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:
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After discovering that squash bugs LOVE to over winter and prefer leaves during the summer months as well, I will no longer use leaves as mulch in the garden. I will however use them in my compost. I add fresh chicken poop to start the decomposition process which in turn kills them darn bugs. Its only straw from here on out
Straw has seeds, don’t use it, use shredded leaves
you said pine won't rob nitrogen just sitting on the surface. does that you can't till it into the soil later?
Great video thank you 🥰
Can I use pine shavings in my vegetable garden?
Where you get your straw from ?
Because most of them are contaminated with herbicides and pesticides.
Seaweeds – eel grass or what i nicknamed fettuccine. If you live near the sea.
How do you rate cocoa shell mulch for a vegetable garden?
I subscribed cause u showed me how to break up my fall leaves by using a weed whacked in a plastic barrel- thanks so much – also use straw -pine mulch – leaves – homemade compost ..
Hi Joe we just got some free chips delivered from a utility clean up crew. There is a lot of cedar in it. It smells wonderful but is there anything you would say don’t do with it? Is it something to keep away from the garden? What would you use heavy cedar content chip drop material for?
I too have been using grass clippings and leaf mold for years and my "red clay" soil is no longer!
Using fall leaves is tempting for me but I worry about introducing pathogens into my beds. Is that an unreasonable worry?
I was using wheat straw for mulching and as a high carbon additive to my compost piles but then found that all of the straw I can locate has all been sprayed, probably with Glyphosates. I don't want that in my soil. I'm looking for a replacement for both uses.
It is a very useful and very important information about Mulch.
I use leaves from neighbors. They’re free. They’re great around the tomato plants especially.
I'd use leaves too…if we had and trees around here. I live on the eastern Plains of rural colorado. There are two whole trees here and they are coniferous.
I have heard that Straw mulch can attract snails and slugs. Is that correct? Thank you
The beds looked like they were made from treated lumber?
I started using animal bedding pine wood shavings as mulch. Gets good coverage and is pretty cheap. I guess it will break down eventually though it may take some time.
You have the nicest veggie garden of all the YouTube garden educational YouTubers.
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.
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!
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.
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I like sugar cane and leaves
How can you find out if wheat straw was sprayed with Roundup?
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.
0:38 video starts
Hi my name is Charlie How do you feel about using pressure treated timbers for your raise garden
I like the string trimmer in the barrel trick to shred the leaves. Brilliant
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?
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 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.
SO MUCH HAY IS TREATED WITH TOXINS THAT WILL KILL MOST OF YOUR PLANTS NOW, PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH.
Wouldnt using an arborist mulch from chainsawing be adding unwanted bar oil to your garden?
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!
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!