I'd love a video about Soil Structure. You hear so much about it. "Don't destroy your soil structure.", "Tilling will destroy your soil structure.", "Turning your soil will destroy your soil structure." What does it actually mean? Is it the clumpy aggregates in the soil, large clumps and little clumps? Is it how the soil has set into place - with a root tunnel here, and a worm tunnel there - like the structure of a building? I mean if people have been turning the soil in their garden for hundreds of years, were they "doing it wrong" & damaging their soil structure all that time?
we 'hire' the neighbors kids to collect the other neighbor on our other side to collect his grass every time he mows, its been very lucrative for them, they get a large freezie or ice cream for 15 minutes work and it helps my garden so much!
Maybe because is late , anytime I'm watching your video is around 3.30 am after my job im very tired and I have hard time to follow anything but I will try anyway 😊👍
Wow, you read my mind! It’s been an uncharacteristically dry and hot spring in the NorthWest and I’ve been fighting keeping my seeded beds and transplants wet enough and have had replant a couple of times. Thanks for the deep dive into mulch! You are awesome!
Great Stuff Ashley as usual, very much appreciate when you address the myths about the topics you cover even though you have done exclusive myth buster videos - I think it helps to throw it in with each topic you cover briefly even it seems redundant. Ive been using grass not only as mulch on top of my potted fruits but also I pile it up loosely around the front of the pots along with leaves small sticks etc to keep the direct sun from scorching the sides of the pots. And great advice with the wood chips on perennials. The wood chips are great for fungi and fungi is great at providing nutrients in an available form for plants
Buying garden straw in the city is getting expensive, so I’m starting new clover/grass mix lawn to grow my mulch haha Video idea: How to keep cool season crops growing longer without bolting
question i always grew up being told that dont put grass clumps inthe garden cause it will spread weed seeds is this just not true or is it so minuscule it doesn’t actually matter
Last year was the first I extensively mulched vegetables(raised beds). This year my lettuce did not germinate very well. I have re-sown a few times. I now have the answer.
@@GardeningInCanada cut straw mulch. Not incorporated, but ended up covering the rows do to watering and wind. Just pulled out completely. Trying again
I started using grass clippings in the garden last year and they worked wonderfully. The only victim of this practice is my compost heap, which is now a brush pile. :( Without all those grass clippings, the weeds/green garden scrap just isn't enough to make everything break down into compost. Gonna have to adjust my strategy a bit to compensate.
You could do a video on edible weeds. I snack as I am weeding and get a good dose of organ nourishing bitters in at the same time. Downside tho is that I quickly run out of edible weeds if I don't let one or two flower from time to time, lol...
My all time favorite mulch WAS shredded leaves, until the jumping worms invaded. I am now using the shredded leaves as a trap for the jumping worms and it working wonderfully. Just by chance, I started a living mulch of creeping thyme and oregano in two of my beds last year. It has worked beyond expectations, plus big benefit of no jumping worms, so far! I hate to see the bare soil around my onions this year, normally they would have been heavily mulched with the shredded leaves. I do believe I will try adding some dried grass now that the onions are up about a foot, do not want to compromise the baiting for the jumping worms. Enjoy your videos! Stay Well!!!
@@GardeningInCanada I can remove hundreds of jumping worms at any given time. I want to get as many out before they reach reproductive age. I was shocked when I discovered the damage they did to my garden soil last fall. Stay Well!!! hope the fires are not close by.
Does the leaf mulch attract the jumping worms so that you gather the mulch while capturing the worms? I'm very interested on how to remove jumping worms. My soil has become very grainy which I'm thinking is due to those worms.
