Questions tagged [mulch]
Mulches are gardener-applied ground covers.
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Is mulch in the desert a good idea?
I am getting wildly conflicting information on mulch. Some sources say that it starves plants, keeps rainfall from reaching the soil, grows mold, rots tree trunks, and feeds termites. Other sources ...
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Should there really be a gap between mulch and tree trunks?
"Leave a gap between the mulch and the tree trunk to prevent the tree trunk from rotting" — this is the advice that I have read in almost all articles and books that have instructions for ...
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Are bamboo leaves and chopped stems suitable for use as mulch?
In my garden, there is a bamboo plant (probably Bambusa vulgaris). I occasionally chop off 3 meter (10 ft) stems to reduce the spread of the bamboo plant, and leave the stems in a pile. In addition, ...
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Can I use unused pine bedding as mulch in my potted outdoor plants?
My hamster recently died and I have lots of pine bedding left over. Is it possible to use unused pine bedding as mulch for the potted plants in my garden?
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Can oak leaves be used for winter compost without shredding? [duplicate]
I planted six 8ft cherry laurels in the spring. Do I need to mulch them for the winter and can I use unshredded oak leaves? Any suggestions welcome!
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Freshish wood chips as filler for bottom of raised vege garden
I have built a raised bed (about 60cm high) and want to fill it so I can start growing stuff. Unfortunately the cost of vege mix/garden mix is quite high - so I'm wanting to add something as a ...
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Are they snails in the mulch?
Are they snails? They are in mulch of my mulberry tree. I read they are dangerous to plants. What should I do?
https://youtube.com/shorts/NlB4EqgUm_o
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Can I use dried broad bean pods as mulch?
I had planted broad beans last year, and kept some pods on the vine until they dried out and turned black. I shelled them so now I have dried beans for planting later on, but this left me with quite a ...
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Should I be Concerned About Mildew, etc. on Mulch?
Sadly, the brand names for bagged mulch found in the "Big Home Improvement" stores are pretty low quality nowadays. I put down some recently in my garden bed and almost immediately after a ...
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How long do leaves remain "green" for compost material after cutting a tree?
I am planning to clear some trees from my property to make room for a garden. I would like to chip/shred the branches to be used as mulch and compost material. According to the Back to Eden ...
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Can I sheet mulch over perennial bulbs?
By sheet mulching I mean laying cardboard and then 2-3 inches of mulch on top of it.
I want to do this to an area with daffodils. Since they have already bloomed, is it ok to do this, and in theory, ...
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Green giant Arborvitae natural fence
I want to create a 100 ft natural fence using Green Giants in the back row (30-50 ft ht) and staggering western green giant (15-30 ft ht)in the front. Is it best to mulch around each plant and mow the ...
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Sequoia needles as mulch or compost
I live in Portland, OR and I have a 100+ ft sequoia in my back yard. Keeping up with the falling needles/leaves is a year-round project. I've often wondered if they would make good compost. And ...
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How can I eradicate skunk cabbage from my yard?
I have a backyard that was mostly a wooded area up until 2 years ago. It now completely consists of a lawn and a decent sized mulch area on a hill with some ground plants that are supposed to ...
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Is it better to rake leaves into woods? Or bag them and haul them away?
Our home has 1-2 acres of community-owned forest adjacent to our property's backyard. We have wondered whether we should rake our leaves into the woods? Or is it best to bag and haul them away?
In ...
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What type of garden shredder produces the finest mulch?
When pruning bushes/trees in our garden we get a lot of waste branches that (up to now) were just piled up in a gigantic pile. Last year we also discovered wood chip mulch (store bought) for spreading ...
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Hickory leaves for compost
I've done some trimming on some hickory trees and now I have a bunch of leaves, and branches.
I would like to know if these leaves are good for composting to be used in the garden afterwards. Or is ...
CommunityBot
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color washing off black mulch
A gardener applied black mulch that he said is natural and not dyed. Yet when it rains, the color attaches to my dog. Is it normal for undyed mulch to have color wash off?
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How do I winterize fruit trees for cold winters
I have a few young fruit trees (1 each of a Liberty apple, Canadian Harmony peach, Bartlett pear, and Satsuma plum). I live in hardiness zone 5b in northern Utah, USA. The apple tree has survived a ...
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Will shredded mirror bush prunings create new mirror bush plants?
I have a large mirror bush (coprosma repens) that I want to remove, but I’m aware that it can be quite invasive, and that low hanging branches can strike new roots if they touch the soil.
If I ...
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Using Pine Chips for Perennial Beds
Took down 13 eastern white pine trees and was left with a significant pile of chips (plus lots of millable wood for flooring and other projects).
I have several mature perennial beds and am planning ...
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Rubber mulch for artillery fungus - good idea?
We have a small bed in the front of our house as shown below. It has had artilery fungus for the last few seasons and I want to completely be rid of it. I am considering putting in rubber mulch, ...
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Should I mulch my neighbors' leaves?
My neighborhood is 40 years old. I'm planning to only compost my backyard trees leaves. My front yard has a huge maple infected with scale and aphids, and has iron deficiency. The aphids suck moisture ...
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Additions to an existing rice husk mulch for fixing soil nutrients?
I have a small garden that i just mulched using rice husks with 2-3 cm deep without incooporating them into the soil. Rice husks are very abundant here in Indonesia.
But lately from my googling around,...
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What is a good way of getting rid of cypress leaves?
My parents' garden is circled by a massive hedge of cypress. When they bought it 10 years ago, it was completely unkept, and over the course of the years my dad has been trimming the cypresses more ...
