7 Cheap (Or Free) Mulch Sources and How To Use Them In Your Garden
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
- Grab some Birdies Raised Beds: growepic.co/47y77FD Mulch is a gardener's best friend, but sometimes it's not the friendliest on the budget. There's really NO need to buy mulch at garden centers or nurseries if you don't want to. With a bit of creativity, you can learn how to mulch with cheap or free sources in your local area.
Wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, chipdrop, connecting with your local municipality, etc. All of these types of mulch are good options. In fact, some of these sources are the feature of popular gardening methods, like back to eden, the Ruth Stout method, etc.
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Хобби
Mulch Basics - 0:00
Straw Bales - 1:34
Chipper Shredder - 3:12
Local Municipality - 4:02
ChipDrop - 5:37
Pine Needles - 8:10
Grass Clippings - 9:20
Autumn Leaves - 10:38
Epic Gardening I really appreciate when you take the time to do this! There are some RUclipsrs who take forever to make a point. When there is something specific I am looking for I like being able to zip on to it and get that information quickly. Bravo!
What was the name of that woman you mentioned? You talk so fast I just couldn’t understand you 😊
Jackie Davis it’s Ruth Stout...
Jeannie Scarber oh thank you 😊
Jackie Davis I am glad I could help! There are a lot of RUclips videos about the Ruth Stout Method- I like the one that has interviews of Ruth. She was a character!
I have another one for you. Find a friend with a bunny! Once a week, they will have a huge bag of bedding, hay, and bunny poop all mixed together. I have found this makes the perfect mulch as it protects the soil, breaks down easily, and feeds my garden a steady supply of nitrogen.
Good idea! I have rodents and I never thought of that!
I've got 2 bunnies and 4 guineapigs, and this is exactly what I do
Are you growing vegetables? I’ve never heard of anyone using “bunny poop” so I’m curious how that would be for my veggies
@@ASMRKay_ I am. Works wonderfully as a fertiliser. And the wood shavings make great mulch
@@ASMRKay_ Rabbit raisins won’t burn your plants. 🐇
I used to rake my neighbor’s leaves. They loved it. I would shred them and pile them in a corner of the yard over the winter, then when I cut grass in the summer, I would layer the leaves & fresh grass. It made beautiful compost.
My grandparents used leaves. They found that it was less of a mess to run over them with a lawnmower with a bag. Each time they ran over them the leaves would get smaller of course and they dumped the bag making a new pile. It was less messy and let them create a reasonably consistent mulch of pieces smaller than a dime from pin oak leaves.
Hi Kevin, love your videos. Just my comment on #7 leaf mulch......I spent $5 at my local hardware store for leaf hand rakes, which were an absolute Godsend and the cost of desired amount of garbage bags. I went to the nearest cemetery and collected free leaves along the property line. It also helped clean the plots up and we even discovered and uncovered 2 veterans foot stones in the process. It benefits both sides. We filled 2x 13 gallon bags in minutes.
oh wow, that's a really good idea that I never would have thought of. I'm sure that everyone who has family members at the cemetery appreciated your work too
@@epicgardening unfortunately we don't have a way if shredding quickly. I've been using gloves and spending free time in the covered porch breaking up by hand. Oh well.
PSA: Be careful about straw, I should have mentioned a bit more clearly how important it is to know exactly how the straw is produced. I grilled my supplier and was satisfied with the answer, but for an example of what could go wrong, see VagabondAnne's comment - Kevin
Bogembilia nambawan! Proud pinoy
Hi Kevin, I hope you see my message. Will you share your straw source please? I'm in San Diego also. Thanks!
Here's the comment in question: "WHOA ON STRAW - Gotta be super careful about aminopyralids in straw, VERY COMMON IN STRAW and even manure from animals that ate or bedded in straw treated with Grazon by Dow Chemical, which persists in soil for years, it doesn't compost out. It will destroy all broadleaf plants for years, which means pretty much anything that is not grass or corn. See videos by Charles Dowding, David the Good, and Scott Head for more info. Unless you know the grower, and have personally verified that they don't use any herbicides but especially aminopyralids, you're better off using organic hay and dealing with weeds."
