In article
,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

All mulches will suppress weeds if they are thick enough and (in the case of
perennial weeds) if they are lifted and let drop back to the ground as the
weeds show through (and this is repeated often enough to starve the weeds of
light - it may take some time though). All mulches will also help in
moisture retention if they are thick enough and there is moisture there to
begin with. Some mulches can actually be water repellant to a degree so
they must also allow good passage of moisture through them. Alfalfa based
mulches are very good for improving the soil over time and especially if
used with animal manures used under the mulch to encourage earthworms and
soil biota.

HTH.
With some crops, like corn and tomatoes, soil temperature is important.
How do you determine when to apply the mulch?

- Bill
Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

On May 14, 1:42 pm, wrote:
I am living in eastern Ontario area. Is red cedar mulching good for
this area? For backyard mulching, what may be the best, to prevent
pest and other drawbacks?

Even old leaves works OK to stifle weeds. Hundreds of millions of
years of forests can't be wrong.
On the other hand, I got tired of the wood chip mulch getting old and
turning to fertilizer for the weeds every year, so I've just started
up a test bed with a layer of that spunbonded weed barrier cloth from
home depot and that newfangled recycled tire rubber mulch. I'll let
you know how it works out in a couple of years. It's like $12-15 per
cubic foot, so it better last.

On May 15, 12:38 pm, z wrote:
On May 14, 1:42 pm, wrote:

I am living in eastern Ontario area. Is red cedar mulching good for
this area? For backyard mulching, what may be the best, to prevent
pest and other drawbacks?

Even old leaves works OK to stifle weeds. Hundreds of millions of
years of forests can't be wrong.
On the other hand, I got tired of the wood chip mulch getting old and
turning to fertilizer for the weeds every year, so I've just started
up a test bed with a layer of that spunbonded weed barrier cloth from
home depot and that newfangled recycled tire rubber mulch. I'll let
you know how it works out in a couple of years. It's like $12-15 per
cubic foot, so it better last.

I read a paper (found through google) in which the tire mulch was
compared against wood chip mulch, to test whether it heated up enough
so to deter plant growth. They found it was warmer, but did not warm
the soil underneath enough to affect growth. In other words, it passed
the test. Perfect for the goth garden.

The problem with weed barriers is that you have to cut through them
every time you put a new plant in, and I'm seldom decisive enough to
find the perfect spot the first time.

As for cedar mulches, and the OP's question, if anything, red cedar
mulch has the reputation of repelling ants and other pests. It does
break down over time, but if you are looking to add organic matter to
your soil, that's an asset.
Dora

Mulch

Mulching - http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub3.html and

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/M/index.html Look up "Mulch"


Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

wrote in message
On May 15, 10:03 am, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

I did not know Alfalfa based mulches.

Sorry I should have been more careful in my explanation. Alfalfa can be
grown but the way in which I was using the term, I meant the type of
bought
stock feed that is used for cattle or horse feed - usually hay or chaff.
It
is also exceptional mulching material because it is an excellent food
source
for earthworms and other soil life and the amount of soil life is a good
indication of soil fertility.




I might have understood it in a wrong way. When you said Alfalfa, I
was thinking about the small-can-contained seeds sold in Wal-Mart --
for flower carpet uses -- I bet?

No. I meant that if you buy bales of alfalfa hay or use alfalfa chaff you
lay that out on the ground as a mulch.

-- No, I only wish I could get a more enjoyable backyard. It will not
be a farm.

It would be ahrd for an area of 10x8 to be seen as a fram :-))

So is it good to buy some such flower carpet seeds -- say I noticed
that there are many different colore flowers -- and spray them on some
bare-earth with some new top-soil, and they can grow?

Why bother to do that? You've already put down the cedar muclch so see what
happens. If you are not happy with the cedar muclh then look for
alternatives when you decide that you aren't happy with the cardar mulch.

Are they dying in the winter? Or do I have to control their growth
next sprint/summer?

Just want to learn some more knowledge.

Someone else mentioned using the local library and I would support that
suggestion. If you want to only learn a little about gardenign then this is
the cheap way to do it. If you do become very interested in gardening then
you will eventually end up with a huge library of books on the subject like
the rest of us who are addicted to the this interest.

Now I have applied some red cedar mulches, about 2". I guess that
might not be enough. Also someone told me that red cedar could lead to
pests, ants, etc. how should I deal with the applied red cedar? ro
remove them?

If you have put it down already then I would suggest that you leave it
and
just keep an eye on what is happening. If you do get ants in this place,
will they be a problem? Or perhaps I should ask, why would they be a
problem? Most gardens would have some ants in them and unless they are
eating something or swarming over something they usually aren't a
problem.

The "flower" field is near to my patio in the backyard. I do not want
to have pests/insects. Another question, how do I control mosquitos,
or some other not-welcomed insects?

Do you have nay insect/pest problems now? If you don't, then don't worry
aobut them before they arrive.

Do you know the names of the weeds it is that you are trying to
kill/cover?

The weeds are on my front lawn area. I do not know their names, but
they are wide leaves and yellow followers, some are very evil looking.

The most quoted definition of a weed is a plant in the wrong place. So a
rose in the wrong place could be a weed. Most weeds serve some purpose in
nature and most have some beneficial aspects. Find out what these
particular weeds are and then you can find out why they have grown where
they are and thus what the 'problem' is with the site where they are
growing.

I am waiting for the weed-control man to get rid of them. So far
weedman is not doing his work I have paid for. If I knew how to remove
them earlier, I would have done the removal myself. I guess a fork-
like knife with remove the weeds? Then put some top soil, and spray
some grass seeds to let the lawn be green again?

By the sound of that description, your lawn has other problems than the
weeds. It sounds like it could have been compacted or allowed to get bare
spots for a variety of reasons and then the weed invaded. I would not be
surprised if the weeds are doing a natural form of repair to your lawn, but
it is nature that is choosing to solve the problem and that does not fit
with what you want.

You can see, I do not have muh knowledge about gardening, simply
started to learn.

Do head off to a library or a newsagent. You will learn lots by looking and
reading but without some specific information (such as the names of the
weeds) it is hard for us to be of a lot of help to you. We can write in
generalities but can't be too specific.

"Billy" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
news:46498919$0$9107$5a62ac22@per-qv1-
All mulches will suppress weeds if they are thick enough and (in the case
of perennial weeds) if they are lifted and let drop back to the ground as
the weeds show through (and this is repeated often enough to starve the
weeds of light - it may take some time though).



This is a bit misleading, I think.

Agreed, but for a beginner, any more than that can just be confusing.

I have a huge, very heavily mulched area that sprouts weeds as fast as I
can pull them. Bird droppings contain seeds that easily germinate after
landing on top of mulch no matter how deep it is.
So while mulch might suppress weeds from growing up through them they do
not stop seeds that land on them from germinating.

It's a minor distinction, I agree, and might have to do with my hot humid
climate. But I hate to think of novice gardeners laying down mulch and
thinking they will never have weeds.

Unfortuantley there is no way around that. Novice gardeners do tend to
think that because they are novices. We should say to simply lay down green
concrete but they have to start their interest somewhere.

In article
,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

Someone else mentioned using the local library and I would support that
suggestion.

Our local library also has gardening DVDs on every thing from
vegetables, and flowers to lawns. Couldn't be easier.

- Bill
Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)