Everything I Wish I Knew About MULCH As a Beginning Gardener

[@Vance-ik9ck]

The most important thing is to know your source! My friend got mulch from trees that were taking down in a park, but all the grass was treated with chemicals. Ruined his garden.

[@betsybugsmith5324]

I’m very thankful for all the fallen trees on our property. I let them lay and decompose over a few years. I will then take the “mulch” and use it in my garden. Although it’s labor intensive it’s wonderful organic and free mulch! It has changed my clay soil to black gold over 4 years.

[@lyndelgado6138]

Merry Christmas! Thanks for all you and your team do!

[@breannahorton]

Love it! I think the biggest mistake when using mulch is using a shovel when you have to move by hand, a manure fork/pitchfork is way less stress on the body because the tines require less force to penetrate the pile than the full width of a shovel.

[@carlgomm9699]

Awesome, I'm originally from Maine and now live in Florida year round, I use the needles from pine trees where I live for weed control, the garden itself is in containers, does a good job with weeds ❤

[@maryshaddox1172]

Great info. I did learn some new things, yeah. Will be putting it into practice.

[@MIgardener]

Glad it was helpful!

[@honeybadgers1996]

Thanks for the video. Merry Christmas to you and your team.

[@markcarruthers3313]

Here in SW Ontario, tree trimming companies supplement their tree trimming fee income by selling what they grind up from the branches they trim, generally less per cubic yard that landscaping companies sell it for, but they still sell it. Even the municipality charges for the mulch they make from the brush & branches people drop off at the local dump. If people can get it for free where they are…great!! However, mulch is certainly not free everywhere.

[@cardstockcollector]

Thank You! Merry Christmas!

[@MIgardener]

Merry Christmas!

[@rhondallyons9842]

Merry Christmas! Good info!

[@hollish196]

ANOTHER absolutely fabulous video! I have been gardening for decades and I always learn something new from you. Rubber mulch?? EEEK! Bird''s Nest Fungus? YIKES!!

[@webcompanion]

I've used Chipdrop as well here in SE Michigan. Worked great but the brought a LOT. Probably 10 yards worth. Luckily neighbor has a tractor. Wheel barrels would have killed me. Thanks for the tips!

[@Chicken_witch]

I have been waiting 3 years now for chipdrop in downeast maine

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

@@Chicken_witch same here but 4 yrs for me, I’ve given up !

[@tmiller6989]

Love chip-drop!!! You can also specify what types of wood you do not want dumped. you have the opportunity to pay a small amount like 20 bucks to offset their costs if they have to dump it in a site reserved for their dumps. Sometimes it helps get it faster. I’ve gotten it very quickly both ways making a payment and not making a payment, but I live in Western Pennsylvania . My sister lives on the other side of Pennsylvania closer to Philly and she got her chip drop really quick too.

[@susanthomas5167]

Great information!

[@dnawormcastings]

Great information on mulch 🇳🇿🌱

[@guylamullins3602]

Hair conditioner heelps remove artillery mold spots. Jim Parsons did a video on how it cleans a car. It does and removes those mold spots too.

[@betsybugsmith5324]

Wow. I will have to give that a try. We have Hardi board siding that is ruined from fungi.

[@richardroadcap7957]

Year old pine straw is a great (free) mulch

[@Terryo1939]

I have recently become a huge fan of comfrey. What I would like to know is why comfrey is a good thing to plant at the base of trees? Do you have any thoughts on this please?😊

[@guylamullins3602]

I like the way Charles Dowding and Mark from Self sufficient me use mulch. I started being more careful about leaving leaves around the base of chineae elm. It does lead to rodent damage and then box elder bugs. Grapes and elderberry I use pine needle mulch. I started using preen on an herb bed walkway. What do you think of Preen?

[@sunshinegardener1189]

Thank you. Excellent video always learned something from you. Appreciate it and merry Christmas.

[@janetcarey2225]

Thanks for the video. One question, what do I do with the mulch I put down in the fall when planting in the spring? Just move it aside to plant seeds/starts? Or what?

[@shawnkunze6024]

how about leaves instead of wood chips? I'm in zone 6 and the wood chips I got from a tree company won't break down for atleast a couple years so then I'd have to move them all to add compost . Input appreciated,

[@samanthasturges6535]

I also use mulch from tree services. But I have a question though about using mulch when you don't know what trees were cut. What about mulch that has black walnut tree in it? I know that our property has black walnut trees and that it has poisoned the ground around them because our neighbor had to move his garden out of their root zone.

[@twanabanawna3878]

Do wood chips break down into compost faster or slower than wood ash? For example, if I have a couple bags of Black Kow, should I throw it into my compost bin as-is, or burn it into biochar first? Next video???

[@mikemcnulty111]

Great video! Will the grass come up thru the mulch or just decompose? Thanks!

[@Donna_G]

Is there such a thing as mulch acting as a blanket and holding in too much heat? I discovered that last year. I had to water my garden nearly twice as much as I normally did. I'm lucky that I got a few tomatoes, beans, and peas. Nothing else survived. I'll try something different next year.

