Mulching? What do you use?

DH has always used Cypress mulch in the beds, but for my new perennial beds I'd like to use something a little darker I think. I layed out a small amount and just don't like the looks of it. Can I just work what I've already thrown down into the soil as an organic agent or should I rake it back up and lay something else, and what would you recommend? I don't want to use anything too fine as right now the kid and the puppy run threw it and track it in the house. I'm hoping once the flowers grow in, they will not be so tempted. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Jen

Pinestraw. It's my favorite mulch - looks great, cheap, slow to break down and doesn't tend to stick to feet (puppy or human) Only downside is that as it ages, it does become dry and a potential fire hazard - wouldn't recomend it for homes on the edge of forested areas, tallgrass prairies anywhere subject to the risk of wildfire on a regular basis.

Thanks Terry. I may look into that, but I think I may hold off and wait until fall, I'd really like to throw a layer of fallen leaves in there and then I'll top off with another type of mulch, possibly pine straw as cheap sounds great! When the weather starts chilling, I hopefully will not have to worry so much about the kid/puppy running in and out all times a day.

Thanks for your input.

Jen

New Cedar mulch in the spring and fall in the front to make the Home Owner's Association think I am trying hard. In the back and on the sides it is usually recycled aged Cedar (from the front), shredded native hardwood mulch and leaves. I would love to use pine mulch to top off my alkaline soil, but it is not cheap around here.

I mulch with un-shredded oak leaves. I have too many oak trees, so it's free. It's good for the soil and the plants - especially those that like acid. And I like the way it looks - natural.

The only problem is the dang little baby oaks. But they are easy enough to pull. I pulled three today, and that's about average, so it's not really a problem.

Cheri'

I use a variety of things. A local tree service has piles of chipped up trimmings that are free so I go load my pickup and use that in my flower beds, along with grass clippings, unfinished compost. In the vegie garden I use unfinished compost, straw, grass clippings and leaves that I collect in town in the fall when people bag them up to be hauled away. I still have leaves left over from a year or two ago so I need to rototill some of those into the soil this fall before the plastic bags totally disintegrate from the sun. I do not buy anything to use for mulch, there is plenty of free stuff around my area.

I like the idea of the chopped leaves, we have three maples in the back. I was planning on waiting, adding the chopped leaves and then putting a final layer of mulch on in the end. If I could leave it at the leaves and save some money that would be great, but I'm wondering if that would be a mess tracked in the house? The puppy and the three year old normally take the shortest route to get where there going and its right through my flower bed, LOL.

Jen

I learnt about mulching only after my entry to DG! Such was the ignorance! I use dry leaves that a couple of my trees and many plants drop. I have stopped burning ever since. My friend told me that it is 'green gold' and I realized it soon after. Mulching has helped me control weeds to a great extent. Even twigs now go into the bases of plants.

I use a variety of materials. Leaves from a nearby town which are delivered to us by the dumptruck load as they can't take them to the landfill, trees and large weeds we shred, grass clippings from our yard(only occasionally since they often contain weedgrass seeds), shredded barn cleanings from the State Fair Grounds in Sedalia, and under all that fine stuff I like to put cardboard, newspapers, old feed bags,etc. to really smother out the weeds.

I also lay down old pieces of carpet to smother out weeds in larger areas. After just a year or so most grasses and weeds are more or less permanently killed out.