Which mulch is better?
Contents ✓
"BLANKET" FOR THE RIDING: CHOOSING THE BEST MULCH
Properly selected mulch protects the garden from weeds and the formation of soil crust, preserves moisture from the ground. Vegetables grow clean and less often affected by rot in rainy weather.
MULTI TYPES
Organic Mulch:
- sawdust
- peat
- hay
- straw
- weeds without roots and seeds
- needles
- leaf litter
Inorganic Mulch:
- film
- spunbond
- ruberoid
- linoleum
- gravy
- expanded clay
- cardboard
GENERAL MULCHING RULES
1. For organic mulch to work, apply it in a thick layer (at least 5 cm). When it settles, add so that the thickness of the mulch does not change.
2. Bulk materials need to cover the beds when the seedlings reach 7-10 cm, so that the leaves are above the surface of the mulch.
3. Remember that the organic mulch contains little nitrogen, so that straw and sawdust do not draw this element out of the soil, spray it with a solution of ammonium nitrate (matchbox per 10 liters of water) before applying or mix the chopped mulch in half with compost.
4. If using organic track mulch, double the thickness of the layer.
5. In winter, it is better not to leave mulch on the surface of the soil, since in spring it will not allow the earth to warm up quickly.
Black spanbond like mulch
Easy to use and relatively cheap. It lets water through, with proper care it can last up to 5 years, it is easy to wash, dry and store.
Laying sequence: prepare the garden bed, spread the material on the surface, fix it with metal brackets, boards, or ground it around the perimeter. In the places where the plants will be planted, make cuts with a stationery KNIFE.
See also: Mulching Nonwovens - Professional TIPS
Cardboard or ruberoid as mulch
Excellent weed control. Do not let moisture in and are more suitable for tracks. Among the shortcomings: cardboard quickly gets wet under the influence of rain, roofing material in the sun heats up and becomes sticky, it easily collapses if you walk on it. At the end of the season, cardboard will have to be burned, roofing material can be used next year.
Black plastic wrap
It completely solves the problem of weeds, but does not allow water to pass through, so either each plant will have to be watered separately or expensive drip irrigation should be laid. Transparent film and white spanbond do not protect against weeds, so it makes little sense to use them.
Compost
It has a neutral reaction, fertilizes and warms the soil. But it does not protect against pests or weeds.
Straw like mulch
It has a slightly alkaline reaction, protects against slugs, helps regulate the temperature regime (it slowly warms up and cools down), protects the garden from drying out, and the fruits from contact with the soil. It is desirable to mulch the surface of the bed with straw when the plants have reached a height of at least 12 cm.
Mowed grass like mulch
It is rich in nitrogen, fertilizes the bed, protects against sudden changes in temperature and drying out. But it rots in wet summers and can harm plants. In addition, weed seeds can get into the garden with grass.
To prevent sawdust from acidifying the soil, mix them with lime two weeks before use (150 g per bucket of sawdust)
TYPES OF MULCHES AND PLANTS WHICH IT SUITS
Freshly mown grass | Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant |
Compost, green manure, straw | Any vegetables |
Sawdust | Tomatoes, fruit trees, berry bushes |
Bark | Paths in the garden and orchard, raspberries, trees and shrubs. Categorically it is impossible to mulch tomatoes! |
Peat | Garlic, winter crops |
Needles | Strawberries and all vegetables if gray rot is likely |
Leaf litter | Onions, garlic, winter crops |
MULCHING - PEOPLE'S TIPS
So the radish doesn’t drown
Before zamulchuyu humus beds with early vegetables (primarily - with radishes), I mix the bone meal in half with sifted ash. I sprinkle it abundantly with this composition of the garden bed. This protects vegetables from excess moisture and the development of putrefactive processes.
Olga IVANOVA
The pond helped the garden
For several years, she noticed that neighbors often go to the pond for algae, especially in drought. Then put green porridge on the beds. I tried to mulch such a mulch cucumber - the result is 10 points! Watering them often enough was not always possible, but the harvest was still excellent, and most importantly, the cucumbers were not bitter.
Experts comments
River algae, in fact, can not only retain moisture, but can also serve as an analogue of a hydrogel (they absorb water and give it away gradually). In addition, they have a lot of potassium and other trace elements, which makes them not only protection against weeds and drying out, but also an excellent top dressing for the garden.
Svetlana KRIVENKOVA, agronomist
Drought moss
When the weather is dry, especially water-loving plants (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, cabbage) mulch abundantly with moss-sphagnum. It is difficult to close the entire garden bed with such a mulch (moss has to be collected in the forest, and there are not many of them). Therefore, I spread the moss only around the bushes so as to close the soil within a radius of 20 cm from the trunk. Moss retains moisture well and does not dry for a long time. In the autumn I collect it and take it away for storage in a wooden box, which I put in a greenhouse.
Slugs will not pass!
Claudia SHUPIKOVA
Experts comments
Moss (especially sphagnum) is a really great mulch for a vegetable garden. It not only retains moisture, but also disinfects the soil. But spores of fungi, including phytophthora, can settle on the mulch, so before putting the moss in storage, it is advisable to spill it with Fitosporin diluted according to the instructions and dry it.
Elena ISAEVA, agronomist
To protect the cabbage from slugs, the soil around the plants is mulched with a beaten walnut shell mixed in half with an egg shell. I tried to mulch the beds with sawdust for the same purpose, but they did not help much.
Olga GRIBKO
See also: Mulch and mulching of soil (photo)
WHAT A MULCH IS BETTER - VIDEO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Fertilizers for sweet corn - when, how and with what fertilizers
- Feeding with fish - my reviews
- Do-it-yourself top dressing from tomato stepchildren
- The best MULCH - what is she? Types of mulch - a memo to the summer resident
- Organic fertilizers for the site, garden and vegetable garden - advice KSH Sciences
- Composting by Batov
- Planting plants - gardener tips
- So that the apple tree bears fruit every year - 5 receptions + a special feeding scheme
- Feeding with fish, nettles and salt my feedback after the experiment
- Radish olive as a sider
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I would like to know which mulch would be better for a flower bed, where hosts grow with irises and peonies? Personally, I like the pine bark. But is it suitable for such a flower garden?
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This bark is really the best mulch, but only if it is of the second or third grinding. However, this material has one drawback - it quickly decomposes, enriching the soil, and after that the weeds grow very actively.
Sawdust can also be used, which during decomposition makes the soil more alkaline, and pine needles, on the contrary, acidic. It makes sense to pour them under rhododendrons and other plants that love acidic soils.