How about pea straw?
Thanks so much for this! I was getting so confused googling different mulches and didn't really know where to start. After watching your video, I just went down to the woods with some shopping bags and filled them with leaves, pine needles, and already broken-down mulch. It didn't cost a penny, and the dog got a walk out of it, too! It would never have occurred to me if I hadn't watched this video :)
Instead of chip drop, you can find a local arborist and ask them do drop some woodchips. I can't take a full load, but I can take a half load or so. I called an arborist down the street from me and they will dump their load, but keep the tail of the bed up so only about 1/2 or so of the woodchips are dropped. I just got a delivery a few days ago. It was from lychee and all spice trees, so the chips smell amazing!
That's so great. I looked around my area for years, but couldn't find supply. We're a bit rural, but I didn't think it would be that scarce. I was recently fortunate enough to get some mounds that will last me a while, for now. :-)
We had a barn back in Illinois and a horse. Tore down the barn planted a garden. Best Black dirt ever!
Did u eat the horse?
@@TrollHiddenCave composted it
I've used pistachio shells since we go through many bags of them at home. I usually rinse the salt off, which is probably not necessary. They could also be used for drainage in pots instead of or with rocks, or even to cover a garden path.
THanks for this suggestion. I looked into it and date pits, olive pits, and other nut shells also work. Just dry everything out first!
My husband and I love you so much. Like, soooooo much. You are hands down our favorite youtuber.
Me (to my mom): "I wonder if he's Filipino?"
Kevin: "Shout out to all those Filipinos out there."
LOL
We have a coconut tree and harvested some brown ones for coconut milk. I thought it would be a good idea to use the husk for coconut coir which I did. The leftover fibers was the mulch I used for my chilis and tomatoes. No part of the coconut fruit was wasted as the shell was used as a planter.
Dude I just found out about Chipdrop 2 weeks ago. I got a tremendous load for a $40 donation. Very little undesirable debris. Very useful service
The Ruth Stout method is legit. I was glad to hear you mention her. Great video!
If you have the ability to store some straw bales, look around your neighborhood in the fall, particularly right after Halloween. A lot of people use straw bales for Halloween decorations and then throw them on the curb to be picked up on garbage day. My wife is one of those people that use them for decorations, but I never let them get to the curb and I just stack them behind my shed under some tarp until spring rolls around. I see dozens of them on the curb each fall, in my neighborhood, therefore I'll never pay for my straw mulch.
You could wait the rest of your life for Chip Drop, at least in my area. Better to call your local arborists, and ask if they need to dump some chipped wood. It's awesome, and they will often give you a rough time it will arrive.
Oh my goodness- I could not be more grateful to you for this video! I did not know my county offered free mulch but after watching this I looked it up and it is available in my area! Thanks! :D
He is so adorable...love watching him!
I have a neighbor who has two big maple trees. I rake them and bag them and bring them home. Then I shred them and bag them to use in my yard. Keeps us both happy! 😸😸😸
I appreciate your channel because you get right to the point and explain things thoroughly and quickly
Or in my case...pick up everyones bags of leaves in the spring and look like an absolute crazy person...
🤣🤣🤣
And in my case : collecting grass chippings in my local park at midnight waking my dog . multitasking 😂
@@agnieszkawierzbicka1957 I go and collect from my neighbor . he gets a clean path to his door and I get a buffet of leaves for my worms. A win win. I even ask my neighbors to give me their grass clippings and left over plums from making their alcoholic drink( legal in my country) .
I thought I was the only one.
ME TO IN THE FALL
Thank you so much! I had no idea that cities offered free mulch to residents, and a quick google search turned up my city's self-serve pick-up location! It's exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you for the great tip!
Your videos are so positive and upbeat. Thanks for the smile and great ideas.
Salamat sa tips😃 Filipina here and also do gardening every summer in Illinois, wish weather like Philippines so that I can garden all year.
i lived in Manila for four years totally loved the philipino people so happy...nice memories thanks for your videos really helping me. from uk
Organic things like leaves and grass are good at drawing in worms too.
