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Mulch under compost = problems later?

14 years ago

The grass/weeds are encroaching on my roses. The rose beds are getting smaller, I don't think I used enought compost tpeed with mulch the fist time around. If I add compost (over the existing mulch) and then add mulch to widen the rose beds and keep the grass and weeds at bay, will the mulch under this second pile of compost harm anything? I am trying to get out of removing the existing mulch if I can...

Comments (3)

rosefolly
14 years ago
Assuming that your first mulch is an organic material such as bark or wood chips, I don't think so. I did something similar. I added new compost a year or two later and the original mulch was only partly decomposed. So I "stirred" the two together so that the compost was available to the plants easily, then put new mulch on top of that to protect the compost from the sun.

It is my opinion that you would want to avoid stirring these two into the soil where the decomposition would bind nitrogen during the process. However, current thinking is that if the decomposition takes place on top of the soil, only the contact layer of soil is affected.

If you are using a non-organic mulch then yes, I do think you will want to try to remove it.

Rosefolly
patriciae_gw
14 years ago
Heck...I do this every year. I lay down a layer of newspaper long the edge to re-establish the border edge and throw down more mulch and compost or what ever on top of what is there. I have never worried about binding up nutrients because they are going to break down again eventually and in the mean time there is plenty of good stuff around. People used to be concerned with blackspot in the mulch and so on but that has apparently not proven to be a real problem. It all rots eventually. If the mulch is too fine-bark fines in particular-and too deep It can keep water from getting into the ground. I use woodchips and manure and dont have any problems with that.

patricia
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I am with GG48. Fungi around plants are to be appreciated rather than feared. The organic material simply breeds bacteria, fungi and other critters. There are good and bad of everything. The good guys eat either decaying matter or other "bugs". The bad guys eat plants. Using organic matter results in a high population of non harmful worms, bacteria, fungi etc. This population helps to naturally control the plant pathogenic version. Fungi in particular are mean, territorial, violent organisms. They do not take kindly to competition and will go to war over territory. Even the various 'good' fungi will go to war where their territory overlaps with other good fungi. What will not happen is a pathogenic fungi spore falls into the middle of this and be able to grow. It will become food.
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Thanks, LG. I'm going to try lasagnizing about 400 square feet of back wall. I'm certain I have enough cardboard to do it, but do we get enough rain to allow the cardboard to break down, like, EVER? If I have to use newsprint it will take some scrounging. There are quite a few horses over the back wall, so I'm going to attempt to gather my courage (I am a complete wuss and hate talking to people I don't know) and see about manure and/or spoiled straw/hay. Mr Spark is going to have a total heart attack if/when he finds out I am intentionally putting manure in the back yard... BTW I'm also going to buck up and try some basic composting, probably with your "random pile inside CRM cage" method. I have no concern about browns because we have parrots and that means we use 57,423 rolls of paper towels per month wiping poop off our shoulders. Greens might be another story... next week the lawn gets mowed so I'll hope it results in a lot of clippings. (The gardeners do it and I have no idea how much they get, but I'll have them start leaving it here.) Yikes. :)
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Comments (28)
We use Roundup under all of our trees, and normally hit the trunks. No problem at all, and no toxicity ever, UNLESS we hit green leaves and twigs out at the edge of the canopy. We're pretty good at avoiding that. The commercial industry commonly sprays the trunks of the trees with Roundup, again, with no damage. You do have to avoid that on very young trees, which still have some green bark. But once it turns grey/brown, you're ok. If you can find it, a herbicide with fluazifop-p-butyl will do a nice job of killing Bermuda grass and other true grasses (but not weeds in any other plant family). We last bought it as Ornamec brand; we've had it in the past as Fusilade, Fusilade 2000, and Grass-B-Gone. It's slow (3-5 weeks for a complete kill, and may require a second application), but it is systemic and it does work. Malcolm M. Manners John and Ruth Tyndall Professor of Citrus Science Florida Southern College Lakeland
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Is it better to compost or use this grass clipping as mulch?
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Comments (17)
It's not always easy to do with just grass clippings, but if you can get a thick layer of mulch, then seeds become a non-problem. It looks like you live in an urban area, so you may not have this option, but I let areas of my yard grow tall. I then use a swing blade (like a sickle,) or a pair of hedge shears to cut it and make a hay. For many crops, a 4" - 8" layer of this hay is the best mulch I have found. I apply it fresh and it dries perfectly in place. Grass clippings work great mixed into the hay. Very few weeds pop through, and those that do are so weak by the time they reach the light, that they pull with ease. There's a few older books that were written on such mulches by Ruth Stout. Not as popular as those books and articles once were, but the results speak for themselves.
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Terry Crawford
14 years ago
I've been laying down new hardwood mulch on top of old mulch every year for 25 years....we started out with clay soil and now the dirt is like black gold. Besides, mulch is waaay too expensive to remove.

Another added plus...earthworms! My beds are full of 'em. They like the cool, mulched beds.
-terry

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