Vegetable Garden Mulch
 

Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:37:15 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150

Go to any feed store and buy a bale of alfalfa hay. Do NOT buy
bermuda hay. Alfalfa hay is the best mulch for any vegetable garden,
hands down.

Victoria

I live in NW Austin. Where would be the closest "feed store" at which
I could purchase alfalfa hay?

Cheers,

Ed.


Bourne Identity wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:37:15 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150

Go to any feed store and buy a bale of alfalfa hay. Do NOT buy
bermuda hay. Alfalfa hay is the best mulch for any vegetable garden,
hands down.

Victoria

I don't know, you can look it up in the Austin yellow pages under feed
stores, or farm supply stores.

On 29 Jun 2005 09:13:35 -0700, "ed" wrote:

I live in NW Austin. Where would be the closest "feed store" at which
I could purchase alfalfa hay?

Cheers,

Ed.


Bourne Identity wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:37:15 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150

Go to any feed store and buy a bale of alfalfa hay. Do NOT buy
bermuda hay. Alfalfa hay is the best mulch for any vegetable garden,
hands down.

Victoria

You could use the poor mans mulch-- grass clippings. Save your clippings let
them dry if you like and then spread. you can just spread out fresh cut
clippings but becare full not to spread to deep. The composting heat could
damage your plants. Also, green clippings tend to mat up an will not allow
water to flow through them. I will ditto that alfalfa hay is probably the
best veggie mulch.

Have Fun

Jim

"Rainman" wrote in message
...
Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150

Actually we usually use grass clippings and it always seems to work,
but I'm always afraid they will start growing and I will have all that
grass to pull all summer long. Do I have anything to worry about?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:24:08 GMT, "Jim Marrs"
wrote:

You could use the poor mans mulch-- grass clippings. Save your clippings let
them dry if you like and then spread. you can just spread out fresh cut
clippings but becare full not to spread to deep. The composting heat could
damage your plants. Also, green clippings tend to mat up an will not allow
water to flow through them. I will ditto that alfalfa hay is probably the
best veggie mulch.

Have Fun

Jim

"Rainman" wrote in message
.. .
Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150


Rainman
239/215/150

Yes, it it's bermuda grass and it has seed heads in the clippings. I
don't recommend grass clippings for vegetable gardens in the south.
The north is a different thing.

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 06:24:08 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Actually we usually use grass clippings and it always seems to work,
but I'm always afraid they will start growing and I will have all that
grass to pull all summer long. Do I have anything to worry about?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:24:08 GMT, "Jim Marrs"
wrote:

You could use the poor mans mulch-- grass clippings. Save your clippings let
them dry if you like and then spread. you can just spread out fresh cut
clippings but becare full not to spread to deep. The composting heat could
damage your plants. Also, green clippings tend to mat up an will not allow
water to flow through them. I will ditto that alfalfa hay is probably the
best veggie mulch.

Have Fun

Jim

"Rainman" wrote in message
. ..
Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150


Rainman
239/215/150

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:00:23 GMT, Bourne Identity
wrote:

Yes, it it's bermuda grass and it has seed heads in the clippings. I
don't recommend grass clippings for vegetable gardens in the south.
The north is a different thing.

If you put the clippings in a black plastic garbage bag and leave them
exposed to direct sunlight for a week then I think the heat
accumulated in the bag will kill any seeds and other desirables in the
clippings. Kind of like autoclaving or pasteurizing the clippings.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 12:28:51 -0500, Rusty Mase wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:00:23 GMT, Bourne Identity
wrote:

Yes, it it's bermuda grass and it has seed heads in the clippings. I
don't recommend grass clippings for vegetable gardens in the south.
The north is a different thing.

If you put the clippings in a black plastic garbage bag and leave them
exposed to direct sunlight for a week then I think the heat
accumulated in the bag will kill any seeds and other desirables in the
clippings. Kind of like autoclaving or pasteurizing the clippings.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas

If you put fresh grass clippings in a bag for a week in the Texas sun,
it will be liquified putrification! PU.

