Comments on: Gardening Basics: How to Apply Mulch

By: Coastal Gardening: Sea Coast Gardening Tips | North Coast Gardening

Coastal Gardening: Sea Coast Gardening Tips | North Coast Gardening — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:01:32 +0000

[...] of compost and manure to help the sandy soil hold moisture and nutrients. Use a thick layer of wood chip mulch after planting to hold moisture [...]

By: Video Review of the GroundHog Rake | North Coast Gardening

Video Review of the GroundHog Rake | North Coast Gardening — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:07:53 +0000

[...] Learn some professional tricks to applying mulch in garden beds [...]

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:10:39 +0000

Linda Chalker-Scott, author of The Informed Gardener (a scientific approach to gardening), really recommends chipped wood very highly for mulching beds. It sounds like you just gathered wood that was already breaking down in the forest and chipped it, and that sounds fantastic to use on top of beds.

Only thing I’d pay attention to is if the wood was Eucalyptus or some other kind of wood that suppresses the growth of other plants, or if you just cut down living trees and chipped them – I might do some research as to how long to let it sit before using it as mulch – but all my research indicates chipped wood is fantastic mulch.

Thanks for the link to your blog! I love how you include so many photos.

By: The Modern Gardener

The Modern Gardener — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:16:58 +0000

Fantastic and thorough. We bought a chipper as we have a lot of fallen wood, and spread that around our raised vegetable beds. I think we will need to add a lot more though, as the weeds and grass are starting to pop through. We have avoided putting fresh wood chip on borders though because it’s not as pretty as bark and we hear it’s not actually great for the soil. Do you have thoughts on that?

Here’s the chipped effort! http://themoderngardener.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/chipper-morning/

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:24:50 +0000

Ooooohhhh, the volcano method. My head hurts just thinking of it. For those not in the know, check out this page and scroll partway down. This is a mild example of what I see veeeery often. Don’t do this!

http://www.tlcfortrees.info/mulching_staking.htm

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:39:55 +0000

I used straw as mulch in an 1860s garden I created for a historic property--omg it was WEEDY! I only did that once! Pine needles are my favorite mulch; they prevent weeds better than any other mulch I've tried. I do apply it around the bases of plants (not on top of a whole dormant bed) because it is hard (but not impossible) for plants to poke up through it. Finally, I can't believe you didn't cover the volcano method of mulching trees-HA!!!!! Monica’s last blog post..Mish-Mash Monday