Mulching question - Page 3

bughunter99 · May 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labradors2

I just copied your idea guys! I found some cedar chips in the shed and put them around all my container-grown tomatoes. Is there any problem if the chips touch the stem? I went around and pulled it away from the stems a bit but now I'm concerned......

Linda

Linda its best to keep mulch a couple of inches away from the stems. It helps prevent direct access to the bugs a bit, helps keep the mulch decomposition off the stems and helps assure the plants get good water.

Labradors2 · May 30, 2015

Thanks Bughunter. I'll pull it away from the stems a bit more to prevent the wind blowing it or other movement onto the stems!

Linda

Lindalana · June 1, 2015

My opinion, if you lucky to have clean grass it is precious, as it promotes healthy bacterial environment which what most veggies need. Yes, it does need to dry up a bit before placed and for small gardens totally awesome. There will be loss of nutrients to the air as it is decomposes but something will be left for the worms too so all good thing.
Regarding bark- be careful, bark tend to have water repellent as hydrophobic properties.
I love using local community garden weeds, as they are not poisoned, already pulled by people and are hoards of good nutrition. If piled and piled some more I have not found any increase in weed growing on my beds. Weed grows where soil is naked. Nature does not like naked soil. Weed also grows where soil is out of balance, it grows for reason trying to mine those nutrients. So it is all good.
Plase avoid coco shells mulch if you have animals, poison to the dogs.
As for other comment regarding having perfect manicured lawns- sheesh, how stupid can those practices get? And it is nearly impossible to get nice perfect lawn without using all that ugly chemicals, something so artificial does not have chance to exist in nature.
Here is reprint from Planet Paws article
NEW STUDY REVEALS THE LINK BETWEEN OUR LAWNS, OUR PETS, CANCER AND US

A beautiful lush and vibrant lawn is the source of a wonderful sense of pride and accomplishment for most folks today. I mean, who doesn’t like to see beautiful green grass, right? Especially our furry companions!

When the grass comes out, our fur babies love to play, roll and even eat the stuff! Heck, my dogs are out there right now sun bathing in it as we speak!

All our pets can spend hours on end in the backyards of the world just basking in the sun and lying on well fertilized and treated lawns.

Is all this “green grass talk” making you want to go outside and start the lawn maintenance program?

Well you may want to consider the following data from this recent study, soon to be published in the July issue of Science of the Total Environment:

“Dogs are ingesting, inhaling and otherwise being exposed to garden and lawn chemicals that have been associated with bladder cancer.”

These chemicals are either sticking to our pet’s fur or they are being breathed in. The toxicity gets even worse if your pet tries to lick and clean their paws!

WHAT’S EVEN WORSE:

“Once contaminated, dogs can pass the chemicals on to their owners and to others in the household. The study only looked at dogs, but the researchers suspect that cats and other pets could also be affected.

‘Dogs can pick up the chemicals on their paws and their fur,’ Deborah Knapp, lead author of Purdue University's Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, explains. ‘They can then track the chemicals inside the house, leaving chemicals on the floor or furniture. In addition, if the dog has chemicals on its fur, the pet owner could come in contact with the chemicals when they pet or hold the dog.’

John Reif, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, told Discovery News, ‘The paper presents important information since exposure to 2,-4-D, a widely used broad leaf herbicide, has been associated with increased risk of cancer in pet dogs and humans.’" – Discovery News

This means that we, the humans, are unknowingly exposing our pets to cancer and they, our pets, are unknowingly returning the favor as they bring the toxins back into our households.

At this point, some pet parents may say to themselves: “This article doesn’t concern me because I don’t spray or treat my lawn.”

WELL, READ THIS NEXT PART:

“In a second experiment, the researchers analyzed urine samples of dogs from households that either used herbicides or didn't. The majority of dogs from homes that used the chemicals were found to have these same herbicides in their urine. Some dogs from untreated homes also had the chemicals in their urine.

Knapp explained that wind could cause the herbicides to travel up to 50 feet away from the application site. Neighbors who use the chemicals might therefore impact other individuals in the area.”

This is everybody’s problem, unfortunately.

This study shows super important effects on human health since it demonstrates widespread exposure to pet dogs.

“The likelihood that children, who share the local environment with their pets, are similarly exposed to these chemicals is high and thus additional studies should be conducted to evaluate this possibility." - Colorado School of Public Health

WANT MORE DATA?

In 2012, researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine questioned the owners of more than 700 dogs about the use of pesticides. Roughly one-third of the dogs had been diagnosed with canine malignant lymphoma, while the other two-thirds had either benign tumors or were undergoing non-cancer surgeries.

Dogs whose owners reported use of professionally applied lawn pesticides were 70 percent more likely to have lymphoma, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Research in January.