100% engage your neighbors in using the chip drop. I got SO MUCH and you can't choose the size of your chip drop. I was able to use it all but it was so tiring moving the chips back to my garden. I enlisted some help from friends as it seemed like it would take me a week working 8 hours a day
Hi Kevin, love all your videos with tons of information for us, gardeners, to learn about. Recently my husband bought a case of your straw mulch. The straw mulch was fantastic, easy to use, love the fine cut for easy spreading. We already have one of your Birdie beds bought 2 years ago and enjoyed growing the veggies on it. We loved it so much that we bought 4 more from your big Memorial Weekend Sale, buy 3, get one free. Can't wait to replace those old raised beds we have for years! So, with 5 Birdies in our yard, it is going to be a huge transformation!! I really appreciate your time and effort you put in on your videos. ☺ We enjoyed working in our garden each day! 🤩
I read that book a dozen times! I used that plan for many years for very large gardens! It works.
I'm all for using straw, but it's important to know your source because many conventional farmers use glyphosate (Round-up) or other chemicals just before harvest to either desiccate crops or spray weeds.
good point!!! also glyphosate kills bees and other pollinators!
Glyphosate isn't the problem at all. It's half-life is very short, especially once it hits soil. Those who blame glyphosate are just fear mongers hopping on a bandwagon. The problem is aminopyralid and other pyridine carboxylic acid herbicides. These have extremely long half-lives and even largely survive the digestive system of the animals who graze on the vegetation it is sprayed on (aminopyralids were designed this way becuase it turns the grazing livestock into free labor for herbicide application. A human spread it th einitial time then the animals poop and pee and lay the herbicide on the land again). Also, "Roundup" is no longer glyphosate (except the the purple label super concentrate). Due to unfounded and unscientific glyphosate litigation, they (Bayer) have switched to using triclopyr and other chemicals in the Roundup brand that are 100 times worse for the environment and peoples' health then glyphosate. Be careful when you jump on bandwagons as the drivers of these bandwagons are usually low-IQ rabble-rousers. They just ruined the earth more with their idiocy.
Has anyone noticed he sounds and looks like one of the property brothers from HGTV? How funny! Great video sir by the way.
Wow your grandma is filipino, I am filipino too. I love watching your videos.
Absolutely loved your video, and very helpful tips! Thank you for all your wonderful work!
Hi Grandma good morning! Filipina here! I stumbled in your youtube yesterday while searching for the possible remedy with aphids and earwigs that eating our baby plants...what got me interested when you mentioned your grandma is Filipina. Because of her i watched your video....and yes ,your topic is so right on time. I have no experience about gardening here in California because it very different from the soil and weather condition in Philippines thats why i have to research on youtube. Keep up the good work!
One yard revolution OYR also has a great idea: chop and drop, which is just using your own green yard waste like weeds and things you would otherwise put in the compost. I started doing this and I can't believe I've never thought of it. It's so easy and cheap. When you're weeding, pruning tomatoes, etc. just chop it a bit and drop it where you need mulch. This is an awesome video. So many great ideas.
It depends on the weeds and then stage of the plant's life. We have a spurge in the southwest that seeds in August. They drop seeds when you pull them out and are bad at strangling herbs and young plants.
I really appreciate the chip drop tips bc i just learned about this website this morning from another gardening podcast.
Your channel is awesome! I am in my second year of trying to grow food. All of this info is very helpful!
I am in Australia and we are lucky to have these garden beds available at our door step. Thanks for the great tutorial and you gave me the idea to buy the garden bed to use as my mulching station. I will go right out and purchase one and a chipper and get happy mulching. thank you
Glad to hear!
Nice! Self sufficient me garden beds! I dig the channel. Thanks for dropping all the knowledge
Fantastic info! Esp, thanks for breaking the pine needle myth! Thats the bulk of whats available in my zone and all these years ive only used them sparingly. Now i feel so liberated! :D
I’m new to your channel.. you have helped me SO much. I am obsessed and binge watching your channel 😆
Tree company was cleaning up a park near my home. I walked over and asked, May I have some wood chips?
