How can I use compost when I already have mulch down?
lisa2004
15 years ago
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bpgreen
15 years agocynthia_h
15 years agoRelated Discussions
When and how do you put mulch down?
Comments (11)I mulch when most things are up & accounted for in the spring. We use a mixture of 50% leaf mould & 50% manure to mulch with. I like the natural look & it improves the friability of the soil as well as adding nutrients. Our leaf mould is always loaded with earthworms as well. It goes down 4-6" thick & it always virtually decomposed into the soil by early winter. When mulching, be careful not to cover the plant's crown. It takes us about a month to work our way around the gardens at mulch time. Sure looks nice when we're done though. In more direct answer to your question...early winter, after the ground has frozen, less hardy plants benefit from a covering of pine boughs or pine straw as an insulator. But, spring is the time for general mulching around each plant. I wouldn't hire one of those "mow & blow" crews to mulch. Many, if not most, are not gardeners & they just toss the mulch onto any open area they see. If you're going to hire your mulching done look for a gardener (getting harder & harder to find). Happy Spring! Tricia...See MoreWhen to use compost as mulch? Just after planting?
Comments (6)You can tell if compost is finished by the aroma. It smells wonderful like a forest floor after a spring rain. If it does not smell like that, then it is not finished. The last microbes to work in the compost are the ones that impart that fragrance. When you buy finished compost the provider should screen out anything that is not fully composted and toss that stuff into the next batch. All the little bits and pieces should be unrecognizable as to the original material. It will not hurt anything to keep them in there but it looks unsightly. And now that I think about it, if you bury unfinished compost (sticks and twigs) the decomposition process of those items will consume massive amounts of nitrogen to the point of absorbing all nitrogen from all nutritive sources in the immediate vicinity. Decomposition of wood is best done above ground. The best use of compost is to apply to the top of the soil. It can be tilled in but there are many reasons not to. Mother Nature never tills her compost in. She applies it on top....See MoreHelp! How can I use fresh cut grass without composting?
Comments (5)A layer of grass clippings over 3 inches thick will heat up and generate an unpleasant odor as well as harm any plants that touches, but less than that usually does not get that hot, so if the grass clipping mulch is kept to a layer of less than 2 inches, and kept a couple of inches away from plant stems, there should not be a problem. In a good, healthy soil those clippings should be fairly quickly digested, and incorporated into the soil, by your soil bacteria, much better than you could ever do that....See MoreHow to add chicken manure when I've already retired the garden?
Comments (17)It's only a temporary retirement. At this time in the year nothing we put there is growing and productive anymore, so it's done trying for the year. Besides, it seemed easier to add to it when there aren't growing plants to disturb. I cut off what was left of the plants at ground level and left the roots and cut tops in place, added a layer of semi-decayed lawn clippings and some green poke sallet that had been scythed down where it was growing as a weed, mixed in some mostly finished compost as a micorbial inoculation, spread some stale urine that turned up while cleaning, then buried all that in a 5" thick layer of brown dead leaves from a neighbor's back yard. (Incidentally, his place is in much better shape, and those leaves had red earthworms and what looked like a few red wigglers living in them.) Into the leaves I sprinkled all the UCG and ground egg shells I could come up with as they came up, and some tomatoes that had been poorly stored and gone rotten. I came into a slightly rotten intact pumpkin a few days later, gutted it out (seeds were still good for roasting), cut a drainage hole, filled it with a damp mix of shredded paper, cardboard, and more bdown leaves infested with red earthworms and what might be blues, then left it in the middle of the plot hoping it will become a worm castings bomb. They still live in there, I check now and then. About a week later I had the opportunity to cover the whole thing with a mix of wood chips, shredded green and brown leaves, pine needles, and whatever else is in that assortment that Trees Unlimited dumped in the back of my driveway, so I put down 4 inches of that. I may add more later, time and weather permitting, but for now it's been left to sit and do its thing as is....See Morelisa2004
15 years agoKimmsr
15 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
15 years agoannpat
15 years agolisa2004
15 years agoKarchita
15 years agodiane_nj 6b/7a
15 years agoalfie_md6
15 years agolisa2004
15 years agoKimmsr
15 years agodigdirt2
15 years agovinnyc
15 years agojtpcompost
15 years agoalfie_md6
15 years ago
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