My favorite mulch is chopped and shredded autumn leaves which I gather and shred in the fall and pile on top of the beds. I also use hay and straw--whichever is more readily available at any given time--but only if I put down a barrier (black weed block fabric, layers of newspaper or layers of cardboard) between the soil and the mulch (so weed seeds won't sprout) and grass clippings collected in the grass catcher each and every time we mow. Alfalfa rabbit feed, bought in 50-lb bags at the feed store, is a terrific mulch or soil amendment too. (I also use it to make alfalfa tea to feed the plants.) It feeds the soil as it breaks down, and has never attracted wild rabbits to our garden either. : )

I have used finely shredded bark mulch and it is fine as long as you keep it on the soil surface. If you aren't careful with it though, it gets worked into the soil as you plant or pull weeds. The issue with any bark mulch is that if it gets down into the soil it ties up nitrogen which it uses to decompose. By tying up the nitrogen, the bark mulch can prevent your plants from having enough nitrogen. Having said that, I've used bark mulch in the garden forever and have never had nitrogen issues. In fact, I mix pine bark fines into both my raised beds to improve the clay and into my home-made soilless container mix. I don't think bark on the soil surface negatively affects a veggie garden, but you do have to keep it on the surface of the soil OR add extra nitrogen to the soil to make up for what it will use up while decomposing.

I've used all kinds of bark mulch in the garden and my pathways have several inches of mulch in them too. I like pine bark fines, but have also used shredded cyrpress, finely chipped cedar and finely shredded hardwood trimmings. In very heavy clay soil, I do not hesitate at all to work large amounts of bark into the soil because it helps break up the clay, improves its moisture retention capacity and is simply a wonderful soil improver. In our climate, "heat eats compost" because it breaks it down so quickly, so larger chunks of mulch worked into heavy clay lasts longer than fine compost which is used up the first year. I can only speak to its effects in heavy clay because that is where I use it. If you have other types of soil, I don't know how well bark works if incorporated into the ground.

Some people mulch with compost or with bagged humus "soil conditioner" purchased in bags at big box stores, but they must be in a less windy location than I am, because anything that fine here will blow away if left on the soil surface.

I use lots of the same products Dawn does. Basically what is free and available. I use all the loose hay from around the stacks. By spring every year there is quite a lot. Most of that is alfalfa. In the past I've been able to get rotten alfalfa bales from growers ect that got wet. With the severe drought they are not grinding and feeding everything. I get grass clippings from the local rec. They let me know when they spray and I wait a few cuttings before getting any. Some years they never spray. I use old straw. This years I was able to get a few big round bales that had set and rotted for 3-4 years. Good stuff. I also use the grass clippings on the flower beds and under trees. My dogs like them to lay on under the trees and they keep the weeds and sprarse grass down. To me they look ok. I only use the straw in the garden and asparagus patch. Like Dawn the only problem i have is keeping it in place. Grass clippings stay put better for me if applied thin but fresh and wet. I've been told they mat and won't let the ground breath and also nothing can come through them. My flower bulbs, asparagus, garlic and onions all come right through. On smaller seeds I pull it back when planting. But in the flower garden have seeds germinate every year. If something I don't want I just add some on top of the old. I also use all the leaves I can get. Just hard to get enough here. I've also used cottonseeds hulls and other things that were available.
I say use what you can get and works for you. And don't believe all the scare tactics some say. The only thing I watch out for is if it has been sprayed with anything recently. Otherwise try a little and see how it works. JMO. Jay

For years we hauled very well rotted sawdust--mostly oak--from an abandoned sawmill 3 miles from the house. Then it was sold and the new owner got rid of the whole pile, somehow. It was a huge pile and quite damp and rotted. Sure wish we'd stockpiled more while we had the chance.

My second fav mulch is shredded leaves that have rotted for a couple years. Next fav is grass clippings. The problem we have is annual winter weeds going to seed in the grassy areas--I hesitate to call the area we mow a "lawn"--and coming up in the garden in the clipping mulched area.

We don't take a newspaper but a friend is saving me hers so plan to use it under the clippings. Also have heard that shredding newspaper and using it like that works good as the shreds tangle and don't blow. Only way I have to shred is by hand though.