[@kimberlylamantia7794]

I once went to my local nursery to get pine bark mulch nuggets and they didn't have it, so they sold me on "lightly" dyed brown mulch and not only was it so broken down that it was pretty much dirt, but it was so heavily dyed it stained my fingers through gloves while dry. Still seeking out pine bark mulch nuggets lol

[@KaleyJohnston]

If you compost the mulch does it get hot enough to kill things like artillary fungus?

[@kty716]

Thanks for the great video. Does it means i should avoid out coconut husk, rice husk into my pot soil to avoid losing nitogen to the plant?

[@ausfoodgarden]

Coconut coir (husk) should be fine (very slow breakdown), but fresh rice husks can use up some available Nitrogen. You could still add rice husk, but make sure to add a high N fertilizer.

[@kty716]

@ thank you very much!

[@donnadunbar589]

Do you have any suggestions for mulching around house that doesn't produce artillery fungus? I found out about it the hard way.

[@donnas7312]

Me too! I had to scrape and repaint my house because of the artillery fungus. I ended up removing all the mulch around the house and replacing with landscape rocks. Never again will I mulch around buildings.

[@beverlyboyce1041]

The feeder roots r away from trunk anyway and thatscwhere the mulch does more good

[@johnkehoe8368]

manure also has that fungas in it so why is it ok to use manure but not mulch near the house?

[@justinarnold7725]

Youve got a nitrogen fixation bro

[@twanabanawna3878]

Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎄

[@justinarnold7725]

A legume cover crop ahould breakdown the woodchips is a season

[@kendranicholson1473]

yes, we got a ton from our city aaaaaaand we also got a TON OF poison ivy

[@jmkupihea7630]

Please don’t use shredded tires around kids either, the heavy metals, other poisonous/toxic residues and such are bad for them AND the black dust ruins their clothes

[@carriebrown4727]

Tree services around here wont give away the wood chips because of the possibility of disease.

[@Mattallen94]

Under stories, low growing plants planted at the base of your trees, are better than mulch. Living roots in the soil are always the best option

[@monicam.8006]

What about natural rubber from a rubber tree? Is that an okay mulch? Native Americans in South America would make a natural rubber combining the sap of a rubber tree with citrus.

[@katherinez9654]

The places where they make the bark, uses wood that has had chemicals spilled onto it. They dye the bark to hide the chemical color. I quit using black bark in my yard because my dog gets that on his paws and then it’s come in contact with his skin, or he licks his paws. 😢

[@katherinethomson8824]

Something to keep in mind when watching garden channel videos is the climate zone of the person making the video. Some of the advice in this video would not be appropriate for someone with a garden in a dry climate or a very hot climate, for instance. Overall good information here, though.

[@JohnWood-tk1ge]

I think you’ve covered the subject 😝

[@MIgardener]

Good one!

[@nancyavila9768]

we get our mulch free, the greatest thing ever merry Christmas

[@melindaroth5796]

Luke did you mention you don't want to use Black Walnut Tree Mulch because it is toxic to night shade plants. 😊❤

[@kimberlylamantia7794]

I always heard about black walnut toxicity but haven't found out it affects anything in the ssolanacae family

[@MIgardener]

We did a video about this. Only growing black walnut will contain juglone

[@rogerharmon8832]

I use it with no problem.

[@deeproots24]

@@MIgardener so their dried leaves also does not contain juglone? if I want to use them as mulch ?

[@MR-wl9ze]

Also toxic to horses in case anyone uses it around pastures, barn, etc.

[@jakewake1829]

I am confused. You say not to use rubber due to the plastics and chemicals. And then you say your going to use plastic sheeting. I am especially confused as you advertise as growing organically. Can you give some insight from your point of view? Thanks.

[@kessell637]

Respectfully, you have a lot of followers and owe them accurate information. Check out Linda Chalker-Scott and/or The Garden Professors for science based information about using arborist wood chips as mulch. They give a goldmine of home gardening information. You get a lot of things right, but just enough inaccurate info to cause concern. Wood chips near a trunk do not cause a problem. Plastic sheet mulching is horrible for your soil.

[@lynnes3659]

Are you going to live on the farm?

[@beverlyr8152]

Thank you 😊

[@MIgardener]

Glad it helped!

[@whodidit99]

Many cities give it away for free.

[@MIgardener]

Our hometown did. :)

[@jamiemartin8750]

It took my 9 months to get my first Chip Drop. So hard to get it here. I used it to cover my garden completely and my small back yard fruit orchard. I’m in a subdivision. I never mix my wood chips with my soil but I have an armadillo that comes around and digs my rows up. It’s a love hate relationship. He is eating grubs but I have to clean up behind him and the chips get mixed with soil. I got about 20 yards and moved it shovel by shovel. Wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow. Got some great arm workouts😂. I’ve signed up again more.

[@ulyssesmelendres504]

Ha

[@kimmy0868]

The problem with mulch is that you can’t find this type Anywhere.

[@FlavorChefGenetics]

Make sure it’s clean and know what’s in it. If you don’t know for sure then don’t use it. Keep it real 🫡