Organic mulching questions

[carp]

Hi all. Along with learning about raising chickens, I'm also learning about gardening (I recently moved into my grandpa' sold house which is on some farm land). I had only ever grown plants in containers on my apartment patio before now.

We had an old willow tree that had to be taken down last October, and still have a pile of wood chips. I'm starting to move it to other places as mulch. One spot I want to use it is in the vegetable garden. But I know wood chips can suck out nitrogen.

Grandpa used to use grass clippings as mulch. But I like the way the wood chips look in the garden! I was wondering if I put down a layer of grass clippings first, then the wood chips on top, if that would be ok.

Also I just learned that when you turn grass clippings into mulch, you need to let it sit in a pile for a while first? Is that right?

 

[carolb5]

I spread my grass clipping while green. If you let them sit in a pile they make the most horrible smell and are not easy to work with. Google grass clippings and you will get more info.

 

[lazy gardener]

How much wood chips do you have? If you don't have a whole lot, you might want to use them in the paths over a layer of newspaper (at least 8 layers thick.) Or you could put down fresh grass clippings, and top with chips. depends on how much area you have to treat. If you don't mix the chips into the soil, I don't think you really have to worry. For grins and giggles, do a google search on "back to Eden" gardening.

My gardening style is to keep a permanent layer of mulch over my whole garden, and only loosen the soil where i'm planting. I use leaves, hay, straw, grass clippings. Just added chickens to the mix in spring 2013, so am experimenting with wood chips/chicken poo. I don't haul garden debris out of the garden in the fall, just throw it on the ground, and throw an extra layer of mulch over it. I also planted potatoes, egyptian onions and garlic in November (zone 4) and am just now seeing some of those potatoes come up. (fingerling potatoes that I had bought at the store, and never got around to using, so planted them instead of letting them go bad) Others came up about 3 weeks ago. Several of the egyptian onions and all of the garlic came up. I have lots of garlic all over my garden. It grows and spreads like weeds as I don't harvest all of it every fall. Also have free seeding lettuce and dill.

 

[chiklee]

to start a garden I put card board boxes over the area where I want the garden. Make sure all boxes are covering the old grassy area so you kill the weeds. Let the rain or put water on them .
Add grass clippings add chicken poo . Add some newspapers wet them too Gather bunch of leaves from the yard . mulch hay if can find it cheap and pile in layers I use the wood chips for the rows I am not planting in so I have a nice path for walking It will all compost on its own and next year you will have plenty of nice dirt under all of that . The worms will mulch all the boxes and matters you layered . The only problem I have with this method is If you keep the grass clipping and chicken poo on top you will get weeds that's why I put this all down on the first layer over the cardboard . Guess my garden is more or less like yours. I also have lots of stray plants through out my gardens . as long as I don't see weeds I am happy .

 

[MissusFoster]

You know, depending on what your other fertilizers look like, a nitrogen suck may not be a bad thing. I know that tomatoes and peppers are very sensitive to excess nitrogen, and it can make other plants sensitive to fungal infections as well.

That being said, nitrogen is pretty nice to have. If you have a ton of wood chips, you might consider putting them down on top of moldy or spoiled hay. Won't get quite as hot as green grass clippings, you can generally get nasty hay for free (or PLEASE TAKE IT AWAY FROM MY BARN ASAP), and it makes a nice mat that will block out weed seeds and separate your wood chips from your soil.