When they completed their job they delivered to my driveway!!
🎉 FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE 🎉
I do that too 😂
I did the same thing and they never showed up perhaps if I waved the Glock around and was a grandma that would have helped
@@TrollHiddenCave 😆
Thankfully (for all) I don’t play the gun card, but I do play the sweet grandma card often. It works like a charm!!
If only they knew 😆😆😆
Yes yes yes. I use the pine needles and fall leaves!! Great tips! Thank you!
I love using pine needles as mulch! The long needles are beautiful when they turn red-orange. I scoop them up off my driveway FOR FREE.
Chipper shredder!?!?! Holy moly I gotta have one of those!! Thanks for mentioning it
Pre-harvest treatment of wheat etc often involves spraying the crop with glyphosate to hasten the drying process. Make sure you source your straw.
I completely forgot that I live in a place with a lot of farms around and one quick look on Facebook marketplace revealed loads of cheap, or even sometimes free straw. Gonna try that soon!
Not many give it away for nothing.
Thank you for ideas and inputs. You really inspired me to plant and grow again. Blessings. “You are Amazing”!
Another great video thanks. Enjoy your summer.
Pinoy power! Just got into gardening last year. Your vids are really helping out!
I never thought to look around my local area for free mulch! I love the idea of reducing landfills by redirecting useful stuff into gardens!
Thank you for the great chipper reviews.
New follower here from Philippines. Thank you for sharing gardening tips! You rock! 🌱👍
This was actually really helpful as apparently my city also has a similar material recycling program! I never would have thought to check with waste my local waste collection facility
extremely to the point comprehensive video. thank you
Hey 👋🏼 Filipina here! Thanks for your great tips!
walang anuman
Here too!
Thanks, for all your excellent garden tips on Mulch.So useful, iam on a budget and into growing my own vegetables and fruits and stuff.Amen !🙏♥️🙏🙌
New Sub here, from eat coast, liking your videos , your videos are are jam packed with info ! Clear and to the point !
Not new to gardening but always willing to learn new or old methods !
Going to try a raised bed this year !
I'm growing enough to share with my elderly neighbors , that won't be able to go out and purchase their plants for themselves due to this virus.
Awesome tip about our municipalities in our own towns to get mulch ! Thanks for the reminder !
Keep bringing great videos
Stay healthy& safe
I bought two of the birdie 8 way beds on your website today. I am so excited!!
Here in the south east, Georgia and north Carolina, I have not used pine needle s because I thought they weren't good for the garden. They are literally everywhere here. Awesome thank you.
Great tip on getting mulch and compost from my municipality!
Another great video!!! If i heard you right it sounds like you are in San Diego I was just out there with my wife on vacation its amazing out there thanks again for the tips
Thank you. Your videos are very helpful
Very thorough and helpful videos, thanks! BTW, in Mexico we also call them 'Bugambilias'.
I love your videos! I love that raised bed!
Thank you for the tips! You made me giggle at the very end with your raised bed 😆
Nice that the Greenery service was free! I lived in a city were, of course, we paid for the manditory yard and food scrap waste to be picked up, the city made compost and mulch with it, and SOLD it to the residents if they wanted it. So please never take this for granted.
😳
I use most of these methods. I put straw, leaves, and lawn trimmings in the chicken coop and let them shred it and mix it up with manure. This goes on the veggie beds. I use chip drop for walkways and around the trees.
Thank you for pointing out ChipDrop, this is a service I want to be able to share with gardeners everywhere.
I got chip drop last year and it was great! This is a good time of year to get it sooner rather than later. My shrubs are very happy! I also put chips around my garden to discourage the butter cups... though they will just climb right over it if I'm not careful!
I was looking at chip drop earlier but didn't know if it was good or not so I'm glad to hear people talking about if
I enjoyed the conversation with Sally 😁
This is mental, I'm used to you Americans having all the cool stuff I see on youtube and want to buy. It's hilarious for me, an Australian, to be wanting your raised beds and hearing you say you had to buy a whole container full from us to sell made me so happy!
Thank you for your knowledge, I appreciate you.
