i see them in fields rotting away with no weeds growing from them

It depends very much on both the quality of the grass growing in the field it was cut from (lots of weeds, etc. growing in it or a strong stand of grass) and the maturity of the grasses/weeds when it was cut - if they hadn't set seeds, there will be few unwanted grasses and weeds growing from the mulch, and if they were cut later than ideal, then there may be lots of seeds. If you look carefully, and pull out a handful from as far in as you can reach, and see lots of grass seed heads, and lots of mature looking weeds, then I would say it was baled as a late-cut, and will be seedy/weedy. If it only has grass leaves and stems for the most part, then you should be fine. That's not to say that one part of the field may not have a fast maturing bunch of weeds, and that happens to be baled into the bale(s) you pick, but statistics should favor you, as long as the hay is mostly weed-free. If you are buying from the grower, you can ask if it was cut early or late, a secondary purchaser/seller may not know.

I've never had weeds growing from them per se, but I've had wheat! :) But if the mulch is thick enough, you just pull it up, they're not in the ground.

g'day jed,

no weeds in hay ok you can at times get some sprouting of whatever viable seed from the crop that has been turned into hay is in the bales but they hardly constitute weed status, are easily pulled and tucked under to become more nutrients.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

could a round bail of hay be wet down and wraped with plastic to solorize and kill off and seed that may be in there...

Solarizing takes 6-8 weeks, but if you have the time.....

Len, if a hay field was planted in the past few years, AS a hay field, it should have no weeds in it. If the farmer was able to cut and bale the grasses at the proper time, when the maximum nutrients were in the hay, just before or just at flowering of the grasses, then there should be no seeds, but if, for whatever reason, he was late cutting it, and the grass seed heads had time to matture, then there may well be a lot of seeds in the hay, whether grass seeds or weed seeds. If it cut is from a field that wasn't planned as a hay field, wasn't kept well maintained, was cut late in the growing cycle, was next to a weedy field, and/or was neglected pasture for a few years, at least around here, hay can have lots of weeds, ranging from harmless plantains to thistle, horse nettle, curly dock, bindweed, etc., etc. Since these are perennials, not letting them get started is a very good idea.

Tn Jed, if you are careful about pulling any weeds that do sprout, which could be from the hay or from wind- or bird-borne seeds, then I see no need to solarize it. If this will be a garden for next year, then either solarizing the bale or spreading it out and solarizing the mulched area would certainly not hurt anything, and should kill off any weeed seeds that may be there.

dibbit,

we mulch very heavily probably more so than most would think to do so though there is always a risk when you bring in any sort of hay even straw that there is viable seed of some sort contained we have never had a problem especially with perennials like the ahrdy weeds and grasses wanting to take hold in our gardens, we have had other sprouting at times but these are like rye grass/wheat/grain growths and aren't growing in the garden medium but at the base of the moist mulch so are easily pulled and tucked under as i said earlier for extra nutrients, and even if let to grow full term they have never successfully re-seeded.

we try to encourage volunteer growth especially from food and beneficial plants but this can be difficult in our gardens due to our mulching habits, and we also view unwanted plants in the minds of others as being useful in different ways in our garden system ie.,. milk and sow thistles & dandelions to mention a couple as these sort of plants attract the pollinators in and for the main the bad bugs would rather use them as host plants instead of our vege's.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

I talked to a farmer today and he tels me that round bails of hay are getting expensive this year because of the drought we've been haveing last year i could get em for $25 each now thair up to $75. but i actually posted on the freecycle website for old bails just to try it out i ask now what the average width and length of a round bail unrolled...

I live in an area of abundant spoiled hay rolls - always given away freely and put to use in my large garden. Yes, one can get alot of weeds from the seed heads in these rolls. but we do not find it a problem at all. First, i lay down 2-4 sheets thickness of newsprint and follow with about 6" of the spoiled hay. That little barrier does the trick for me. Any weeds that do come up, are easily pulled out with a couple fingers, as they are not strong. After a year, the paper has broken down into the soil, and the hay is half-way there. Eventually, it gets incorporated into the bed's soil and new paper and hay are applied the next spring around all crops.
Free, and it works like a charm for us. It is all the weeds in the path that want to encroach upon the beds, so those are what i need to keep mowed or weedeaten down.
Glad

good one glad,

the way to go hey?

what wouldn't we do to get free hay we apy around $7 AUD for a bale of sugar-cane mulch simply can't access hay anywhere near us., a very valuable under-used resource in all sorts of garden activities.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

I am a city boy who has moved to the country, Ive not gardened much it's all new to me so what I'm trying to do is have a market garden i have a space 206' x 106'split into 4 quarters with six foot roads between them and figure on growing cover crops on three while one is in production and rotate around. so i have a 100 x 50 area and want to mulch it all and plant rows of different kinds of garlic about a foot between rows and put my other vegetable crops like tomato's peppers and more in between the garlic rows I was trying to think of a way to mulch it in the fall when garlic goes in and i thought rolls of hay might be a quick easy way to get it done just roll em out on the field and go down the rows planting cloves, it seems like a good plan to me but Im new if i can get a little reassurance before i try this that would be great as this year is only my second 25'x25' garden ever and improvement from my fist garden is amazing I feel grrrrrrrreat!