making mulch

[Itoero]

I have a machine to chop leaves and branches...excellent for making mulch.
Does it matter what kind of leaves and branches I use as mulch?
The mulch is for my peppers.

[valley]

Hi, use everything in your mulch. If all or most of what you use is pine or fir, your mulch will be more toward the acid side, if everything is coming off your property the ph will be the same as your soil.. Many people have a three sided form or a pit they throw everything in to mulch. I say if it's organic, throw it in.

Mulch just happens up at our mountain place and I mine it, there are places where it is several feet deep and ready to use. There are many here on the forum mulch their own, you may hear how they do it, in response to you post. Good luck.

Richard

[!potatoes!]

depending on what it's for, maybe stay away from the walnut family - many annual veggies don't do well with juglone.

[valley]

Juglone? Isn't that an Italian restaurant up the coast from San Fran?

[imafan26]

Walnut is alleopathic, but you would also need to be careful about pine needles too. It is fine for some plants but not for others. I use pine needles because it makes and excellent mulch for stopping weeds and it doesn't pack down like some other leaf mulches I have used, but I cannot use it around onions. My soil is very alkaline so I don't mind that pine needles are acidic. Pine needles don't break down quickly so it can last a long time.

[Itoero]

Acids and other stuff are broken down by bacteria, that's why all compost has a ph between 6 and 8.
So can pine needles or oak leaves really make the ground more acid?

[valley]

itoero, If that's true, what you say, that's some good information. Have you tested for ph or is there a source you're quoting? Thanks for posting this.

Richard

[Hein]

Hey guys

I'm new here so please forgive if this question is stupid.

If I mulch, can I spread it over my soil to help put life back while the compost is getting ready ??? Or at least help with something. cause my soil is dead and hard

Love and Light

Hein

[rainbowgardener]

Hi Hein: Not a stupid question. But I saw your previous posts and I really don't think putting mulch on top of your hard, dead soil is going to make much difference. Once you have your beds made, putting mulch on top of your soil after you have planted things, is a good thing to do. It helps hold moisture in the soil and suppresses weeds. Eventually it does break down to feed the soil, but especially in the case of wood chips like this post was about, eventually could be a year or more.

Once you have your beds made and planted (you don't want to mulch over seeds in the ground, it will suppress them just like weed seeds) you would be better off to use a mulch that will break down quicker than wood chips, like grass clippings, fall leaves, straw, shredded paper, coffee grounds, or some mix of all of that.

[imafan26]

If your soil is hard it will take a while to get it productive. It would probably be better to make a raised bed or lasagna garden and build up.

[Northernfox]

Quick tip. if you want to to break down to build your soil quickly pick a softwood like poplar. if it is more of a mulch cover hardwood is fine. Avoid Cedar or any of the super hard woods (Typically from Africa)

I use leafs and dried grass and paper products like cardboard or newspaper. it helps keep the weeds down but the worms can get through it and fertilize my plants throughout the summer.