@@venessamarquis5293 I baited the entire inside perimeter with about 3 inches of shredded leaves. When the soil temp got into the mid 50's the baby jumping worms began hatching from their cocoons and were drawn to the leaves, their favorite food. Here is a link to one of several jumping worm videos. ruclips.net/video/1Fxput3CK2s/видео.html Plan on an update video soon. I will say I have removed literally thousands of these worms by manually digging through the shredded leaves and physically removing them. The good news is it is definitely making a huge difference. Just yesterday, I went through a 15 foot section of perimeter trapping, and only removed a couple dozen worms. Another indicator I have found is the return of healthy red worms. When the numbers of jumping worms were high the red wigglers were suffering and dying. I am now adding more red worms to the trapping areas to see if I can again return a healthy population. The biggest aim of all this is to remove the jumping worms before they start reproducing. I do not think I will eliminate them, but I know I took out a lot of worms that would have reproduced. Thank you for your interest. I think this is a viable way to aid in the control of this invasive species in a garden situation. Stay Well!!!
I have used a variety of mulch in my veggie garden and have had the best results with cut straw. I use hardwood mulch and mini pine bark nuggets in my perennial flower beds. The mini pine bark nuggets are great at weed suppression. I like the base to be hardwood and pine bark on top - about 4-5” of mulch keeps my flowers very happy. Cheers Ashley! Another great video 🌻😢
I have a fair amount of semi broken down leaves from last fall, that’s been sitting in an open compost bin (it’s like a thick perforated plastic roll that is about 3 ft tall, diameter can be adjusted with plastic “keys” that hold the ends together). They overwintered and thawed through spring/early summer with kitchen scraps thrown in for about 7 months. Last month, I dumped it all out of the compost bin and threw the newer leaves/cardboard bits and newer kitchen scraps down, and topped with the older stuff. In the process I just stacked a bin full of the most broken down stuff, which were last fall’s leaves with rotted organic matter mixed in. I’m wondering if the half-broken down leaves with melted/rotted down kitchen scraps (no identifiable bits other than leaves) can be used as mulch. I’m sorta hoping and nutrients it holds will wash down into the soil to feed the plants with every watering.
Thanks for this! I'd love more content on shady vegetables other than greens! I have a very shady yard and it's so hard to grow anything and I want to haha.
This is a great video. I'm gonna see if I can find peat or coco coir cheap around me cause I don't have much money but I want to try mulching this year
Thanks for sharing this Ashley. I do have a video idea, which you may have already covered, regarding thinning your rows. How much space is required for healthy growth, for each plat, as well as when thinning should be done. Thanks again.
Love these details. I have watched a lot of videos on mulching and tried out several things - but most is anecdotal and thus it really helps to have your more scientific approach in addition to the also valuable personal experiences.
We tried straw last year, but found it’s been dried with Glysophase (ROUNDUP) …for the plants that were affected we had NO harvest, and thankfully it was all containers, so they-with the soil-are now in the dump.
Love this video, excellent tips etc - but...peat....a no-no here in UK/Europe. Not sustainable, under threat, takes many years to recover. I can't imagine that Canadian peat is any different??
I picked up a few bags of old mulch and soil mix from an empty lot. Applied only to a new section with potatoes. On the other hand leaf mulch is a great idea and on same notes a cardboard cut only at a point where one want to plant anything should be a good idea.
what's the ideal way to use grass clippings as mulch? do i need to dry them out first, or can I just toss green ones down? (for context I have a couple veggie beds I've been enriching with compost for a couple years now, an area under an established apple tree that is SUPER compacted and hard to work, and a front perennial flower garden that is super clay compacted)
😅I am curious. In a suburban city. I have not found a source of straw that is confirmed clean of pesticides. Wood chips are for big plants. I have office work and I have tended to use shredded paper sparingly in my raised beds and pots. Does that cause any harm? Wet it does tend to turn into a solid so you do have to replace in fall and spring and I do break it up in the growing season. It does seem to help with water retention and to clean up the seed spred weeds.
Hi sorry I have a question bc I'm confused. So at first you said you can use woodchips as long as you aren't directly sowing and you don't incorporate the chips into the soil? But then you said it's your least favorite mulch and to only use it with perrenials?
I guess I better start mulching. I do have a question about using grass cliippings.... at this time of year, my grass clipping have TONS of dandelion heads and seeds. Should this be avoided, or just go ahead. This is why I've never tried this method. I've done chopped straw in the past, which did work pretty well.