Dogs also were at higher risk of lymphoma if their owners used self-applied insect growth regulators on their yards, which control cockroaches, fleas and other pests.

STILL WANT A GREEN LAWN WITHOUT THE CHEMICALS?

Here are some tips from Dogs Naturally Magazine:

•If you’re tempted to coat your lawn with chemical fertilizers to give your grass a boost before guests arrive, don’t. For nontoxic lawn nourishment, broadcast one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch of high-quality compost over your lawn using a shovel. Compost nourishes beneficial soil microbes and doesn’t contain harsh salts the way many chemical fertilizers do, and you could see some improvement in just a few days.

•Instead of reaching for Roundup or other harmful synthetic pesticides to kill weeds creeping up through sidewalk or driveway cracks, try using BurnOut, an organic weed killer made of food-grade vinegar and clove oil. Just be sure to spray it directly on weeds on a warm, sunny day for the best effect. You can also use BurnOut to quickly and organically kill weeds in the yard; however, it will temporarily leave a brown spot, and you’ll need to reseed the area to shade out new weed growth. (You might want to save that project for after your guests leave.) Smallwood recommends reseeding with Pearl’s Premium grass seed. It thrives without chemicals, and once established, you don’t ever have to water it.

•It’s also wise to avoid cocoa bean shell mulch in your gardens—it’s potentially toxic to pooches.

For more info visit: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com...ancer-in-dogs/

What tips did the researchers of the latest study offer on this subject?

They suggest that if owners still must use herbicides, they should follow manufacturer guidelines, allow gardens and lawns to dry before allowing pets out, wash their dog's feet each time the dog comes inside, and consider treating the back yard one week before the front (or vice versa) so that pets will have an area of less potential chemical exposure available to them.

For more info on the study, click here - http://ow.ly/Npl2l

Rodney Habib - Pet Nutrition Blogger

"An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"

Ed of Somis · June 1, 2015

thinking maybe the "lawn thing" was more than somebody could handle....

Yak54 · June 1, 2015

I use Peat Moss as a mulch for my tomato plants cause my soil PH tends to be on the high side and when I turn my soil over, the Peat Moss helps to lower the PH and I don't have to use as much sulpher to get the PH where I want it. This has been working for me pretty well for the last 15 years or so.

Dan

Chapinz8 · June 1, 2015

I use grass clippings every year now, but only the ones out of my front yard which have no seeds to speak of. My back yard has more seed heads early in the year from rye, etc. I use it as soon as the soil warms up slightly. I have a fairly small raised bed garden. I have 3 or 4 weeds a year.

I mulch about 4 inches deep first time and then again the second time. I put it on as soon as I cut it and never have any soggy mess, although I know what you are talking about. My grass is Meyer Zoysia.

The base soil is Dixie Mix, which is mushroom compost with various items added. I sometimes add shredded leaves but mostly just grass clippings. I used shredded leaves as a mulch one time and got eaten alive, especially by small slugs.

My last soil test said to just use some nitrogen (blood meal) as most nutrients were adequate or too high. (Also, I can park my mower right by the gate which I like since I've noticed I'm getting a little lazier as time goes by).

Good luck. (Now, if I could just get my wife to cut the grass ...........)

Douglas14 · June 1, 2015

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I'll take them all into consideration.

I live out in the country with about two acres of lawn. I don't fertilize it, or add any chemicals. I actually like seeing dandelions in the lawn in spring, as yellow is one of my favorite colors. I don't worry about adding additional weed seeds to my garden, as it has an abundance of weed seeds in there already.

I guess my main concern was when to apply mulch, so it isn't too early, that it will inhibit early tomato plant growth, by keeping the soil cooler?

Lindalana · June 2, 2015

For Chicago area I ended up with applying inexpensive lanscape fabric early Arpil, planting late April into WOWs, removing landscape fabric beg of June and mulching heavily with compost/weeds/grass/leaves etc for rest of the summer. Unfortunately I can not keep mulch all year along as I rent my space from community gardens.
What I do is time consuming but I was unable to find better way to warm up soil for early planting and keep mulch as well.

bughunter99 · June 2, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas14

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I'll take them all into consideration.

I live out in the country with about two acres of lawn. I don't fertilize it, or add any chemicals. I actually like seeing dandelions in the lawn in spring, as yellow is one of my favorite colors. I don't worry about adding additional weed seeds to my garden, as it has an abundance of weed seeds in there already.

I guess my main concern was when to apply mulch, so it isn't too early, that it will inhibit early tomato plant growth, by keeping the soil cooler?

Yeah for you guys in MN it is probably still too early to put it down. I haven't put mine down yet either. I like to have at least two weeks of no temperatures day or night below sixty degrees before I put it down. For me that is usually the second week of June. We are getting plenty of rain so moisture retention is not an issue for me yet.

crmauch · June 10, 2015

All my plans of using grass as mulch are now on hold.

