Use anything you can get for free :) The stuff you buy is usually expensive crap loaded with weed seeds.

Start a compost heap:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1447458/building_a_cheap_wire_compost_bin.html

I use shredded tree prunings because I have a lot of trees and a shredder. Call a few tree removal companies and ask if they would dump a truckload of them into your driveway the next time they are in your neighborhood.

Yes, drip goes under the mulch, over the dirt.

You can use layers of cardboard as mulch, and newspapers, just cover them with a layer of something to keep them from blowing away.

If you have limited mulch, it's better (and easier) to do a good job on part of the area than spread a too-thin layer over all of it and try to thicken it later. Mulch directly under the plants first, then as they grow, spread more mulch.

Here is a link that might be useful: My first garden: mulch over dirt, with drip.

lazygardens, you are anything but lazy when dealing with my questions!! :)

My problem is limited mulch. I've spent enough $$ on plants and labor that I don't want to cheap out at the last minute and wreck it all. I really would prefer to just buy the right thing -- but I don't want to shell out for 100 bags of $7.50 mulch if I don't have to.

BTW, your link had another photo with tomatillos. For the CRM "cage", did you just use a piece of CRM longer than the distance between pillars, wedge each end against a pillar, and thread the rebar through the "top of the arch" to keep it from popping out?

Thank you again!!

Call some tree maintenance companies and ask about getting shredded trees from their chipper. You have until mid-may or so to mulch the root zones, and tree shreddings are coarse and last a long time.

That tomatillo cage is 2 panels of CRM - was a compost bin - held together on one end by hog rings that make a hinge. It's wedged into place on the pillars, with one piece of rebar at the hinge to keep it in place near the fence (it is a B-shaped trellis), and one piece of rebar at the top of each arch of the B to keep it from popping out or falling over.

Better view of the tomatillo cage:

{{gwi:396976}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Better view of bins

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. :)

Cardboard as a weed suppressor under mulch will break down in a couple of years.

Just do each area as you have the materials ... 400 square feet of garden can gro a huge amount of produce if you plant okra, eggplant and chilis. We were feeding my roommate's entire office

Summer squash does well planted now, and planted every couple of months afterwards to replace worn out vines before they stop bearing.