Can you use landscape fabric instead of mulch? I’m trying to also keep my cats out of my garden beds so I put landscaping fabric on some of them and made holes for the plants, is that bad?
Hello! I have raised garden beds. I have for 4 years now. When I first filled my bed it was with a little soil, mainly bought compost and some peat and vermiculite. The compost I paid a lot for was complete crap. So dry and sandy. I have tried adding fresh home made compost. More peat and other amendment's. Still my beds seem so dry. I live just outside of Calgary and it seems like I constantly have to water my beds because they dry out so fast. Do you have any suggestion to home fully help them? I don't want to have to water them everyday. I tried straw a few years ago then got concerned as there was so many seeds in it. Plus it seemed to have some possible herbicide in it. With grass clippings what happens if my yard has weeds crab grass and dandelion. Wont it wreck my raised beds?
We just got a chipper that makes a real nice small chip, but we also get alot of grass/clover mix, and are thinking of mixing the two not only to stretch it (we have a big garden), but to offset the nitrogen issue and see how it works out.
The nitrogen in the greens will help the woodchips break down nicely. I heavily chip mulched most of my yard a number of years ago, on top of cardboard over neglected dry grass and hard clay soil. Now it is a rich loamy mix that looks and feels exactly like the boral forest soil up in mid Saskatchewan. I also added many beneficial fungi which pro ably helped a lot.
@@MushroomMagpie NICE! Im going to try this. Was thinking about cover crops as well. Perhaps I will try a mix. Cover crop - chop - cover with cardboard and mulch. You added greens on top of the wood mulch?
I was looking forward to you covering this topic, so thanks! My question is why shouldn't the woodchips be incorporated into the soil profile, as it composts in a no-till setup? The University of Saskatchewan seems to promote this and just advises to top-up the mulch as this process takes place. I'm new to gardening and am trying to make sense of it all. Thanks!
I have incorporated the smaller wood into the top inch or so. It rots as does all untreated lumber that I have forgotten about that happens to sit on bare soil. I actually like it on our silty soil for it doesnt clump as bad on the top layer.
How to tell when manure is ready to use in garden. I have some cow manure and it has no smell and weed seeds are germinating in it does that mean it's ready. That's the topic
I have been using pine shavings as a mulch. My reasoning is that it is light colored and will reflect the sun, keeping my container soil cool. Would not pe3at moss, being darker, abssorb heat from the sun, therefore heating up th soil?
The texture of it, and its ability to absorb water and hold water in has a lot to do with it, I think. But something I do know about pine shavings, as compared to the wood chips of fallen trees is that the shavings have very little nutrients and are usually discouraged as a mulch.
@@GardeningInCanada We'll be putting garden beds in, but the main goal here is the obliteration of the lawn in favour of a sustainable yard of mulch, stones, shrubs, ground cover, and garden beds. It's likely a multi-year process, but starting with mulch will give us flexibility to plant other things as needed.
Brown thumb question... I'm down in a 7a zone would planting like zone 3 plants make my life easier? Been trying to grow a few pawpaw this year, a couple have already wilted so we'll see. Really enjoying the channel! 👍
FYI for the first 3-4 years of their life, Paw paws want to be in almost full shade. Once they are 5+ feet tall they want full sun. This may be why they have wilted.
Do you have onion maggot problems where you’re at? They left my soft and hard neck garlic alone last year, were going after the bulb onions. I moved the onions to fabric pots with fresh potting soil, and the garlic to a raised bed, and now they’re going after not only the bulb onions, but the hard neck garlic as well… soft neck garlic seems alright yet, but I don’t know if that one will last. 🙈 the one local greenhouse gave me powdered laundry detergent to plant the bulb onions with to try to prevent it, but it’s obviously not working, was going to try dumping wood ash around in the hopes that it will help, since they’re already in the ground and rooted in pretty good. Just wondering if you’ve ever dealt with a similar problem, apparently they like canola, so they’re something that definitely isn’t going to go away. 🙈😂
@@GardeningInCanada I got the onion seedlings from the local greenhouse at the beginning of May, had them in the fabric pots by the middle of May, soft neck garlic was middle of May as well, hard neck garlic last fall. 🤔
Recently purchased five 45-gallon Grassroots (lined) fabric planters; looking to reduce the amount of soil needed to fill them. My thought was using fresh woodchips, greens and browns, to fill the bottom third where the liner does not cover. What are thoughts about my thoughts? Please and thank you!
