PDA

View Full Version : Joyce????



gray cat
03-20-2007, 07:53 PM
What is the real dark mix that you mulch your flower beds with? Of course you told me last fall but I can't remenber.:no:
I am going to be mulching mine in the next few weeks. I want something that will enrich the soil.
Thanks so much.:yes:

GloriaL
03-20-2007, 10:01 PM
I'm not Joyce, but the best mulch in my opinion is pine straw 4-6" of it. It decomposes to great dirt and doesn't have all those mushrooms and fungus like hardwood mulch. Great for your acid loving plants like azaleas and perrenials

gray cat
03-20-2007, 10:51 PM
Thank you Gloria. I use pine straw around the pond and trees.:yes:

Swimming Jewel
03-20-2007, 11:23 PM
The stuff we get at work by the 18 wheel truckload is called 'black gold' and it is a compost/hardwood mulch mix. Very dark, almost black, and does not bleach out much at all. So it always looks like rich a rich topdressing of compost. It has been solarized, so it is weed seed free. I have never had fungus problems with it. Decays into topsoil in one season, in fact, we often mulch again in the fall because our spring mulch has already turned to topsoil.

We just got 12 truckloads last week...so Bill is gonna get busy soon!:D:

When I lived in NC, we used to get a NASTY :eek1: white filamentous fungus on/in our pinestraw. (pine straw is commonly used in the south. Hardly used at all up here in the North.)
Also, mushrooms and other fungus will grow in pinestraw, no matter what you do, where you live. It usually has a lot to do with what is already native, fungus-wise in your area. Most mold and fungus spores blow in from surrounding areas, and you can't really blame it on the mulch. When you put mulch down, you are laying a bed for fungus to grow in.

Even when we lived in NC, I didn't like to use pinestraw. Just didn't like the look, because we didn't have too many pine trees around, for it to look natural. For me it would have been natural if we lived in a pine forest.:cool3:

gray cat
03-20-2007, 11:53 PM
Thanks Joyce. I want to use that in my flower beds this summer.
I use the pine straw around the pond and trees. Where I am we have lots of pines around. My address contains the word Forest in it too.:D:
I just don't want it in my flowers because of the acid. :yes:
I haven't noticed any white fungus but I will keep a watch on it.

Swimming Jewel
03-21-2007, 08:32 AM
The stuff we had did not appear on the surface. It was growing just under the surface, as if it were coming up through the ground into the pine needles. If you tried to dig a hole in the pine needles, you would find the needles held together by a thick white mesh of white filamentous fungus. Some of it was sort of branching like coral, in other places, very threadlike. I think the thicker diameter stuff was older than the thinner stuff...it would grow in underground mats. We used to pull up 'rugs' of the stuff holding the pine needles together, flip it over, and it would turn dark brown to black in the sun on a hot day.
Didn't seem to harm any plantings, just kind of creepy. :eek1:

Yes, most perennials and annuals do not do well with pine straw. Seems to stunt their growth. Pine needles were a lot cheaper in NC than regular mulch, so when we first moved there, we used pine needles the first year. This is when I first started to get into the science of gardening. I had noticed that my neighbor Rogers annuals always grew much larger than mine, and asked him what he used for fertilizer. He told me that Pine Needles added acid to the soil, and annuals do not like too much acid. He said he just used the mulch, and that when it rotted, it self fertilized the annuals. :cool3:
So that is when we started using aged hardwood mulch. (dark, to match Rogers, and to look natural)

Going off on a tangent...
I can not stand the bright red hardwood mulch.
I have never see anything so artificial and gawdy.
Plus the color clashes with a lot of bloom colors.
And it stains your hands too, since it is dyed red, not naturally red.
Wonder if the dye is safe for humans, and the environment?
Just looks awful to me.:no:

gray cat
03-21-2007, 12:08 PM
Joyce I am going to use the compost hardwood in my flower beds that are close to our wooded area. It will look so natural there.
I too hate that red mulch! I can't
think of another thing that looks worst in the landscape!:eek1:
Have you seen that dyed brown stuff made from tires?
I think that seems creepy too.:eek1:

Swimming Jewel
03-21-2007, 01:24 PM
Yup, ground up tires sprayed with color. :puke:
And you can get it in every color in the rainbow, for use in playgrounds, schools, daycare areas, etc.:rolleyes:
And now they come formed into stepping stones too.

The best way I've seen it used, is as a golf cart path on the golf courses around here. They make a roll out cart path made of the ground up tires. It's flexible, about 3-4" thick, 6 feet wide, and gets sub-based for drainage almost the same way as asphalt. Looks like asphalt because it is ground up tires, not dyed or painted.

Looks really good used this way.:cool:

But not for mulch.:no:

Sandyd
03-21-2007, 01:43 PM
Joyce,

How long do you have to let hardwood wood chips sit before using them?

With the icestorm here last month we have two truckloads of woodchips in a pile. I was hoping to eventually use them for mulch around my shrubs and perrenials.

Thanks
Sandyd

Swimming Jewel
03-21-2007, 02:39 PM
It's ready to use, already composted.
I should take a photo of the mountain of it out in the back lot here at work.

If it is fresh wood chips, cuz it depends on the type of wood, I really coudln't say for sure how long you should let it sit.
But if it were me, I'd wait at least 6 months.