When it comes to mulching a vegetable garden, there are pros and cons to each type you might use. Joe Lamp’l walks through his recommendations and demonstrates application. Plus – check out Joe’s Vegetable Gardening playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMTiIDHkeL0Fhm3zKTG3h-6PTz56k2KOo
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44 Comments
Wondering where I would get straw mulch?? Maybe buy some straw bales from a feed store?
Will hay mulch sprout?
Could I use coco coir to mulch my container garden?
Oak leaves are they good? I read they don’t break down so fast? And they would influence the soil in a bad way? Can you clarify? Thanks
Do the leaves need to be dry? I live in the Northeast and since I didn't plan ahead, by this spring they will have spent months soaking up moisture from snow, etc.
I bought some straw from my feed store. Applied it and now I have tons of grass and weeds sprouting. I don’t so much care about the look or anything just curious if I leave it in will it rob nutrients from my other plants im growing in it? Or should I remove all the weeds?
I just pile my leaves up, run the mower over them in one direction only, and voila! Mulch that breaks down pretty quickly.
Thanks for this.
PS: I bought a bale of hay for our wild rabbits that visit out back yard. But I will have a lot left over by this summer. Glad I can use it in my gardens…
Hey Joe. I’m looking in to mulches, because my tomatoes are very prone to early blight. I’m looking in to straw or cedar mulch. What is your opinion on cedar? Not good for a veg garden?
I put down a product called EZ straw. Now I keep hearing mixed reviews on this product. Many that love it and some that said it caused grass or barely to grow throughout the bed. Is that an issue normally with straw? EZ straw claims 99% free of weed seed.
The old jute-fiber carpet padding worked great around tomatoes, but it's no longer available. If you get wood chips, be sure not to get walnut, as it poisons the soil.
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I like rice straw
thanks for the tips!
I’m in New Mexico and ironically leaves aren’t nearly as abundant as most places. 😋
I watched your videos like years before. With this high quality, I can't understand why you only have 44k followers…
Thank you!!!!!
Love your videos!
Beautiful barn behind your raised beds!
You need to make sure the mulch doesn't contain leaves from Black walnut trees as those will poison the soil for many vegetables.
your gardens are amazing. I have been raised bed gardening in FL for a year now and have had NOTHING to show for it. constant diseases with the humidity and abusive rain… I'm currently solarizing my three small beds before getting them going and mulching.
Do you plant your seeds directly in the beds, then wait for them to be a respectable size before you mulch? Or do you grow your plants in containers then transplant?
helpful information sir ! Thank you so much for sharing !!!
Corona, season after season? Sounds bout right
Straw will contain seeds that will grow and take over your beds.
Hello, what type of straw is your preference? I cannot tell if it's Lucerne, pea straw or a blend. Why do you prefer straw over grass clippings for veggie raise bed mulch (salad bed, root vegetables like beets, carrots, and brassica ) Thankyou
I normally add the straw before I transplant or sow seeds into my raised beds. When sowing seeds, should I wait for the seedlings to get up to a certain height? Or should I put straw down and just clear open a small area for each seed I'm sowing?
I used coastal hay last year. It must of had herbicide in it. Tomato leaves curled and stunted them. It killed some rose plants too.. Beware of hay!
The only straw (bale) I was able to find is packaged in bags, is compressed and looks like shredded straw – it's fine rather than have long "stems". Where can one find straw that isn't all chopped up so fine? Also, I have a small balcony garden with containers so a whole bale of straw is waaay too much. I just need enough to fill about 10 large containers. Ideas or suggestions on where to get some straw would be great. Thank you!
Wouldnt using an arborist mulch from chainsawing be adding unwanted bar oil to your garden?
SO MUCH HAY IS TREATED WITH TOXINS THAT WILL KILL MOST OF YOUR PLANTS NOW, PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH.
I have been using grass clippings and leaves since 1979. I tired some others like stray but I will never give up my grass it is free and I never have to buy fertilizers.
For garden " Amendments", I bag the leaves, just before I stack the "food bank" as I call it, I add about a quart of water, tie the bags tightly and stack them, in the spring I cover my beds, gardens, and under trees, the leaves have done lots of breaking down, and wait for fall to clean the yard, and fill the garden food pantry again. Some bags even come with live worms, go figure, healthy mulch.
I used straw last week (not hay) and woke up to raised beds full of what looks like a million blades of grass! What now?
I like the string trimmer in the barrel trick to shred the leaves. Brilliant
Hi my name is Charlie How do you feel about using pressure treated timbers for your raise garden
0:38 video starts
Always use leaves and straw. I wish I had more variety of trees. Started some maples, but we have oaks that pop up Everywhere. Good thing I have a large leaf shredder that works excellent. Makes a super mulch! I'm going to scrape back the bark on blueberries and put shredded oak leaves on instead because they are acidic.
How can you find out if wheat straw was sprayed with Roundup?
I like sugar cane and leaves
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Straw is loaded with Glysophates and it offers nothing when it breaks down except carbon unless you purchase organic which is pricey. Wood chips MUST sit for 6 months as it is way to hot to use immediately and biggest reason you have no clue if there is Walnut in the mix. Just one limb shredded in the mix will destroy all your work. If he does not know what Walnut does or that they kill wheat for harvest with Round Up he shouldn't be offering advice. Also, Walnut contains Jugalone which will destroy 90% of the plants in your garden. The chips must sit and be turned for 6 months prior to use.
I just used my Paper Shredder and shredded up all of my junk mail and old papers and some small cardboard boxes. This makes wonderful mulch that will break down, but NOW is excellent for delicate areas like the squash/cuke mounds at the very centers around where the plants sprouted! Also great for tiny new plants like spinach and carrots! It gets into the nooks of the areas and after I water, it sort of all sticks together, it is staying put and blocking weed formation while keeping them cooler. It is worth the effort that it takes to produce it! I also use leaf mulch that I make in a leave shredder. It also takes time, raking, bending down to pick it up and putting an armful of leaves into the shredder. The biggest headache with this…… And you can't get small sticks in the shredder, it messes up the cutting up process. There are small twigs in my leaf piles, Oh well! I too am thankful for free leaves!
Be aware that many hay farms and other mulch type materials are sprayed with Grazon to kill broad leaf weeds. You think you're doing everything right by amending soil and adding fertility to the soil then all your plants die. Consider that It may be the mulch that is the culprit.