I had the same thought, I used grass clippings and straw. But now I'm wondering if the two together are going to create heat as they decompose? And will that heat kill the roots of whatever I plant in there? Are you having this problem?
Don’t use those! They will incorporate into your soil. Rubber has no benefit to your soil whatsoever. Dyed mulch is normally the wood bark and is also not beneficial, and it has the dye as well. There are so many healthy options.
Thanks for the video! Lots of useful info. I prune my fruit trees in late winter and chip the branches to use in the garden but I was not aware that it's better for perennials than veggies (most of my stuff is perennial anyway.) I used them fresh this year and haven't seen adverse effects so far (I've also been using grass clippings which seem to fade away rather quickly; not sure if it's the wind or they just decomposes faster.) Do you have any advice on how long should wood chips be left to age before they're generally safer to use? Will introducing mycelium speed things along significantly or is it just a waste of effort?
If you chip branches with leaves and lots of green bark, or add extra greens, you should get a nitrogen rich mulch that breaks down quickly and supports plenty of fungal life in the soil. It will nicely condition your soil if it is poor.
I did straw last year, but this year I’m trying pine straw from my yard. We have a wooded area on our property with tons of pine trees, so it’s free! Seems to be working well so far. Does anyone know about using pine straw?
My take for mulching: Vegetables - grass (need more bacteria dominated soil) Trees - woodchips (need fungi dominated soil) Don't remove it, it builds an important layer of carbon for microbes. Just add nitrogen.
I swear, whenever I have a question, you magically post a video about it.
Love it haha
I'd love a video about Soil Structure. You hear so much about it. "Don't destroy your soil structure.", "Tilling will destroy your soil structure.", "Turning your soil will destroy your soil structure." What does it actually mean?
Is it the clumpy aggregates in the soil, large clumps and little clumps?
Is it how the soil has set into place - with a root tunnel here, and a worm tunnel there - like the structure of a building?
I mean if people have been turning the soil in their garden for hundreds of years, were they "doing it wrong" & damaging their soil structure all that time?
we 'hire' the neighbors kids to collect the other neighbor on our other side to collect his grass every time he mows, its been very lucrative for them, they get a large freezie or ice cream for 15 minutes work and it helps my garden so much!
Haha I love that!
Maybe because is late , anytime I'm watching your video is around 3.30 am after my job im very tired and I have hard time to follow anything but I will try anyway 😊👍
always open your hair .. that's looking awesome ❤
Wow, you read my mind! It’s been an uncharacteristically dry and hot spring in the NorthWest and I’ve been fighting keeping my seeded beds and transplants wet enough and have had replant a couple of times. Thanks for the deep dive into mulch! You are awesome!
You got this!
Great Stuff Ashley as usual, very much appreciate when you address the myths about the topics you cover even though you have done exclusive myth buster videos - I think it helps to throw it in with each topic you cover briefly even it seems redundant. Ive been using grass not only as mulch on top of my potted fruits but also I pile it up loosely around the front of the pots along with leaves small sticks etc to keep the direct sun from scorching the sides of the pots. And great advice with the wood chips on perennials. The wood chips are great for fungi and fungi is great at providing nutrients in an available form for plants
Buying garden straw in the city is getting expensive, so I’m starting new clover/grass mix lawn to grow my mulch haha
Video idea: How to keep cool season crops growing longer without bolting
Jurassic Park! Love those movies!!!
I lay a layer of newspaper under my straw. Thank you for a great video.
Such a beautiful gardener
Very helpful Ashley!
Glad it was helpful!
