Farmer Joe down the road gives me a big round bale of straw every year. I wouldn't be able to keep up with the weeds and moisture without it.

Sharon

I'm with Sharon. We have a lot of used straw and hay by the end of the winter. But check with your local municipality, the MD of foothills in AB has a great recycling program at the local dump. They have three grades of wood mulch available for purchase (cheap) Green mulch which is the chopped Christmas tree and other trees. Brown mulch, which is construction material chopped (2x4's ect) and filler mulch which is mostly pallets. By cheap I mean $5.00 a ton. They also have compost cheap. Cheryl

We get free flax shive mulch. The flax is brought to us by the semi load, delivered here by the company.

Flax shives are weed free, look great and make a wonderful weed barrier, with only an 1" or so of depth.

The drawback is that you need to be within 30 miles of a flax straw processing plant in order to get it free. Outside of that they will deliver, but they will have to charge to cover the cost of gas. You can also go get some free from a plant if you happen to be in the area.

We place the flax shives all around the fences, trees and on my perennial beds.

Brenda

Brenda, where do you get your shives. Are there several flax processing plants in Manitoba? Is that in the Elie area? Sounds like good stuff, Rita

Oilpainter, I'm curious why you don't use pine needles for a summer mulch?

I use a mix of dried up garden debris put thru the chipper/shredder, leaves and grass clippings. I put it down as mulch around the end of June and it composts in situ rather than me having to manage a large compost pile.

Rita, I get mine from the processing plant near Souris. As of last year, this plant is now set up to process year round.

I believe they also set up one somewhere south of Winnipeg just for the summertime and into fall.

Where in Manitoba do you live?

Brenda

Brenda, I live south east of Wpg aroung the Ste-Anne area. Does this stuff come bagged, I unfortunately don't have a truck. Transportation becomes an issue.
Rita

If you live in the Ste. Anne area...I will be out there to visit a girlfriend this summer...to see her irises again. Want a visitor?

No bagging..... if it came bagged, then they would have to charge for it.

I can give you their phone number...Could you email me since I cannot email you thru Garden Web?

Brenda

Question for you gardeners.

If you had your druthers for mulch, which would you prefer:

A) shredded wheat straw,
B) shredded leaves or
C) a combination of shredded straw/leaves?

I have had some people asking me about picking up mulch material and I was wondering if it made much of a difference. My guess is that with a leaf/straw mixture there would technically be more micro-nutrients.

Secondly how shredded (as in how fine) would you like it to be?

Thanks

Lloyd

I have always resisted using straw for anything. Maybe on the praries it is all right, because you grow grain crops there. I find here I get weeds with the straw. My beds are relatively free of weeds and I don't want more.

Oilpainter We use straw to protect our gardens during the winter(2-3ft coverage) .Then come spring we slowly remove it to gradually expose the beds and it is important to make sure THE STRAW HAS DRIED OUT before you use it next.. When it is dry we then use it as mulch in the gardens and in the veggie garden we put it down b/t the rows on the pathways. After it rains out you can still go in the garden and not get muddy thanks to the mulch. I have even laid down on it to work at times. The veggies stay cleaner also.
Come fall the straw has broken down and we rototil? it into the ground If there is too much straw we put some of it into the compost pile.
I figure that way we are getting total use of the straw from start to finish,, I know it sound like work but we has never lost plants reguardless of the type of winter conditions. You have to make sure you don't remove the straw all at once or you will expose your plants too quickly to the elements and may harm them or expose them to the spring sunshine too quickly which may burn them.
Lois

I'm cheap and like to know what I'm putting on my garden so don't like to buy bagged mulch. Therefor I make my mulch using free fine wood shavings as the base. Because I don't like the pale color of them I mix them in the cement mixer with grass clippings, compost, and alfalfa tea. Makes a nice looking mulch which is also nutritious. Last year I added too many grass clippings and it got smelly before I used it so had to add more shavings and compost it awhile. It heated up pretty fast so is kind of compost/mulch.