NEW IDEA: would love everyone's feedback. It occurred to me that natural untreated "aromatic cedar shavings" meant for dog beds would be a great mulch for veggie gardens. It may even deter cutworms, blister beetles and such from the tomatoes????? As feedback on the original question, I use my lawn mower clippings to mulch everything... so its a combination of grass, leaves, weeds, etc. (It has never matted on me.) It stops all grass and weeds from encroaching. Weeds that develop on top from wind blown seeds pull out easily. In the winter, if I need mulch and have run out of "saved bags" - I buy cotton seed hulls. They're cheap, clean, and (to my surprise)don't blow around. I have avoided hay because it encourages rodents. Although I have found turles, frogs and beneficial bugs love the 'mower mulch'. I only use the traditional cedar mulch from the garden center on my peonies.

I've used bagged cedar mulch in a couple of rows in the veggie garden. It did not seem to perform any better or any worse than any other mulch. I discontinued using it because the coppperheads like it a little too well and spent a lot of time lying on top of it and scaring me to death.

In my garden, hay and/or straw do not seem to attract rodents, but then I have lot of cats and the cats perform very efficient rodent control. Until we raised the garden fence even the bobcats hung out in the garden and did some rodent control. I'd prefer a garden without rodents, snakes or bobcats, but there's only so much you can do to keep the wild things out in the wild when you're surrounded by wilderness.

I have to say that keeping all the beds and all the paths in the garden heavily mulched in winter/early spring is even more beneficial than keeping them mulched during the main growing season. In the "old days" before I began mulching heavily, I'd get huge numbers of late winter/early spring weeds in the garden and have to spend a lot of time pulling them out or digging them out before I could plant. Now I just leave the mulch in place all winter, rake it out into the pathways at planting time, and then re-mulch when seeds have sprouted or transplants have become established. The savings in time is unreal.

Not long ago a friend stopped by and asked to borrow a hoe. I told him I didn't have a hoe, and he looked at me like I was nuts. Really, though, who needs a hoe? With raised beds and heavy mulch, any weeds that sprout are easy to hand-pull. I used to have a hoe....and it did disappear.....and I don't know what became of it! Maybe it is buried under all the mulch?

Dawn

LOL- Dawn, I have hoes stashed here and there in case of snakes. My Dad would have chastised me for leaving them out all time, ( not good for the handle, etc.etc.) but I can't be going to get a hoe if I need to keep a snake in sight.
btw, life'sblessings, where do you find cotton seed hulls?
I did use the cedar shavings once, and liked them, but they are too easily blown away.

I'm not life's blessings but here most feed stores carry cottonseed hulls. With the cotton gins around here that helps also in them being available and fairly cheap. Jay

Mo,

I have neighbors who will stand and chop up a snake with a hoe, but I can't make myself stand that close to a venomous snake. I am a big baby when it comes to snakes. One of my neighbors told me you'd hardly know I'd grown up as "a city girl" if it weren't for my irrational fear of venomous snakes. Well, that and the fact that I am not a deer hunter. (I may be the only woman in Love County who doesn't wear camo clothing during deer hunting season! LOL) Personally, I don't think it is irrational to fear a venomous snake.

Dawn

I usually use cardboard and spoiled hay as mulch because I can get it for free. I've never found straw around here, not without having to pay through the nose anyway.

Last fall, we started getting lots and lots of cedar shavings & dust from a friend who makes cedar furniture. I piled it thickly on my allium garden and am loving it. A few things poke through (Johnson and Bermuda, anyone?) but it's great for keeping most weeds gone and moisture in. I'll have to watch for the copperheads! Yikes!! I was going to try them in part of the veggie garden this year as well but, after the copperhead remark, I may just not. LOL

Oh, I also just bought a paper shredder. I'm shredding all junk mail and school papers, etc to put on as mulch. We're homeschoolers so we end up with quite a bit of waste paper over the year!

I paid $8 a bale for wheat STRAW for mulch, and will NEVER do that again; there is wheat coming up all over the garden! I was following Ruth Stout's method of gardening to just mulch the heck out of everything with hay or straw and your worries (and work) are minimal. HA! Her answer to the "few seeds that may germinate" was to just turn the hay over or add more on top. BIG JOB! Should have used cottonseed hulls instead!

I used to use cottonseed hulls, until I pulled a bit back to pull a strand of bermuda grass that managed to wiggle under it and I found a black widow spider. I feel the same way about them as I do copperheads. I loved that stuff, too, darn it! I mostly stick with pine straw and cypress mulch now, but then again, I probably do way too much hand weeding. (Or technically, not enough hand weeding.) Oh, and I got the cottonseed hulls at Shawnee Atwoods.

Devilwoman- Where are you in Warr Acres? I am a few blocks south of the library.

For our neck of the woods, the NWExpy TLC had cottonseed hulls last weekend.

Andria