Really liked it!
question i always grew up being told that dont put grass clumps inthe garden cause it will spread weed seeds is this just not true or is it so minuscule it doesn’t actually matter
Only if you cut the lawn while things are flowering
Last year was the first I extensively mulched vegetables(raised beds). This year my lettuce did not germinate very well. I have
re-sown a few times. I now have the answer.
Did you incorporate the mulch.
@@GardeningInCanada cut straw mulch. Not incorporated, but ended up covering the rows do to watering and wind. Just pulled out completely. Trying again
Wow, thank you, i learn so much from you! 👍
Happy to hear that!
I started using grass clippings in the garden last year and they worked wonderfully. The only victim of this practice is my compost heap, which is now a brush pile. :( Without all those grass clippings, the weeds/green garden scrap just isn't enough to make everything break down into compost. Gonna have to adjust my strategy a bit to compensate.
Grass is my favourite
You could do a video on edible weeds. I snack as I am weeding and get a good dose of organ nourishing bitters in at the same time. Downside tho is that I quickly run out of edible weeds if I don't let one or two flower from time to time, lol...
My all time favorite mulch WAS shredded leaves, until the jumping worms invaded. I am now using the shredded leaves as a trap for the jumping worms and it working wonderfully.
Just by chance, I started a living mulch of creeping thyme and oregano in two of my beds last year. It has worked beyond expectations, plus big benefit of no jumping worms, so far!
I hate to see the bare soil around my onions this year, normally they would have been heavily mulched with the shredded leaves. I do believe I will try adding some dried grass now that the onions are up about a foot, do not want to compromise the baiting for the jumping worms.
Enjoy your videos! Stay Well!!!
Interesting! Does it make a big difference would you say?
@@GardeningInCanada I can remove hundreds of jumping worms at any given time. I want to get as many out before they reach reproductive age.
I was shocked when I discovered the damage they did to my garden soil last fall.
Stay Well!!! hope the fires are not close by.
Does the leaf mulch attract the jumping worms so that you gather the mulch while capturing the worms? I'm very interested on how to remove jumping worms. My soil has become very grainy which I'm thinking is due to those worms.
@@venessamarquis5293 I baited the entire inside perimeter with about 3 inches of shredded leaves. When the soil temp got into the mid 50's the baby jumping worms began hatching from their cocoons and were drawn to the leaves, their favorite food. Here is a link to one of several jumping worm videos.
ruclips.net/video/1Fxput3CK2s/видео.html
Plan on an update video soon. I will say I have removed literally thousands of these worms by manually digging through the shredded leaves and physically removing them. The good news is it is definitely making a huge difference. Just yesterday, I went through a 15 foot section of perimeter trapping, and only removed a couple dozen worms. Another indicator I have found is the return of healthy red worms. When the numbers of jumping worms were high the red wigglers were suffering and dying. I am now adding more red worms to the trapping areas to see if I can again return a healthy population.
The biggest aim of all this is to remove the jumping worms before they start reproducing. I do not think I will eliminate them, but I know I took out a lot of worms that would have reproduced.
Thank you for your interest. I think this is a viable way to aid in the control of this invasive species in a garden situation.
Stay Well!!!
Does the peat affect the ph of the soil below the surface?
people need to understand the importance of mulch
Yass
I have used a variety of mulch in my veggie garden and have had the best results with cut straw.
I use hardwood mulch and mini pine bark nuggets in my perennial flower beds.
The mini pine bark nuggets are great at weed suppression.
I like the base to be hardwood and pine bark on top - about 4-5” of mulch keeps my flowers very happy.
Cheers Ashley!
Another great video 🌻😢
I have a fair amount of semi broken down leaves from last fall, that’s been sitting in an open compost bin (it’s like a thick perforated plastic roll that is about 3 ft tall, diameter can be adjusted with plastic “keys” that hold the ends together). They overwintered and thawed through spring/early summer with kitchen scraps thrown in for about 7 months. Last month, I dumped it all out of the compost bin and threw the newer leaves/cardboard bits and newer kitchen scraps down, and topped with the older stuff. In the process I just stacked a bin full of the most broken down stuff, which were last fall’s leaves with rotted organic matter mixed in.
