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The Rural Voice, 1991-05, Page 34RURAL LIVING MAKE MINE MULCH, PLEASE by Rhea Hamilton -Seeger I've just come in from a cool walk around the garden. The crocuses are blooming and already the red and ma- roon striped leaves of the Greigii tulips can be seen around the base of the magnolia. I peeked under some evergreen branches to see if the monk- shood and delphiniums had survived the winter. I was greeted with tight swirls of green and red tinged clusters of leaves ready to unfurl. This is the time of spring that is the most diffi- cult. My first inclination is to start stripping away the layers of protective leaves and limbs, to wake up the plants I love to admire and smell each season. But it was only early April and clipping dead stalks and raking stones and debris from the lawn was all I could do. I have been boning up on different varieties of mulch and will be using more this spring to cut down weeding. Mulch helps conserve moisture and keeps the soil at a more uniform temp- erature. It's nature's way of keeping the cycle of life going on. Protected from heat and drought in summer, the plants also seek winter protection un- der the mulch. The soil prospers with the addition of organic matter and the ground becomes a haven for worms and beneficial bacteria that create the earth we all love to garden in. I have used grass clippings around the grapes and lots of straw around the tomatoes and broccoli plants. I didn't stake the tomatoes in the past, as the straw keeps the weeds down and mud off of the fruit. Each year I cut back on the vegetable garden and increase the perennial garden. Now I have a leaf shredder, but the 12 bags of leaves the kids and I bagged last fall will not amount to much, since it takes four bushels of leaves to make one bushel of leaf mulch. Not to worry; the old hay in the back of the barn can be used either by itself or put through the shredder too. For my own part I read a little and do a lot of trial and error. But when I write for you, I research my topics, and am delighted when I can share what I have learned with you. If you are looking for a mulch with a decorative touch, consider bark chips or cocoa shells. Both take some time to break down and look quite at- tractive in ornamental gardens. White stone or marble chips look especially neat, but I would hate to tidy around them if they became invaded by weeds. There are a variety of plastics that can also be used in the vegetable gar- den, but let's think seriously about this choice. While it has proven effective in some gardens, it doesn't add any organics to the soil and earthworms, those generous little soil builders, can't get through it. Plastics do not breathe as organic mulches do, and can cause serious disease problems. Plastic will break down after a year or two, but can be a mess if not cleaned up when this happens. Some land- scapers find it beneficial to use under bark mulches to lengthen their life. Newspapers are another handy mulch resource. They can be laid eight pages deep and then covered with hay or straw to weigh them down. Two points to consider. Newsprint is a form of sawdust and will temporarily deplete nitrogen at the soil surface. The inks being released into the soil would indicate that this mulch should be kept in the flower garden, and away from the vegetable patch. Another intriguing suggestion I read was to use strips of old jute - backed carpeting. It allows the soil to breathe, keeps the moisture in, and controls the temperature just as nicely as some of the other selections. But before you start ripping up that old worn out carpet in the back room, con- sider the organic aspects. If you are going to mulch, you might as well use something that will improve the soil with time, and not help deplete it. Now that you are mulched out, I have a couple of points to keep in mind. Mulch can be replenished throughout the season. In the spring, you should pull back the mulch from the garden to let the sun warm the soil, get the perennials going and prepare for seeds. Add some wood ashes and bone meal to your garden, and, if the mulch is getting rather thin, work it into the garden before you put on more. Characteristics Longevity Water retention (reduction of surface evaporation) Heat absorption Soil heat retention Weed control Water penetration Fertilizer value Extra nutrients needed for decomposition Toxic qualities Incidence of rotted fruit over nonmulched plants Cleanliness of fruit Durability (can it be walked on?) Effect on soil structure Appearance of mulch CHARACTERISTICS OF MULCHING MATERIALS Sawdust Decomposes about 1 /2 to 3/4" per year Good Poor Fair Fair Good Poor Nitrogen Usually none Lower Good Good Poor Good Straw Not more than one year Poor Poor Poor Poor Good Poor Nitrogen None Unknown (probably lower) Good Poor Good Poor Manure Not more than one year Poor to fair Poor Fair Poor Good Good None Possibility, if applied too heavily Unknown Poor Poor Good Poor Black paper One growing season or less Good Good Good Good Fair to poor None None If oil, tar, or creosote impregnated Lower Excellent Poor Poor Good Black polyethylene Two or more years Good Good Good Excellent None None None None Lower Excellent Good Poor Good 30 THE RURAL VOICE