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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 12, 2015 8:04:34 GMT -5
I have been using cedar mulch for decorative mulch around my peonies and hibiscus but I think I want a darker mulch. But I am not sure. I know I don't want the red mulch. I am trying to do more flowers. So I am wondering what everyone else uses for decorative mulching.
I finally had the tree taken down yesterday including stump grinding. They gave me the wood chips from that and I am going to put that around my peach tree that I planted 3 weeks ago.
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Post by brownrexx on May 12, 2015 8:15:37 GMT -5
I use cocoa pod mulch for my herb bed because I figure that it is probably a good choice for a food crop.
I also use the free wood chip mulch from the township composting facility. It is dark brown but I know that landscapers dump their waste there so it is certainly not organic so I use it for flowers but not near the garden.
Around my fruit trees, I use my grass clippings. It's not as attractive as bark mulch but it's free, it's organic and it works.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 12, 2015 9:03:32 GMT -5
Pea, just a caution based on experience....One year I had a lot of trees cut down, resulting in a massive pile of wood chips. Of course, along came code enforcement with a citation: BLIGHT!!! Who know wood chips were so offensive?
I had no place to hide the pile, so I began spreading the chips on the garden. Within a few months, perennial foliage began turning yellow. After doing some research, I learned that fresh wood chips can deplete the soil of nitrogen.
I believe there was a discussion to the effect of whether this is really true or not, back on the old forum. Regardless of what the literature says, and what others' experiences may have been, my own experience was that the fresh wood chips caused the perennials to develop yellowish foliage. I didn't mulch that closely either - I left a good border for each perennial so that the chips weren't right up against the plants' stems.
Just sharing my experience....
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Post by ahntjudy on May 12, 2015 9:07:18 GMT -5
I use pine bark chips...the smaller stuff, not the bigger nuggets. Have a Japanese Maple and many azaleas who love the acidity. Plus, I like the fresh smell.
Boyfriend's neighbor uses the shredded hardwood mulch. I don't like the smell...especially after it's first laid down...sour smell... I go over a bridge to get to Delaware and can see a mulch manufacturing plant...piles of pallets... A little while back, there was a fire there...wet piles of wood certainly eventually do not smell good... Really unpleasant smell as you pass by... The same sour smell as BF's neighbor's mulch.
My brother gets free wood chip mulch too. He has big areas to mulch so larger pieces that are sometimes in that did not make any difference. It makes nice mulch and best part...free.
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Post by tbird on May 12, 2015 9:25:53 GMT -5
Maybe stain the cedar mulch with used coffee grounds, left over coffee?
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Post by ahntjudy on May 12, 2015 9:39:33 GMT -5
Geez tbird... I'd be awake for the rest of my life if I drank enough coffee for that!! Hee Hee ;)
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 12, 2015 9:46:30 GMT -5
lol...maybe ya got something there tbird!! The coffee ground can off set the nitrogen depletion, as SR mentioned and maybe if the rain doesn't wash it off I would have darker mulch! getting 2 birds for the price of 1. I had planned on using something with the wood chips to offset that, SR. It has been a discussion in the past so I knew about it. And I have numerous people saving the coffee grounds for me as well so I don't have to inhale that much coffee....keeps me awake too sometimes. (
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Post by desertwoman on May 12, 2015 10:23:56 GMT -5
Pecan mulch (the shells) is very popular around here. It's reddish brown to begin, but quickly turns dark brown. I've used it in a couple of spots, it holds up well and I refresh it every few years with a light layer on top.
I mostly use leaf mulch in all my gardens, including the decorative ones.
I also get free wood chip mulch at the yard of one of the tree service businesses. I use it in paths
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Post by tbird on May 12, 2015 10:38:19 GMT -5
our household generates about 1/2-3/4 cups of coffee grounds a day - is that a lot?
So I was thinking - mix the grounds with water, and then pour the dark liquid over a few square feet of the mulch.
Generally, at any given time, I have about 3-4 cups of grounds ready to go if I can figure out where to put them. And then, yes - you don't have to drink all the coffee yourself.
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Post by desertwoman on May 12, 2015 10:55:32 GMT -5
You can also get free used grounds at most coffee houses. Starbucks even has a name for it: Grounds for Garden and they pack them up for you in the emptied foil coffee bags the fresh grounds come in. If your local Starbucks doesn't participate you can ask them or other coffee house, to save their plastic trash bags full of grounds and then be sure to pick up when you promise too.
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Post by Veggie Gal on May 12, 2015 12:03:21 GMT -5
I have an issue with my organic compost that I bought last December. It has lots of wood in it. I'm waiting for my soil test to come back this week, to see what it needs or has too much of. A local company could do a soil test for $95 and sending it to University of Massachusetts Soil lab was only $21 for a full test.
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canadiyank
Blooming
Central WA, Zone 6B
Posts: 125
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Post by canadiyank on May 12, 2015 13:55:44 GMT -5
I use bark mulch. I've bought several yards at a time when I've needed it but now I just buy a bag at a time as I need it. Mostly I'm trying to mulch with living plants now, thyme and such, in my flower beds. Between my raised beds I have cheap bark mulch. It's got some big chunks in it but I just toss those aside. I think it looks pretty neat and tidy.
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Post by octave on May 12, 2015 15:06:06 GMT -5
Regardless of what the literature says, and what others' experiences may have been, my own experience was that the fresh wood chips caused the perennials to develop yellowish foliage.Perhaps it is the acidity of fresh wood chips what causes problem with the perennials. I am no chemist, but I've always heard that unseasoned wood is quite acidic. blog.pennlive.com/gardening/2007/04/fresh_wood_chips_as_mulch.html
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 12, 2015 15:26:42 GMT -5
According to that article, it is mainly the surface roots of concern and also you can counter the effects by using nitrogen via grass clippings or other and wood ash for the acidity if there is concern but putting in 1-2" should not change things drastically nor immediately. But deep roots like that of a tree should be fine. However, a little caution can always be a consideration.
I have been using leaf mulch quite a bit but mainly in the veggies. And I do have it covering empty flower beds as well.
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Post by kimmsr🕊 on May 13, 2015 12:26:15 GMT -5
I have seen many studies about using wood chips, fresh and aged, as mulches and some of them do indicate that they can cause a temporary depletion of Nitrogen in soils, but digging in we find that in reality the chips were incorporated into the soil and not laid on as mulch. A 9 year study by 2 researchers at Michigan State University found that wood chips, fresh or aged, applied as mulch did not have any adverse affect on soil Nitrogen levels and plants so mulched had higher levels of Nitrogen than did plants not mulched, as written in a recent issue of Fine Gardening magazine.
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