I’m wondering if the half-broken down leaves with melted/rotted down kitchen scraps (no identifiable bits other than leaves) can be used as mulch. I’m sorta hoping and nutrients it holds will wash down into the soil to feed the plants with every watering.
I had a question....what makes a good living mulch? Something that can take full sun, spreads slowly and doesn't get too tall?
Thanks!😊
Honestly anything with a lower profile that’s prolific. So chickweed for example is great
Thanks for this! I'd love more content on shady vegetables other than greens! I have a very shady yard and it's so hard to grow anything and I want to haha.
This is a great video. I'm gonna see if I can find peat or coco coir cheap around me cause I don't have much money but I want to try mulching this year
Good luck!
I use salt hay here on the east coast. The seeds only germinate in salt water so nothing happens in my garden. Seaweed is good too
Thanks for sharing this Ashley. I do have a video idea, which you may have already covered, regarding thinning your rows. How much space is required for healthy growth, for each plat, as well as when thinning should be done. Thanks again.
I like that! Not sure I’ve done a video on that before
Love these details. I have watched a lot of videos on mulching and tried out several things - but most is anecdotal and thus it really helps to have your more scientific approach in addition to the also valuable personal experiences.
Glad it was helpful!
Very good info, it saved me from using big wood chips.
Glad it helped. Try grass!
You left out shredded leaves as mulch. I would really like to hear your thoughts on it
Any thoughts on coconut fiber mulch?
We tried straw last year, but found it’s been dried with Glysophase (ROUNDUP) …for the plants that were affected we had NO harvest, and thankfully it was all containers, so they-with the soil-are now in the dump.
Love this video, excellent tips etc - but...peat....a no-no here in UK/Europe. Not sustainable, under threat, takes many years to recover. I can't imagine that Canadian peat is any different??
Ashley has done a series of podcasts exploring the peat industry in Canada. 😉
Biggg difference shockingly
Yass
@@mhawang8204 Cheers, I shall check it out 😊
I picked up a few bags of old mulch and soil mix from an empty lot. Applied only to a new section with potatoes.
On the other hand leaf mulch is a great idea and on same notes a cardboard cut only at a point where one want to plant anything should be a good idea.
Do you like it so far?
@@GardeningInCanada yes.
I'm concerned that the cardboard would block any rain, thought it would prevent evaporation
@@venessamarquis5293 yes, it may not let too much rain though cardboard but many have used them as mulch and cut only a small section for plants.
Hi Ms how you use the peat as mulch Do we add water or dry Thanks
Will adding straw mulch or another type help prevent the dog vomit slime molding I'm fighting that is growing in my new dirt garden beds?
what's the ideal way to use grass clippings as mulch? do i need to dry them out first, or can I just toss green ones down? (for context I have a couple veggie beds I've been enriching with compost for a couple years now, an area under an established apple tree that is SUPER compacted and hard to work, and a front perennial flower garden that is super clay compacted)
😅I am curious. In a suburban city. I have not found a source of straw that is confirmed clean of pesticides. Wood chips are for big plants. I have office work and I have tended to use shredded paper sparingly in my raised beds and pots. Does that cause any harm? Wet it does tend to turn into a solid so you do have to replace in fall and spring and I do break it up in the growing season. It does seem to help with water retention and to clean up the seed spred weeds.
Nothing wrong with that!
Hi sorry I have a question bc I'm confused. So at first you said you can use woodchips as long as you aren't directly sowing and you don't incorporate the chips into the soil? But then you said it's your least favorite mulch and to only use it with perrenials?
It is my least favourite for annual beds only because you need a heavy layer and it’s not the nicest to remove
I have all three in the garden except grass in the beds
I guess I better start mulching. I do have a question about using grass cliippings.... at this time of year, my grass clipping have TONS of dandelion heads and seeds. Should this be avoided, or just go ahead. This is why I've never tried this method. I've done chopped straw in the past, which did work pretty well.
