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Vegetable Gardening

Straw mulch in Asparagus Patch is going to seed.

8 years ago

I have mulched my asparagus bed with straw for years but this is the first time I have encountered this problem . I am at loss at what to do: there are green shoots popping up everywhere. I am wondering if I should just remove it and start from scratch with straw from a different garden center?

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Comments (9)

digdirt2
8 years ago
Sounds like the bale was from a first mowing while lots of seed was left in the field. But usually the weeds are really shallow rooted and easy enough to pull.

Dave
laceyvail 6A, WV
8 years ago
Are you using straw (what's left after a grain like wheat or barley has been threshed) or hay, grass cut from a meadow? Quite different.
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ryannihilator
8 years ago
I'm having the exact same problem. I used straw as mulch last year and I don't think I saw a single seed germinate under it. This year I have little green oat shoots popping up all over my asparagus and tomato beds. Fortunately, they do seem pretty easy to pull up.
sandyinva
Original Author
8 years ago
lafceyvail, I really don't know. I purchased it from a local nursery and I am sure this isn't the first time I have done so. It was all baled.

I guess I will keep pulling them out as well. I was afraid that it would defeat the purpose of serving as a weed protector if it was self propagating :>( Thanks, guys, at least I am not alone in this.
digdirt2
8 years ago
Really pays to know which it is for future reference as hay tends to be seedier than straw and needs to be laid on thicker. Straw when baled right after harvest has some seeds but not as much as hay. They look very different plus they have very different benefits for the soil.

Dave
jimmy56_gw (zone 6 PA)
8 years ago
Dave said it right, I use old hay or put a thin layer of newspaper down then the hay, With straw I have no problem.
laceyvail 6A, WV
8 years ago
I have used hay for many, many years for mulch on the beds in my permanent bed veggie garden. The trick is to make sure that it is just old or rained on hay--cut before grasses have seeded--and not just poor hay cut and baled after seeding. In contrast, the straw I used for a lawn reseeding was filled with seed from the grain. Big pain in the butt.
pugetsoundgardener
8 years ago
My straw mulch sprouted too (and yes it was straw, not hay). I may age the straw before using it from now on. Pulling grass-like sprouts from my whole garden is not my idea of a good time.
sandyinva
Original Author
8 years ago
I don't think the asparagus will like it very much. I am tempted to remove it, and starting over, as some of it is rooting in the soil.

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