When you're already behind on the grass cutting (partly because you were trying to get all the tomatoes in the ground) and then you're tractor breaks 1/2 way through the cutting (of two acres), and you had car trouble at the beginning of the weekend, and then on Monday, you call the tractor maintenance place and it will be several weeks before they can *pick* the tractor up. You just know it sin't going real well.

June 1, 2015	#37
Douglas14 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Minnesota Posts: 602	Wow, thanks for all the responses. I'll take them all into consideration. I live out in the country with about two acres of lawn. I don't fertilize it, or add any chemicals. I actually like seeing dandelions in the lawn in spring, as yellow is one of my favorite colors. I don't worry about adding additional weed seeds to my garden, as it has an abundance of weed seeds in there already. I guess my main concern was when to apply mulch, so it isn't too early, that it will inhibit early tomato plant growth, by keeping the soil cooler? Last edited by Douglas14; June 1, 2015 at 11:44 PM.

May 30, 2015	#32
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,887	Thanks Bughunter. I'll pull it away from the stems a bit more to prevent the wind blowing it or other movement onto the stems! Linda

June 1, 2015	#33
Lindalana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 857	My opinion, if you lucky to have clean grass it is precious, as it promotes healthy bacterial environment which what most veggies need. Yes, it does need to dry up a bit before placed and for small gardens totally awesome. There will be loss of nutrients to the air as it is decomposes but something will be left for the worms too so all good thing. Regarding bark- be careful, bark tend to have water repellent as hydrophobic properties. I love using local community garden weeds, as they are not poisoned, already pulled by people and are hoards of good nutrition. If piled and piled some more I have not found any increase in weed growing on my beds. Weed grows where soil is naked. Nature does not like naked soil. Weed also grows where soil is out of balance, it grows for reason trying to mine those nutrients. So it is all good. Plase avoid coco shells mulch if you have animals, poison to the dogs. As for other comment regarding having perfect manicured lawns- sheesh, how stupid can those practices get? And it is nearly impossible to get nice perfect lawn without using all that ugly chemicals, something so artificial does not have chance to exist in nature. Here is reprint from Planet Paws article NEW STUDY REVEALS THE LINK BETWEEN OUR LAWNS, OUR PETS, CANCER AND US A beautiful lush and vibrant lawn is the source of a wonderful sense of pride and accomplishment for most folks today. I mean, who doesn’t like to see beautiful green grass, right? Especially our furry companions! When the grass comes out, our fur babies love to play, roll and even eat the stuff! Heck, my dogs are out there right now sun bathing in it as we speak! All our pets can spend hours on end in the backyards of the world just basking in the sun and lying on well fertilized and treated lawns. Is all this “green grass talk” making you want to go outside and start the lawn maintenance program? Well you may want to consider the following data from this recent study, soon to be published in the July issue of Science of the Total Environment: “Dogs are ingesting, inhaling and otherwise being exposed to garden and lawn chemicals that have been associated with bladder cancer.” These chemicals are either sticking to our pet’s fur or they are being breathed in. The toxicity gets even worse if your pet tries to lick and clean their paws! WHAT’S EVEN WORSE: “Once contaminated, dogs can pass the chemicals on to their owners and to others in the household. The study only looked at dogs, but the researchers suspect that cats and other pets could also be affected. ‘Dogs can pick up the chemicals on their paws and their fur,’ Deborah Knapp, lead author of Purdue University's Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, explains. ‘They can then track the chemicals inside the house, leaving chemicals on the floor or furniture. In addition, if the dog has chemicals on its fur, the pet owner could come in contact with the chemicals when they pet or hold the dog.’ John Reif, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, told Discovery News, ‘The paper presents important information since exposure to 2,-4-D, a widely used broad leaf herbicide, has been associated with increased risk of cancer in pet dogs and humans.’" – Discovery News This means that we, the humans, are unknowingly exposing our pets to cancer and they, our pets, are unknowingly returning the favor as they bring the toxins back into our households. At this point, some pet parents may say to themselves: “This article doesn’t concern me because I don’t spray or treat my lawn.” WELL, READ THIS NEXT PART: “In a second experiment, the researchers analyzed urine samples of dogs from households that either used herbicides or didn't. The majority of dogs from homes that used the chemicals were found to have these same herbicides in their urine. Some dogs from untreated homes also had the chemicals in their urine. Knapp explained that wind could cause the herbicides to travel up to 50 feet away from the application site. Neighbors who use the chemicals might therefore impact other individuals in the area.” This is everybody’s problem, unfortunately. This study shows super important effects on human health since it demonstrates widespread exposure to pet dogs. “The likelihood that children, who share the local environment with their pets, are similarly exposed to these chemicals is high and thus additional studies should be conducted to evaluate this possibility." - Colorado School of Public Health WANT MORE DATA? In 2012, researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine questioned the owners of more than 700 dogs about the use of pesticides. Roughly one-third of the dogs had been diagnosed with canine malignant lymphoma, while the other two-thirds had either benign tumors or were undergoing non-cancer surgeries. Dogs whose owners reported use of professionally applied lawn pesticides were 70 percent more likely to have lymphoma, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Research in January. Dogs also were at higher risk of lymphoma if their owners used self-applied insect growth regulators on their yards, which control cockroaches, fleas and other pests. STILL WANT A GREEN LAWN WITHOUT THE CHEMICALS? Here are some tips from Dogs Naturally Magazine: •If you’re tempted to coat your lawn with chemical fertilizers to give your grass a boost before guests arrive, don’t. For nontoxic lawn nourishment, broadcast one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch of high-quality compost over your lawn using a shovel. Compost nourishes beneficial soil microbes and doesn’t contain harsh salts the way many chemical fertilizers do, and you could see some improvement in just a few days. •Instead of reaching for Roundup or other harmful synthetic pesticides to kill weeds creeping up through sidewalk or driveway cracks, try using BurnOut, an organic weed killer made of food-grade vinegar and clove oil. Just be sure to spray it directly on weeds on a warm, sunny day for the best effect. You can also use BurnOut to quickly and organically kill weeds in the yard; however, it will temporarily leave a brown spot, and you’ll need to reseed the area to shade out new weed growth. (You might want to save that project for after your guests leave.) Smallwood recommends reseeding with Pearl’s Premium grass seed. It thrives without chemicals, and once established, you don’t ever have to water it. •It’s also wise to avoid cocoa bean shell mulch in your gardens—it’s potentially toxic to pooches. For more info visit: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com...ancer-in-dogs/ What tips did the researchers of the latest study offer on this subject? They suggest that if owners still must use herbicides, they should follow manufacturer guidelines, allow gardens and lawns to dry before allowing pets out, wash their dog's feet each time the dog comes inside, and consider treating the back yard one week before the front (or vice versa) so that pets will have an area of less potential chemical exposure available to them. For more info on the study, click here - http://ow.ly/Npl2l Rodney Habib - Pet Nutrition Blogger "An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"