Yes, absolutely try it!
Can you use landscape fabric instead of mulch? I’m trying to also keep my cats out of my garden beds so I put landscaping fabric on some of them and made holes for the plants, is that bad?
What if your lawn is full of weeds? Can you still use the grass if the dandelions etc havnt flowered?
Hello! I have raised garden beds. I have for 4 years now. When I first filled my bed it was with a little soil, mainly bought compost and some peat and vermiculite. The compost I paid a lot for was complete crap. So dry and sandy. I have tried adding fresh home made compost. More peat and other amendment's. Still my beds seem so dry. I live just outside of Calgary and it seems like I constantly have to water my beds because they dry out so fast. Do you have any suggestion to home fully help them? I don't want to have to water them everyday. I tried straw a few years ago then got concerned as there was so many seeds in it. Plus it seemed to have some possible herbicide in it. With grass clippings what happens if my yard has weeds crab grass and dandelion. Wont it wreck my raised beds?
We just got a chipper that makes a real nice small chip, but we also get alot of grass/clover mix, and are thinking of mixing the two not only to stretch it (we have a big garden), but to offset the nitrogen issue and see how it works out.
The nitrogen in the greens will help the woodchips break down nicely.
I heavily chip mulched most of my yard a number of years ago, on top of cardboard over neglected dry grass and hard clay soil. Now it is a rich loamy mix that looks and feels exactly like the boral forest soil up in mid Saskatchewan. I also added many beneficial fungi which pro ably helped a lot.
@@MushroomMagpie NICE! Im going to try this. Was thinking about cover crops as well. Perhaps I will try a mix. Cover crop - chop - cover with cardboard and mulch.
You added greens on top of the wood mulch?
I was looking forward to you covering this topic, so thanks! My question is why shouldn't the woodchips be incorporated into the soil profile, as it composts in a no-till setup? The University of Saskatchewan seems to promote this and just advises to top-up the mulch as this process takes place. I'm new to gardening and am trying to make sense of it all. Thanks!
I have incorporated the smaller wood into the top inch or so. It rots as does all untreated lumber that I have forgotten about that happens to sit on bare soil. I actually like it on our silty soil for it doesnt clump as bad on the top layer.
This is my first year using straw mulch (or any mulch actually) do I have to get new stuff every year or can I reuse it but maybe just add if need be?
How to tell when manure is ready to use in garden. I have some cow manure and it has no smell and weed seeds are germinating in it does that mean it's ready. That's the topic
💚💚
I have been using pine shavings as a mulch. My reasoning is that it is light colored and will reflect the sun, keeping my container soil cool. Would not pe3at moss, being darker, abssorb heat from the sun, therefore heating up th soil?
The texture of it, and its ability to absorb water and hold water in has a lot to do with it, I think. But something I do know about pine shavings, as compared to the wood chips of fallen trees is that the shavings have very little nutrients and are usually discouraged as a mulch.
Ooo love!
We plan to cover our front yard with mulch - any suggestions?
Making a garden? Or is it more perennial bed?
@@GardeningInCanada We'll be putting garden beds in, but the main goal here is the obliteration of the lawn in favour of a sustainable yard of mulch, stones, shrubs, ground cover, and garden beds. It's likely a multi-year process, but starting with mulch will give us flexibility to plant other things as needed.
Brown thumb question... I'm down in a 7a zone would planting like zone 3 plants make my life easier? Been trying to grow a few pawpaw this year, a couple have already wilted so we'll see. Really enjoying the channel! 👍
FYI for the first 3-4 years of their life, Paw paws want to be in almost full shade. Once they are 5+ feet tall they want full sun. This may be why they have wilted.