Great video, thankyou for all the great tips.
I am growing my potatoes in hay, here in The Netherlands as slugs seem to really like straw, so maybe something to consider for those living in wetter climates .
What an AWESOME video!!! Thanks!
Thank you so much!! So incredibly helpful!!
Hi this is my first watch of your channel very good info thanks
I legit just got my new chipper/shredder yesterday before this video! Earlier today I started chipping down a bunch of branches I have from out of my yard. I made some super nice mulch out of it. So exciting! My composter should get here tomorrow. I live in NW Florida and my little acre of land can become so over grow so fast. I got tired of sending all that good carbon and nitrogen off to the city just for them to compost it and SELL IT back! They charge for that here! It's almost unbelievable, now that I'm aware of it, how much yard waste people throw away here. The city happily picks it all up, but … I decided I'm doing new raised beds and I'm going to make all my compost myself. Might take a while, but I am not limited when it comes to things to compost! Shoot, I can just go down the street and pick up carbon as I need it. They're always someone with a large pile of tree branches waiting for the city to pick it up. Anyway, wish my luck with my new toy. I named mine Chopper!
You are right about the other stuff and seeds being in the hay, but that is actually why it preferable actually. Straw has little nutrient density. Hay on the other hand is completely FULL of nutrient density and variety! Which is why it not only works fabulous for mulching, but also feeds your soil! You have to make sure you lay it thick enough. That is the trick. When it is too thin or sparse it allows light through which allows seed germination and weed growth. Thick enough it stops those issues and feeds the garden as is decomposes. Hope this helps :) I think a lot of people look over this fact and are missing out as well as their gardens and plants ;)
Thanks for making birdies available to us 🇺🇸 I can't wait to get a couple
That's great you started selling those container gardens. I've seen them on self-sufficient me's channel and they look great.
Thank you for sharing Kevin from Perth Australia
Thank you, so informative.
Love that - get paid to take your neighbors free grass clippings. thank you for all of your informative videos!
Shout out from a Filipina fan!!!!
Thank you for this. I will start multching now.
You just became my favorite.
I'm from Manila.
Great video! Thanks for coming up with ways to garden on a peanut butter wallet.
Very helpful 👍😀
Thanks for the suggestion on ChipDrop! Made my first request and now it’s the waiting game. I’m excited for the delivery - it will show up like a Christmas present - the universe will land it at my door when the time is right.
Two years later... How did it turn out?
@@FlyingSagittarius, after a year of waiting, nothing ever came of ChipDrop. However, I did see a landscaping company at a gas station with a chipper truck and made a deal with them - got 4 truckloads dropped in my yard for free. If it wasn’t for the mention of ChipDrop in this video, I wouldn’t have thought about an alternative way to get the same thing.
Ugghh, been waiting a year for chip drop 😟. However, we’re a small rural community, so I get help from my neighbors 👍😉
Awesome video and super informative! I love your vids so keep em coming. 😎
Thanks!
Straw & wood chips are great for wine cao mycelium, so you can eat the straw when it is converted to a mushroom flush.
I die-grass LOL! Leaves are great. Good video.
Ahhh you live in SD- your a smart Pinoy- as I married a Filipina and today we live in Southern Connecticut- which definitely is Less as I too used to live in SD- run on the beaches of Coronado and was in and out of TJ all the time! Yeah- your a smart Pinoy- enjoy!
Hay is grass and straw is grain stalks (wheat, rye, barley, etc.). But yes, hay can often have grass seeds in it.
I didn't realise those beds were only available in some countries i.e. Australia. Good thing I'm in Australia 😍
ana monique Crickey! G'day mate!
I like putting news paper down and then put mulch on top of that- it helps retain moisture and helps reduce weeds
If I do that, I always shred so as not to fully smother the ground
Thank you for this video. Would you please make a video on how to replace mulch and what are the benefits of mulch? Newbies like me actually don't know how to replace mulch.
My neighbors did a chip drop, and they got drop big enough for our neighborhood haha! 😂 it was so much. It was crazy.
Wow! Your dragon fruit looks great!