from other places......
I infested my garden with ticks. Now I'm looking for a solution for ticks in the veggie garden. Aggggrrrhh ! Can't believe I did that !

You cn get certified weed free hay--costs more but worth it. Otherwise I would not use straw or hay. Know to many people who did and seen the consequences.

Where would you buy certified weed free hay at?

Some use salt hay which, if it has seeds, aren't likely to germinate in a non-maritime soil. I'd do it if I could justify the expense. As it is, I use some planter's paper and then grass clippings (filled with dandelion seeds) on top. So far, so good.

I'm getting the sprouts from the straw, but I just add more straw and mulch them down too. It just gets deeper and deeper. Soon I will have to climb to get into my garden. lol I don't know how this will work by the end of the season, but so far, it's working for me. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I took the weed-eater to the ones that grew up next to my raised bed boxes.
That worked too. I don't use it in my raised beds though. I do use it in the pathways between raised beds. I also use it between rows of crops that grow on the ground like corn, green beans, squash, etc.

I use grass clippings in my raised bed boxes.

I've used straw and grass clippings and leaves as overwinter (zone 4) mulch for bulbs with great success - no sprouts. But, then again, I'm using old old (old !!) straw. Besides, the dandelions pretty much outcompete any new additions {:^D

Anyway, something you may want to try is to put down newspaper and then straw over top of the paper. It's not perfect but it might keep unwanted seedlings from starting. I'm going to try that strategy this year just for a larf. We'll see if the wind doesn't start spreading it all about.

Cheers

Steve

We use scrap hay which has lots of weed seeds. We put it on thick and not much sprouts in it -- most seeds need light, moisture & dirt. I think a thick hay mulch works this way: (1) The top's too dry; (2) the middle is composting and using up available nitrogen and (3) the bottom is too dark. I've seen a few weeds pop through (sticker vine) and stray potatoes. Everything else seems to get smothered.

Still take anything I can get my hands on--the heat just 'dissolves' mulch down here I swear!

I do things the hard way...I put down a layer of newspaper then put a generous helping of grass clippings. Does the trick, keeps weeds out and moisture in but it takes a lot of time and grass clippings.

I was wondering with grass clipping is it ok if your grass is treated with chemicals ? i have tons of grass clippings but we treat for crab and dandylions weeds . Will this effect the soil or do damage to the plants? I would love to use them in my compost and use for mulch inbetweeen my beds .
I slipped on a wet, muddy brick ,while talking to the DH , hahaha can't walk and talk at the same time LOL anyway i have really wrecked my back and hip ouch. I have arthritis in both,
Would grass get slippery? i could mix it with something else i m sure if it does.
thanks
sue

I would avoid treated grass clippings.

Yes, I think grass that had just been treated with weed killer wouldn't be good for your garden plants. After a couple of mowings, though, it should be fine if you're not trying to be strictly organic. We use a mulching mower, so don't have grass clippings (just as well to put the clippings back on the lawn, as that clay the builder left us needs every extra scrap of organic matter it can get)... but I get wonderful big bags of clippings from a friend. They are wonderful around tomatoes, peppers, cukes, beans, etc. I put them down when they are fresh and green, 3-4 inches thick, and I think the plants enjoy the warmth as the clippings start to compost, plus I think the heat of composting might help destroy some weed seeds. I do get some weeds coming up through the mulch, but not nearly as many as if I'd left the soil bare around the plants. The grass eventually dries up like hay, and I haven't ever noticed that it is especially slippery underfoot.

Sue, so sorry to hear you took a bad fall. And right at spring planting time! No fair!! Seriously, take care of yourself, and I hope you'll mend quickly.

My husband grew up in the south on a 100 acre farm. They put in huge veggie gardens. He said he's never heard of mulching a garden before. He said they just go down and hoe the weeds often. So far I've been doing that. It's a lot of work though. I think if I do a little every day I can stay on top of it. My veggie garden is a long way from where I cut the grass and catch the clippings. It would be a job hauling those clippings down there and spreading them out. Most of the 8 acres I just mow and don't pic up clippings. I just pic them up inside the fence around the house. In the fall I use a different mower that I can pick up the grass and leaves with and then put that down in the garden.

So far (knock on wood) the weeds aren't too bad in the veggie garden. I have a little stray grass here and there though. I might try a grass killer on that ....... the kind that is safe to use around vegetables. Any one ever try that? I only kills grass and not weeds.

ok no grass clipping, hmmmm plan B . LOL
thanks critter for the kind words, i m going to an orthapedic surgean , phys therpy, and have to get a MRI , just from a little fall, im not even 40 yet yikes. Dumb leg.:)
thanks
sue