Do you have onion maggot problems where you’re at? They left my soft and hard neck garlic alone last year, were going after the bulb onions. I moved the onions to fabric pots with fresh potting soil, and the garlic to a raised bed, and now they’re going after not only the bulb onions, but the hard neck garlic as well… soft neck garlic seems alright yet, but I don’t know if that one will last. 🙈 the one local greenhouse gave me powdered laundry detergent to plant the bulb onions with to try to prevent it, but it’s obviously not working, was going to try dumping wood ash around in the hopes that it will help, since they’re already in the ground and rooted in pretty good. Just wondering if you’ve ever dealt with a similar problem, apparently they like canola, so they’re something that definitely isn’t going to go away. 🙈😂
I was thinking about setting up a screened in raised bed yet, might be the best option. 🤔 lol!
The key is to plant early in the season
@@GardeningInCanada I got the onion seedlings from the local greenhouse at the beginning of May, had them in the fabric pots by the middle of May, soft neck garlic was middle of May as well, hard neck garlic last fall. 🤔
I'll need to look, but I'm searching for how to know when things are ready to harvest...e.i. onions, garlic, squash, etc.
Recently purchased five 45-gallon Grassroots (lined) fabric planters; looking to reduce the amount of soil needed to fill them. My thought was using fresh woodchips, greens and browns, to fill the bottom third where the liner does not cover.
What are thoughts about my thoughts? Please and thank you!
I had the same thought, I used grass clippings and straw. But now I'm wondering if the two together are going to create heat as they decompose? And will that heat kill the roots of whatever I plant in there? Are you having this problem?
At the end of the season, would you remove all mulch or leave it as ground cover until reuse next year?
I leave it over the winter. Always covering your soil is a good idea.
I would if it’s known to have an issue like disease or pests
Is there a good time of year to incorporate manure for fertilizer? Fall?
Yup!
@@GardeningInCanada Thank you!
If I use wheat straw how can I be comfortable all harmful chemicals have dissipated?
Thanks
Yea it’s short life pesticides for those crops
Do you have anything to say about dyed mulch or rubber mulch? I’ve been trying to avoid these and it’s not easy
Don’t use those! They will incorporate into your soil. Rubber has no benefit to your soil whatsoever. Dyed mulch is normally the wood bark and is also not beneficial, and it has the dye as well. There are so many healthy options.
Dyed is natural most of the time but rubber I would avoid
Thanks for the video! Lots of useful info.
I prune my fruit trees in late winter and chip the branches to use in the garden but I was not aware that it's better for perennials than veggies (most of my stuff is perennial anyway.) I used them fresh this year and haven't seen adverse effects so far (I've also been using grass clippings which seem to fade away rather quickly; not sure if it's the wind or they just decomposes faster.)
Do you have any advice on how long should wood chips be left to age before they're generally safer to use? Will introducing mycelium speed things along significantly or is it just a waste of effort?
If you chip branches with leaves and lots of green bark, or add extra greens, you should get a nitrogen rich mulch that breaks down quickly and supports plenty of fungal life in the soil. It will nicely condition your soil if it is poor.
I did straw last year, but this year I’m trying pine straw from my yard. We have a wooded area on our property with tons of pine trees, so it’s free! Seems to be working well so far. Does anyone know about using pine straw?
Human urine as a fertilizer and concentration dilution recommendations video please!
Yes definitely need to do a video on that
My take for mulching:
Vegetables - grass (need more bacteria dominated soil)
Trees - woodchips (need fungi dominated soil)
Don't remove it, it builds an important layer of carbon for microbes. Just add nitrogen.
Where would shredded cardboard say stand in that list, right after wood chips??
@@stevexracer4309 do you mean glue with in the cardboard itself? Or just glue to hold pieces of cardboard together?
Between straw and wood chips
@@stevexracer4309 I'd heard that before. But I thought it was biodegradable glue. Good to know to stay away from it.
What about the dandelions don't they cause weeds in garden
Idea: growing garlic spears.
Oooo yes
@Gardening In Canada a good idea not much on that on the tube. Love my spears this time of year. And why are they only seasonal?
ants. what do we do about ants in the garden
Ooo borax and sugar orr nematodes.
@@GardeningInCanada Is there a video on how to apply the borax in a safe way? Thanks
👋What types of grass is best if using as a mulch?
Any grass works so long as it’s seedless.