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Suitable Mulch For Vegetables and fruit trees (forum)

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au0rey starts with ...
Hi all, we recently had a big revamp for our garden - new lawn!!! new gardening edging too..and planning to use mulch for some large areas since they do not get much sun and cannot grow much except weeds.

I have looked at sugar/lucerne/mushroom compost..but feel that though they are nutritious for the soil they are easily blown away and scratched out by birds. I want something which is bigger in size per piece and harmless for my vegetables and fruit trees. Also would like it to look good too. I have recently explored on red wood chips but learnt that thought the colouring is naturally-derived and harmless, the wood may contain arsenic since they are made from recycled wood.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what best mulch i can use? Attached pictures of areas where I plan to mulch. Thank you!
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Picture: 2

Picture: 3


Time: 30th October 2010 3:13pm

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krazykangaroo says...
You can get other sorts of natural wood and bark chips but they can also be scratched out onto the lawn. An answer to this problem is to grow groundcovers around the edges of the garden beds.

Other alternatives can be pebbles or weedmat (until you get some low groundcovers growing to cover it).

Time: 31st October 2010 6:47am

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Brendan says...
Hi Au0rey, I like the compressed/chopped coconut husks from bunnies. Looks good & lasts a long time.
Btw, the imported stuff is better than the local product :-(

Bit wet there Au0rey? :-)

Time: 31st October 2010 8:35am

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au0rey says...
Thanks Krazykangaroo! Growing something along the garden edge seems a brilliant idea - it is decorative and stops mulch from being scratched out by birds. Only challenge with this is the plants will take a while to grow into a proper hedge and I will have to maintain it..and extra cost to purchase a lot of pots. I would have to figure out what plants to grow to stop mulch from being scratched out from the vege beds. I thought the expensive gardening edging (in pics) we recently installed should help with mulch being scratched out? The real test will come when the mulch is in.

Brendan, it was raining a lot these two days..hence the little flooding at some areas where I have not yet mulched. I will have to level the ground a bit more after rain goes. The new lawn sure loved the rain. :). Do you know how these compressed/chopped coconut husks looked like? YOu mean from Bunnings? Do you mean coir fibre?

Do you guys think pinebark or red gum chips are fine for vege beds? I dont think they are possibly toxic like red wood chips right? Pls correct me if I am wrong. I have asked at garden centres but of cos I get varying opinions and am quite confused. The important thing is non toxic, weed suppressing and decorative to a certain extent. I dont mind if the mulch is not nutritious to the soil cos I can add organic fertilisers anyway.

Thanks!

Time: 31st October 2010 2:36pm

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Cuong says...
I think the wood chip is a better mulch than coir fibre as it will allow water to go through to the root zone of the plant.

I would have thought that the coir fibre would soak up alot of the water and let weeds to grow?

Time: 31st October 2010 6:22pm

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Wayne says...
I guess I must be the odd one out here, I don't mulch my vegie gardens.

I must be from the old school, born and bred in the Bowen farming community. Father inlaw [now deceased] being a commercial tomato farmer, he never mulched crops. Nowdays they grow most crops over plastic strips but those crops that are not are never mulched.

Pictures of my bean garden taken four days apart. The beans are flowering but not setting pods but now looking at the difference over the time I think they are getting to much Nitrogen.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Picture: 2


Time: 31st October 2010 7:06pm

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Original Post was last edited: 1st November 2010 7:57am

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Julie says...
auOrey, Mondo grass grows quite fast if you water and feed it at first. You can buy small pots and it will fill the space fairly quickly. Needs no maintenance.

I bought a small pot and now have about 10 large pots through dividing it.

Time: 31st October 2010 7:59pm

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Brendan says...
au0rey, yes, I used to buy it from bunnings, it's not coir fibre, it's more chunky than that. I can't remember the name, ('old-timers' disease). It came in a compressed block about 300mm cubed.
The coconut pieces are about 20 to 25mm cubed, and it does last a long time, but chip bark would too.
To stop weeds, I'd make it ~100mm thick.

Time: 1st November 2010 8:34am

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au0rey says...
Wayne, if I have all vege beds I think weeds are not an issue somehow...but with low-lying exposed grounds, weeds sprout up very quickly. Already the bare soil after the garden revamp is seeing lots of tiny weeds germinating and I surely have to stop this using mulch. As you can see from the pics I have posted, the areas are large hence weeding will keep me too busy. Your beans look so healthy. Are they yardlong beans/snake beans?

Cuong, yes I thought it was coir fibre but it shouldnt be cos they do absorb too much moisture and are so fine...better off having them for beddings for my worms.

Thanks Brendan, I will have a look at the coconut fibre mulch. I went bunnings today and had a look at Richgro's pine bark and red gum mulch which come in chip form...they are graded so I think they come in regular size...but I would need a huge no of bags...I need to buy bulk or it will blow a hole in my pocket...Sorry, need to clarify...what is chip bark? Are you saying pine bark or red gum chips are fine for vege beds...I really hope they are cos they seem best bet for now... They are natural things straight from the trees right?

Julie, I wil have a look at what mondo grass is. Thanks!

Thanks!

Time: 1st November 2010 8:52pm

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Rhys says...
I've used "Eucalyptus Mulch" when i've wanted to cover a large area with something that will hang around. Not sure about Melbourne, but most landscape suppliers in Newcastle supply it, and it was relatively cheap from memory if you buy it in bulk. I guess you would describe it as a medium grade mulch in terms of the "particle size", and i find it will mat down to a certain extent like the finer stuff to help prevent weeds getting through, but still lasts for a long time like the larger stuff. If you really want to suppress the weeds, then can i suggest a thick (and i mean thick) layer of newspaper on the ground before the mulch. The more newspaper the better, and then the mulch as thick as you can as well. Even then, you will still get the odd weed poking through, and some weeds can potentially take root in the mulch as well, so you will still need to do some weeding, but it will be much less than you would other wise.
The other thing to consider would be laying some dripper/soaker hose on top of the newspaper and before putting the mulch on, as this will make watering much more efficient.

