Mulching with compost in established bed
mazerolm_3a
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mazerolm_3a
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When to compost/ mulch?
Comments (6)"Mulch" is anything applied to the top of the soil for various purposes, weed suppression being only one. Many folks mulch with whatever they have at hand - grass clippings, shredded leaves, wood chips from the local utility/tree trimming crew, etc. And there's no reason you can't save yourself a step and mulch with compost, yours if you have it or purchased if you don't. I only use compost as a mulch throughout my garden - adds to soil texture and fertility (never need to fertilize), conserves moisture, insulates against temperature swings and suppresses weeds. And it looks good. It does breakdown or shrink faster than some other mulches but I don't consider that to be a significant disadvantage. I typically spread the compost twice a year (spring and fall) but you could get by with only once. Less than 2 inches of mulch is a waste of time and more than 4 inches is excessive. And look into bulk soil providers - purchasing compost or any other type of mulch or soil amendment in bags is very expensive. Bulk purchases will run a fraction of the cost of bagged....See Morecompost as mulch vs other mulches
Comments (3)Those old socks make excellent mulch :D Seriously, if you have enough compost to do that God Bless You. Most of us have trouble getting enough for soil amendment. It would depend, to a degree, on the type of compost but rough, partially finished compost, such as you described, ought to be great for mulch. Every time you water it will leach out some nutrients into the soil so you would get the double benefit of mulch and nutrients....See Morecompost or mulch in wildflower bed
Comments (2)What will matter is the depth of cover over the seeds. While 1/4 inch of compost does not seem to be much putting that much over a seed bed on a monthly basis could bury the seeds too deeply to germinate. Some of these wild flower seeds need to be covered relatively well while some others only very lightly and generally Ma Nature takes care of that quite well. Adding compost to a wild flower bed may also make the soil too rich for those wild flowers to grow in, too....See MoreUsing carpet to establish beds
Comments (8)Lissa, Thanks for your response. I could roll it back after it kills the grass but I hoped to leave it in place. The carpet is synthetic. The carpet padding looks soft and will probably break down quickly. I have heard of carpet squares being used for a square foot bed and almost all carpet is synthetic nowadays. I need to do this on a larger scale and then mark the squares off with string for the square foot organization. Kate...See Moremazerolm_3a
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