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About removing mulch
We just bought a house with a big front and backyard most of which is covered by newly laid mulch/wood chips. There also seems to be a layer of plastic underneath this layer of mulch. The house has ...
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Should I tear holes in woven landscape fabric to cover ground of existing raspberry plants?
It turns out that raspberry plants multiply like a weed. Initially they were in a 1ft x 6ft plot. Now they spread to the adjacent 8ft x 8ft plot.
I'm not complaining. I wish it were possible to move ...
CommunityBot
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Simplest grass seed mulch options: Nothing vs Paper vs Ground Wheat vs Ground Oats
I am growing Kentucky bluegrass on deep topsoil in Minnesota and found that the grass
punches through mostly in spots covered by a thin shredded-paper mulch that I applied
(since I applied the paper ...
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2nd time MOMMY Muscovy Duck had a clutch of eggs in my mulch bed!
I don't want Mommy to lay a 3rd Clutch!!! What can I do to deter this from happening again? They are cute and ALL when they hatch, but this 2nd Clutch ... she left one little one behind and I'm ...
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What are these mushrooms growing in the mulch around my orange tree
I have 2 or 3 types of mushrooms growing in the mulch around my orange tree near Houston, Texas (UDSA Zone 9a). What are they? The the last picture is actually 3 clustered, I haven't pulled it up yet ...
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Preparing ground for reforestation / grass clippings for mulch
I'm at the earliest stages of toying with planting a food forest or reforesting part of my property (in rural Auckland - Zone 9a I think). The ground is mainly unmaintained grass and weeds sitting on ...
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Can mulch/gravel protect soil against cockchafer?
Last year I had a big problem with cockchafer (or some other bug, maybe Japanese beetle) grubs in my potted plants.
I wonder if covering the soil with mulch or gravel can prevent bugs from getting ...
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Is bark mulch termite resistant?
We're looking to freshen the mulch on our property and our pest control company is asking us to only use termite-resistant mulch. The closest alternative the landscaper has is a top grade bark mulch. ...
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How to feed and mulch fruit bushes
I found some good information on looking after fruit trees of types common in the UK here (https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=539)
Essentially:
Clear ground of grass around the trunk
Apply ...
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Can leaves be used as a good mulch?
Wood chippings are often used as a natural mulch but I have a far greater abundance of leaves since my property is surrounded with beech and sycamore (a type of common maple) trees.
Clearly these ...
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Will mulching be used as a breeding ground by harmful insects and/or bacteria?
I have seen that after 2-3 weeks after applying the mulch of rice hull one of the eggplants died. It firstly started with drooping unexpectedly. I did rule out over or under watering, as schedule and ...
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Decorative Mulching Options for Base of Tree?
I'd like to put something decorative in the circle of dirt between the mulch ring and the base of a tree. Are there any options that are considered acceptable? A thin layer of decomposed granite? ...
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How do I create my own mulch?
I have a pile of small wood chips from felled trees.
I want to create black mulch.
Can I do it and how?
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Can gravel be used beneath wood chips for weed control?
I would like to put a picnic table in my front yard and I like the look of wood chips, but I don't like landscaping fabric.
Would gravel, laid beneath the wood chips, prevent weed growth in this low-...
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Pine Bark vs Sphagnum Peat/Sand for Blueberries and Azaleas
I had a quick question, because I'm trying to figure up my mulch and fertilizer needs for this Spring. I had bought my father a couple of blueberry plants, among others, because that's what he wanted ...
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Should I still add mulch on top of my garden bed when the soil already has mulch mixed in?
I filled my raised garden bed with Kellogg's raised bed and potting mix and have planted my vegetables (plants, not seeds). I've read that it's best to add a layer of mulch on top but this brand of ...
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Should I allow grass to grow around the base of trees?
I recently bought a house and the grounds were professionally landscaped, so all the trees have mulch circles around them of about 6-12 feet in diameter depending on the size of the tree.
Originally ...
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I am considering mulch for my orchard but i worry about fire?
I am considering some types of mulch for my orchard but I am really worried about fire. We have about three month(summer) without any rainfall and humidity is about 20-30%. For example if I use hay ...
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Anyone here using wood mulch for their succulents?
I've been wanting to create a succulent garden and I've been doing alot of info gathering on how to provide the best care/environment for such plants. Everything was going fine untill mulching became ...
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Should I mulch after turning in a cover crop? In a raised bed
I planted a cover cropping mix (clover mix) and recently turned it into the soil so that it can decompose in 3-6 weeks. First I cut the green parts of the cover crop into the soil and then used a hoe ...
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Wood chips instead of rock mulch for a cactus garden
I live in a Mediterranean climate. My soil is light in clay, so it is somewhat sandy. Still, when it's low in organic matter it hardens when dry, since it has some clay in it. The said area has: ...
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Any advantages/disadvantages to adding pistachio and peanut shells to my barkchip mulch?
I have a small area in my backyard to which I'm starting to add barkchips for weed-avoidance and water retention. It contains newer small trees and bushes.
My question is whether adding generous ...
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What can be done with hazelnut shells?
I've found a lot of empty and broken hazelnut shells lying under huge hazelnut shrub. (Most of them were eaten by squirrels but some have worm holes). Is it safe to use them for composting (maybe ...
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Does the type of mulch you use matter depending on where you are or the type of climate you have?
I plan on using mulch for the first time starting next year so I've been looking up you tube videos regarding the topic to get me started. So far, wood chips is what tops the list of all the people ...
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Should I have added dead leaves directly to my garden?
With all the fallen leaves that were on our field I picked them up with my lawnmower with the pouch and them put that in my garden and worked the rototiller afterwards. I thought it would be good for ...
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