mulch

[cambourne7]

HI Guys,

We get a lot of very fresh wood delivered and i would like to make a mulch to use around my fruit plants at the end of this year.

How do i best treat this wood so it can age, i am in 2 minds to make a chicken wire mesh basket and fill it and just leave it to the elements or make a big pile and cover it in plastic.

HELP!!

i also have a bale of either hay or straw which has survived over winter and i am not sure what to do with it....

Louise

[cambourne7]

[jennym]

Even if the wood is in chip form, you will probably find it takes ages to rot down well enough to put around fruit bushes - maybe just leave it uncovered in big pile for a couple of years and see what happens? Mixing it in with a little muck may  help the process, but have never used them here. Or you could use it to make paths with.
The straw can be used to mulch round your plants in the summer to conserve water, or you can mix it into the compost heap.

[growmore]

If it's course and flattish its straw OK for mulching with..If its fine-ish and round and prob has some heads on it it's hay ..Don't use it for mulching you will be setting grass seed all over your plot :) ..cheers Jim

[flytrapman]

I get large loads of woodchip & just cover with a sheet it is not long before the Brandling worms move in & it does not take long before it is broken down. Like others on this site I also spread on the paths & then take up & use as a mulch replacing the paths with fresh woodchip.

[cambourne7]

thanks for the advice guys.

I am going to be turning the content of my compost bin this week and impliment my pumpkin in compost bin solution ( photos will follow ). What i have decided to do is to put a couple of wheelbarrows of wood chips into the bottom of the newly emptyed compost bin and then i can put my new allotment waste on top sperated by a newspaper and this time next year it might have rotted down enough to use if not it will allow the compost water to drain away and allow air into the compost above.

Later in the year when i am winding the site down i have earmarked a space i can create a pile and give it 5 months to rot down.

[Tee Gee]

The council keep fetching us loads of 'chippings/shreddings so I put it to a double use!

Firstly I recycle my compost bags by cutting up both sides of the empty bag this gives me a strip of plastic 5'-6' long which I put on my temporary paths.

To keep the plastic in place I cover it with a good 2"-3" of fresh chippings and form a footpath.

At the end of the season what with the weather and me (and others) walking on it, it turns into into a good humus mix.

I just drag the plastic & chippings on to the bed and dig it in.

By the time I get round to planting the following year it has more or less composted itself.

Nothing like getting more uses out of something, particularly if it is free.

By the way the only reason we get the chippings from the council  is it helps them to get up the 're-cycling table' the fact that they are helping some of us doesn't come in to it  ::)