g'day happyjacq,

that's what it is supposed to do reckon you should have laid it around 10 or 12"s thick tho'. why not use the less expensive fodder mulches eg.,. spoiled lucern hay or pasture grass mulches they'll do more for your gardens and don't contain the chemical residues that sugar cane mulch does. i only use the above green mulches on my gardens and i don't fertlilise.

len

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lens garden page

HI HJ I have a very thick layer on S C Mulch on my garden beds and it has not broken down yet, did you buy that expensive bale around $10 from you know where. We go down to Jacobs Wells Way with the trailer and buy a Round for $15-$20. We have been down twice lately as I have lots of garden beds. I reckon there would be about 25 bales in a Round well worth the trip only a few dollars for petrol also there are lovely beaches down that way.

I am surprised that it has broken down so fast, the lucerne I had on the roses first didn't last long, and I find the SC Mulch is so much better and cheaper, as the lucerne has too many seeds in it and I am forever pulling out weeds. I wont waste my money on that again. I complained to the produce store and they said thats the way we get it.

Len us city dwellers, cannot buy those things cheap they cost more than SC Mulch, a mouldy bale of spoilt lucerne down the Produce Store is $8:95 a compress bale of SC Mulch cost a little more but you get twice as much, a bale of SC Mulch down south cost $3 but it is smaller, so you can see why we use it. Cheers..MM.

Use the baled mulch not the "chaff" type shredded expensive stuff and it will last much longer (and also take longer to enrich your soil) It is however more
difficult to use around a closely planted garden bed.
I always fluff it out (dont use biscuits as they dont allow the water through) and spread about one bale to 3-4 sq.m. It lasts for at least 9 months. If its tightly packed and damp it will break down much quicker.
I notice some of the bagged mulch is sold as organic. I asked the supplier I use and he tells me that they do use knock down type weedicide pre planting but do not use any chemicals on the cane when it is growing. The biggest problem is with the mould spores which can develop in the cane. It is advisable to wear a dust mask when spreading.

Tumbulgum ("The Meeting of the Waters") on the Tweed Valley Way, travelling towards Murwillumbah, has 3 oulets selling Cane Mulch @$3.50 per.

It's a lovely little historic village, with a good pub, too