June 1, 2015	#34
Ed of Somis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Somis, Ca Posts: 649	thinking maybe the "lawn thing" was more than somebody could handle....

June 1, 2015	#35
Yak54 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Madison, OH, zone 6 Posts: 458	I use Peat Moss as a mulch for my tomato plants cause my soil PH tends to be on the high side and when I turn my soil over, the Peat Moss helps to lower the PH and I don't have to use as much sulpher to get the PH where I want it. This has been working for me pretty well for the last 15 years or so. Dan

June 1, 2015	#36
Chapinz8 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chapin, SC Posts: 142	I use grass clippings every year now, but only the ones out of my front yard which have no seeds to speak of. My back yard has more seed heads early in the year from rye, etc. I use it as soon as the soil warms up slightly. I have a fairly small raised bed garden. I have 3 or 4 weeds a year. I mulch about 4 inches deep first time and then again the second time. I put it on as soon as I cut it and never have any soggy mess, although I know what you are talking about. My grass is Meyer Zoysia. The base soil is Dixie Mix, which is mushroom compost with various items added. I sometimes add shredded leaves but mostly just grass clippings. I used shredded leaves as a mulch one time and got eaten alive, especially by small slugs. My last soil test said to just use some nitrogen (blood meal) as most nutrients were adequate or too high. (Also, I can park my mower right by the gate which I like since I've noticed I'm getting a little lazier as time goes by). Good luck. (Now, if I could just get my wife to cut the grass ...........)

June 2, 2015	#38
Lindalana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 857	For Chicago area I ended up with applying inexpensive lanscape fabric early Arpil, planting late April into WOWs, removing landscape fabric beg of June and mulching heavily with compost/weeds/grass/leaves etc for rest of the summer. Unfortunately I can not keep mulch all year along as I rent my space from community gardens. What I do is time consuming but I was unable to find better way to warm up soil for early planting and keep mulch as well.

June 10, 2015	#40
crmauch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Honey Brook, PA Zone 6b Posts: 399	All my plans of using grass as mulch are now on hold. When you're already behind on the grass cutting (partly because you were trying to get all the tomatoes in the ground) and then you're tractor breaks 1/2 way through the cutting (of two acres), and you had car trouble at the beginning of the weekend, and then on Monday, you call the tractor maintenance place and it will be several weeks before they can pick the tractor up. You just know it sin't going real well.