Time: 1st November 2010 10:06pm

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John Mc says...
I'd go for well composted horse manure on all three pics. It looks great and is one of the worlds best soil conditioners. I have it on all the garden/flower beds around the house. Mrs John Mc is very fussy as to what goes there I can tell you. If you can't get it well composted then sugar cane mulch looks great too. It breaks down into a beautiful rich top soil/mulch.

Time: 1st November 2010 11:28pm

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Wayne says...
I could go steal some cane mulch John, they're cutting the cane here at this time of year.

They are a long bean that I picked up at the local market au0rey, I notice the flowers are just starting to set.

Here's my trusty weeder that I use, an old paint roller frame. The beauty of these is that they come in different sizes :-]
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1


Time: 2nd November 2010 7:45am

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au0rey says...
Wayne, no wonder...I thought I saw a pod that is longish in your pictures...long beans and snake beans and yardlong beans are same thing...they are asean veg...when harvest, can eat as salad plus mayo but a friend says it may cause tummy ache if eaten raw...best eaten cooked...i cut the beans into finely crosswise and the make omelette out of it with some chopped garlic and light soya sauce all beaten together...it is very popular dish in my country. :)

John, I am in metro melbourne so not sure where to get horse manure but i did sprinkled lots of blood and bone around those areas before I get my mulch.

Picture 1 : thinking of growing some shade loving plants next year

Picture 2 : Around the peach tree. thinking of growing edible bulbs crocus sativus when I get hold of them.

Picture 3 : Vege patch...big area about 7by3 metres right in front of the house.

Hehe I am quite a perfectionist and would like the mulch to be same/uniform in all areas yet safe and ornamental.

Rhys, yes even with weed mats and mulch I still got weeds growing here or there but they are very easy to pull out compared to them growing straight in the ground. Newspapers are good idea for areas which I am going to dig and plant things next year but there are also areas where I just want to lay weed mat and mulch permanently without growing anything cos they are too shady spots. I reckon I can use newspapers in a few spots. :)

Time: 2nd November 2010 9:51am

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au0rey says...
Oh Wayne just to add, I have also planted the beans you have but they havent germinated. I got them via ebay...:)

Time: 2nd November 2010 9:52am

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j says...
Rhyss in melbourne we have whats known as "Bush Mulch". Essentially it's all bush wood ground up and cured for bit and then sold. Its about 33$ per cubic meter here and is much cheaper that most other mulches. I'm using it on my garden now. Jason on this forum thinks its good stuff and so far I'm happy with it.

I recently built a herb garden and before laying down the soil I put about three layers of newspaper pages down and then watered them in for a bit. Been about a month a half and apart from the occasional tiny weed, nothing big has popped up. My coriander and parsley are having a good ol' time.

Time: 2nd November 2010 4:46pm

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Wayne says...
au0rey, I have not heard about the tummy ache thing, then again, we never eat them raw. These seeds are white when fresh and darken to tan when dry, I think most long beans have black seeds so if you would like to try some send me an email to atfieldwayne@hotmail.com

We have to be careful with what we use for mulch here. Under all the old concrete slabs around my yard are Zillions of white ants
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Picture: 1


Time: 2nd November 2010 5:27pm

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au0rey says...
Wayne, yes the seeds that I have planted look exactly like those on the right of your pic.

I think I may settle with either pine bark chips or red gum chips. They are big, not easily blown away, looks ornamental. I have written to richgro after seeing their products in bunnings. They sells the mulch in 40 and 70L bags. Hope they will give me some good recommendation.

Time: 2nd November 2010 8:51pm

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au0rey says...
Hi everyone!

Just to update, I have finally decided on the mulches to use in my garden. The garden is finally mulched and this will settle the weeds as well as retaining moisture for the hot summer to come.

For the vegetable bed on the ground, I used this water saver mulch and I got it from Biogro...the customer service is really good and I bought 0.5m3 of it which is the minimum quantity.

As for the fruit trees as well as some other non-growing areas, I used uncomposted pine bark mulch which is screened and graded. They look good too. So far I havent had bird coming to scratch them too much. The large pieces make it manageable to return if they are scratched out. They are also from Biogro.

Just something to share for anyone who is also looking in mulch.

Cheers!
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Picture: 2

Picture: 3

Picture: 4


Time: 11th December 2010 9:54pm

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amanda says...
au0rey - that looks great! Good on u for breaking from the traditional front garden! It's amazing how much it has all grown from your first pics too. Thanks for sharing - I love looking at pics of other folks gardens here.


Time: 11th December 2010 10:25pm

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Wayne says...
Those pictures have a strange brightness about them ------ I remember what it is now ---- Sunshine!!!!!

Time: 12th December 2010 7:00am

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au0rey says...
Thanks Amanda n Wayne for your kind words! :)

Time: 12th December 2010 6:01pm

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Wayne says...
This is my back yard - I just puddle around on bare feet - thought about buying mag wheels for the mower

Actually went to Bowen today just to get away from the rain as it rarely rains in Bowen and guess what -- it was raining. Lots of beautiful Mangoes laying on the ground everywhere and we were tonguing for a feed, but, if you value your life you wouldn't walk on to a farm in Bowen unannounced
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Time: 12th December 2010 7:37pm

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About the Author Wayne
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Jantina says...
Bit much of a good thing there Wayne, we've had a lot of rain here but not like you have.

Time: 12th December 2010 7:47pm

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