Mulch Question

[Northernfox]

I have some fairly dense Albertal Gumbo left in one of my garden beds. The other two have been amended with compost and coco fiber. I want to turn the bed in question into a strawberry bed this year. I need some mulch to help with the density. What kinds of mulch do you think would work for this?

[rainbowgardener]

Mulch does not in the short term help with soil density, because by definition it is stuff you apply to the top of your soil, that just sits on top. Eventually, it breaks down and contributes to making your soil more loamy, but that is many months down the road.

What you want is some kind of soil amendment that you mix in. Your suggestion of compost and coco coir is good. It could also include coarse sand, perlite, etc. Strawberries like loose, very well draining, slightly acid soil. So oak leaves, pine needles might make good additions.

[tomf]

What one does is also dependent upon the size of you garden. If it is small then the store bought amendments are most likely worth it as you will not go broke buying them. If you are doing a larger garden you may want to get amendments by the yard. If you garden is on the big side you may want a dump truck full, I get 14 yards at a time. I also toss every thing including compost into the garden. saw dust works well but you need to add nitrogen until it breaks down. Most of the bagged soil amendments do not have much for soil nutrition, nitrogen and minerals.

[jal_ut]

I enjoyed your videos.

Gumbo soil can be lightened up with sand and compost or any organic matter. Best to work it into the soil before planting. In the fall leaves are great.

Grass clippings are something I have available all summer for mulch. You might get a bale of straw for mulch. As noted, mulch is good to hold moisture and will eventually break down and be incorporated into the soil, but it doesn't offer a quick fix for gumbo soil.

[Northernfox]

Rainbow and Tomf: unfortunately Oak leaves and Pine needles are not locally available with out a steep price tag.

I had some citrus trees die on me this winter. do you think their soil mix would work well instead. It has course sand, redwood chips and tropical blend soil?

I have used grass as mulch in the past. with the lack of large trees in my neighbourhood I am low on options but see fair results from the grass. I am just mixing up terms.

Jal: I am glad you like the videos. I did them mostly so I could refer back to them when the winter blues get me or I am planning the next years garden. Then sharing them became a lot of fun! My grandmother gardens and she lives about 22 hours away. so she gets to feel just a little closer

[tomf]

Yes grass clippings are real good, I use them as much as I can. Almost any thing organic is good to add, just remember it takes nitrogen from the soil to break down and then adds more back when it does break down. I think what you do to your soil depends upon what the soil is to start with, so in your case it sounds like organic and sand may work well, use the sandbox kind of sand, round sand and not the cement kind as the sharp sand can turn clay and things into concrete like rock. Do you have a compost bin?

[Northernfox]

I do have a very active compost however mixing it in over the last three years has not seen a reduction in the density that I would like.

correct me if I am wrong but the compost should provide enough nitrogen for the grass mulch and plants right?

I think what I am going to do is mix in the citrus trees and then a bag of sand and compost. Think that would help with my density issues?

[Dillbert]

takes time. I opened a heavy clay plot

started with 40 cubic yards of mushroom soil + 20 tons of sharp sand.
used a hydraulic tiller mounted on a Kabota diesel for the "ground breaking"
mega-project....

then every year:

spring tilled in heaps and heaps of leaf mold. used a coal shovel to make paths and "raised beds" - all summer long put some 3 acres of grass clippings into the "path" parts.

come fall, till the paths first - made for a 'double digging' effect

took about ten years, but wound up with very fluffy soil.

[Northernfox]

Sounds like I have years of work ahead of me.

thank you