Actually I AM in the north, New Jersey.
Does that make me off topic?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:00:23 GMT, Bourne Identity
wrote:


Yes, it it's bermuda grass and it has seed heads in the clippings. I
don't recommend grass clippings for vegetable gardens in the south.
The north is a different thing.

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 06:24:08 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Actually we usually use grass clippings and it always seems to work,
but I'm always afraid they will start growing and I will have all that
grass to pull all summer long. Do I have anything to worry about?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:24:08 GMT, "Jim Marrs"
wrote:

You could use the poor mans mulch-- grass clippings. Save your clippings let
them dry if you like and then spread. you can just spread out fresh cut
clippings but becare full not to spread to deep. The composting heat could
damage your plants. Also, green clippings tend to mat up an will not allow
water to flow through them. I will ditto that alfalfa hay is probably the
best veggie mulch.

Have Fun

Jim

"Rainman" wrote in message
...
Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150


Rainman
239/215/150

Rainman
239/215/150

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:11:49 GMT, Bourne Identity
wrote:

If you put fresh grass clippings in a bag for a week in the Texas sun,
it will be liquified putrification! PU.

Yep, this will go into anaerobic decomposition (ROT) but I think it
takes longer than a week to get to that stage. If you leave it in a
bag very long and your "liquified putrification" is a most apt term as
I have done that, too.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas

If you put fresh grass clippings in a bag for a week in the Texas
sun, it will be liquified putrification! PU.

Yep, this will go into anaerobic decomposition (ROT) but I think it
takes longer than a week to get to that stage. If you leave it in a
bag very long and your "liquified putrification" is a most apt term as
I have done that, too.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas

Heck, it gets hot and putrefies right on the ground when you use it as much.
Don't step on it, yech! I don't know if it would hurt anything, but after I
spread it, I pull it back a couple inches or so from tree trunks and plants.

Cindy

Not at all off topic. You don't have bermuda grass in the north, so
what I said didn't apply. However, if you put thick layers of grass
clippings on beds as mulch, you could potentially set up a condition
for pathogens to develop in the decomposition process, which could be
anerobic for this purpose.

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:13:40 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Actually I AM in the north, New Jersey.
Does that make me off topic?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:00:23 GMT, Bourne Identity
wrote:


Yes, it it's bermuda grass and it has seed heads in the clippings. I
don't recommend grass clippings for vegetable gardens in the south.
The north is a different thing.

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 06:24:08 -0400, Rainman
wrote:

Actually we usually use grass clippings and it always seems to work,
but I'm always afraid they will start growing and I will have all that
grass to pull all summer long. Do I have anything to worry about?

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:24:08 GMT, "Jim Marrs"
wrote:

You could use the poor mans mulch-- grass clippings. Save your clippings let
them dry if you like and then spread. you can just spread out fresh cut
clippings but becare full not to spread to deep. The composting heat could
damage your plants. Also, green clippings tend to mat up an will not allow
water to flow through them. I will ditto that alfalfa hay is probably the
best veggie mulch.

Have Fun

Jim

"Rainman" wrote in message
m...
Is it advisable to use mulch in a vegetable garden to keep the weeds
down? If so, any recommendations on the best type of mulch to use?
Rainman
239/215/150


Rainman
239/215/150

Rainman
239/215/150

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 17:32:24 GMT, "Cindy" wrote:


If you put fresh grass clippings in a bag for a week in the Texas
sun, it will be liquified putrification! PU.

Yep, this will go into anaerobic decomposition (ROT) but I think it
takes longer than a week to get to that stage. If you leave it in a
bag very long and your "liquified putrification" is a most apt term as
I have done that, too.

Rusty Mase
Austin, Texas

Heck, it gets hot and putrefies right on the ground when you use it as much.
Don't step on it, yech! I don't know if it would hurt anything, but after I
spread it, I pull it back a couple inches or so from tree trunks and plants.

Cindy


Like I said to the OP, if it is a thick enough layer of fresh
clippings, it could prosper anaerobic conditions, which will present
pathogens which could cause molds and fungi, and not the beneficial
type.