Do I till in my winter mulch or rake it up before I plant?

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joyeld1 Lees Summit, MO Mar 16, 2009

Okay, I know this is a newbie question. But last year my garden was a disaster and I don't want a repeat! At the end of the year when I pulled my plants I mulched the garden with grass and leaf clippings. Do I rake this up before I plant, or should I till it in? Any help would be great!

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NatureLover1950 Vicksburg, MS(Zone 8a) Mar 16, 2009

If your mulch rotted down pretty good over the winter, I'd till it in to help condition your soil. Nothing beats working compost into your garden. I mulch my garden with wheat straw every summer and get hubby to disk it in sometime in mid-winter.

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XMelissaX Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) Mar 17, 2009

I have a LOT of leaves in my yard and when I cover my beds with them they never break down enough by spring to till them in. So I now have two compost piles. The leaves from '08 will stay there until '10. The leaves from '07 have broken down very nicely. I'll add them to my beds this year and till them in. This way is a lot more work then just tilling the leaves directly, but I have too many to do that. But I couldn't imagine just bagging them and throwing them all away in the fall.

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joyeld1 Lees Summit, MO Mar 17, 2009

I would say that my leaves (which were bagged and then dumped into the garden) are about 50% broken down. Is this enough?

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XMelissaX Indianapolis, IN(Zone 5b) Mar 18, 2009

If the leaves are dry and crumbly, they should be fine. If only the top is dry and the bottom is wet, soggy mats of leaves it doesn't work out very well. Especially if you are doing seed/seedlings.

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HoneybeeNC Charlotte, NC(Zone 7b) Mar 19, 2009

If you had a problem last year with fungus diseases - I would advise removing the mulch and throwing it out, otherwise when it rains the spores can bounce up onto your new plants. If diseases were no problem last year and the mulch is well-rotted, then dig it in. If it's not well-rotted, I would remove it and put it in the compost pile, or just pull it aside and put in fresh plants.

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