Question about mulching.

[tiwen000]

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?

[tiwen000]

I mean I wish I could do the following in an area 10x8 feet:

Weed control , then Moisture retention, then Soil improvement, then Beautification of the yeard ...

Thanks for any hint.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Got a bag attachment for your mower? Grass clippings will take care of moisture and soil improvement. Your hands will take care of weed control. Beautification - depends on whether you like the beige color of dried grass.

[tiwen000]

Thanks. But my grass is full of weeds now, and I have to clean the weeds first. The grass clips may not be good.

Do you think 8x10 a big area? To me, now it is so big, what do you think of it? I am not handy.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

As long as you're mowing just leaves, not flowers (from the weeds), you can use it as mulch. I've been doing this on a 10x10 foot garden for many years. No problems.

[FarmI]

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.

[tiwen000]

Thanks.

I did not know Alfalfa based mulches. But I guess I could try it soon. How much (I mean in boxes , or how many seeds) do I need for an area of 8x10 in square feet? Do I also need to manure them? how often and how much to watering? Another question is that Alfafa is not perennial, I guess I have to plant each spring?

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?

[FarmI]

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.

But I guess I could try it soon.

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.

If you find that 2" of mulch is not enough then that would be the time to add more or try something different. You've gone to the effort of putting that in already so see how it works.

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

[tiwen000]

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 only wish I could get a more enjoyable backyard. It will not be a farm.

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?

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

Just want to learn some more knowledge.

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?

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. 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?

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

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but in minutes or miles, how far is your public library?

[Billy]

This is a bit misleading, I think. 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.

[tiwen000]

Thanks for any tips.

[tiwen000]

messagenews:46498919$0$9107$5a62ac22@per-qv1->

Birds may be my concerns in the future, because I have planted some crap-apple trees. And also I guess I have to mind my shoes that could bring in weed seeds. Is there an easier way to avoid some of the weed spreading?

Also talking about insects, I wish I could have a control over them, say, mosquitos, etc., if they like the red cedars?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

That doesn't answer the question. How far is your library?

[Buderschnookie]

If you garden you have to deal with weeds- there is no way to eliminate them entirely. Don't obsess over them :)

You don't have any more control over insects than you do weeds. Insects are largely beneficial anyway, so wait until you jhave a specific problem before you worry about exterminating any of them. And even then I leave them alone- nature will *always* find it's own balance.

[William Rose]

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)

[symplastless]

Mulch

Mulching -

and

Look up "Mulch"

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist

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.

[FarmI]

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

[FarmI]

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

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.

[William Rose]

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)