i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden? will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?

thanks
simon

On Wed, 21 May 2003 21:14:14 GMT, "Simon Stenkle"
wrote:

i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden? will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?


I've used hay a lot. I don't think it increases the weed
problem noticeably. Maybe it does, but if it does, I've
never noticed it.

How do you know how many weeds you would have had without
it?

Pat

"Simon Stenkle" wrote in message
...
i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden?
will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?

thanks
simon



I have used hay and have had no problems with it. I think that this
would depend on the source of your hay, specifically if it was cut with
many viable seeds included, it seems that mine was not.

Is there any dust in the bottom of the containers/heaps where it is
stored? Any seeds visible there? You could start out on a small area
and inspect closely after a couple of weeks, if it is warm and you have
kept the veges moist and nothing much has germinated by then you should
be OK

David

i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden?
will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?


Hay is a field crop(wheat, rye oats etc)that has been harvested whole--thus it
will containm seed heads.

Straw is the remaining part of a fields crop after the seed heads have been
harvested and thus will contain few if any seeds

Salt hay is a salt marsh plant from the east coast and does not have any seeds
and is less liable to break down.

"Simon Stenkle" wrote in message
...
i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden?
will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?

Depends. In most regions the first cutting is usually a bit weedy for
most types - alfalfa, clover, timothy, brome, et al. Second cuttings of
alfalfa and clover are less weedy and the third cutting of alfalfa is
almost weed-free.

In the desert southwest (Phoenix area) the opposite is true. Early
alfalfa cuttings are pretty pure but when warm season grasses (like
giant Bermuda, aka devil weed) start to grow, the later cuttings are
progressively weedier.

So it's pretty hard to generalize about weeds in hay. I prefer wheat or
rye straw - not many weeds. Sometimes the cereal grains get through the
combine screens but the resulting wheat and rye sprouts are pretty easy
to control.

Olin

(Frankhartx) writes:

Hay is a field crop(wheat, rye oats etc)that has been harvested
whole--thus it will containm seed heads.

The ideal time to cut hay is before it's gone to seed, since that's
when it has the highest food value. Weather and time constraints
don't always allow that, though. Weeds growing in the hayfield may
also have gone to seed by cutting time. So very high quality hay may
have very few seeds, while a lower-quality hay could have a lot of
them.

Straw is the remaining part of a fields crop after the seed heads
have been harvested and thus will contain few if any seeds

Again, it depends on how many weeds are growing among the dead stalks
that become straw. It also depends on how good a job the combine does
of removing all the grain from the heads.

In general, you will find fewer seeds in straw than in hay, but there
are several other differences to consider when deciding which to use.
(Not least of which might be availability in your area.) Here's my
long explanation of the two from sometime last year:

http://aaron.baugher.pike.il.us/off-...es/000045.html


--
Aaron

i was wondering if anyone uses hay as mulch in their vegetable garden? will
it increase the weed problem if it has gone to seed?

thanks
simon

We've been using hay mulch for years and have found that if it's put
on thick enough there is no weeds. Once the mulch rots down and weeds
finally do start poking through, we add more. We usually put mulch on
4 to 6 inches deep. It's great for worms and moisture retention too.

Randy


http://ruralroute2.com