To us, the best mulch that you can use for the garden beds does not come from the garden center.
It is whatever biomass you have next to you that can be used and that is free.
This year I have used leaves from our trees in the garden beds and chopped weeds into the aisles.
Yes, it is labor-intensive to do that but I know that every year I have this resource available for free. So instead of sending this yard waste to the landfill and creating greenhouse gasses, it is best to find ways to use it in the garden.
@compost
I compost all my garden and allotment waste in what I call my weed composter.
I keep all the autumn leaves from the streets in a upended dog crate.
I add all my kitchen waste with rotted manure and hard wood ash to my 3 stage composter, to which I also mix in leaf mulch and rotted green waste from the weed composter to get the green/brown balance.
But for winter mulch in the yard I use spruce leaves or leaf mould from the dog cage, which adds a nice crumbly layer.
@compost I recently started chopping up prunings & using them for mulch. I also make sure I don't tidy up much over winter. So leaves/twigs etc stay on the earth where they fall.
@compost Are there sources for ideas for when you can't use organic mulch on the surface? We are being strongly warned against using organic mulches in areas that have ever been hit by wildfires.
Besides that, I once made a Square Foot garden using the soil mix recommended in the books, and over the course of a few years my good soil within the garden frame was literally blown away by our winds. I'm not sure bark mulch in chunks smaller than my fist would stay where I put it.
This is why we have been working hard to use our compost as a mulch.
We are surrounded by conventional agriculture properties that use chemicals and for us using a local resource has too many risks of contamination.
So we decided to plant as many trees as we could and use as much as we could the resources from our yard.
We mostly use composting worms that can process an amazing amount of waste and create produce that is just as good if not superior as any commercial compost.
I live in a high fire area, the recommendation here is to keep organic mulch to 3 inches (7-8 centimeters) thick or less. I find once the soil is active, it is hard to keep more than a thin layer of mulch due to rapid decomposition. Anything too thick for mulch should be buried or burned (in a fireplace) with ashes returned to the soil (e g. tree branches). No exposed compost piles! (Look up trench composting for something that is ok).
@elysegrasso@compost
I used to live in Masonville, in the foothills west of Fort Collins, and the wind was amazing. We planted a lot of trees 30 years ago in the pasture north of the house, but that garden still needs jury-rigged windbreaks throughout. Mostly burlap sacks tied to fences.
@compost last year I stuffed a huge bundle of sticks and twigs under one of our hedges to allow them to rot/ act as insect and animal hideouts. Looked the other day and its all gone, just vanished into the earth! Nature is awesome. The birds, bees and hedgehogs probably enjoyed many a feast or sleep down there.
I pull the weeds and use them for mulch in designated spots (where they are piled thick). As I am spreading them close to the collection point for weeds & plant trimmings instead of sending them out with the trash, it is less work for a healthier garden. I just leave grass trimmings & leaves where they fall 90% of the time.
Do a quick search for keyhole gardening. Five years ago my wife and I made one. A local liquor store was ideal for getting all of the cardboard to make up for the brown we didn't have in the yard. The cardboard didn't have tape that needed cutting off but only glue.
After initial set up you just put kitchen waste into the center and let nature do its thing. The grass around the garden grows tall, lush, and deep green. Worms are abundant in the garden and some distance from it.
@compost I use the materials on hand, such as shredded prunings from the fruit trees and shrubs, a combination of shredded tree leaves saved from the previous autumn & any grass clippings I can get (tumbled in the compost tumbler for a few days first). I also compost garden waste from the previous year and use that as mulch the following spring. There is always a need for more! 😀
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