I used 2" of uncolored cypress last yr and found no ill effects.

It can get a little steamy, be sure it doesn't touch the plants.

Now I have a mulch question.

I know gonefishin uses shredded oak leaves, pretty sure I read someone else also favors oak. Oak leaves are something I have in abundance but I don't have a shredder and not likely to soon.

If you leave them dry, they blow ... I could pull some out from under the pile ... they're matted as well as any wet newspaper.

Nothing will grow through them and what ever is beneath them will stay wet but I've worried about fungi and tannins.

Thoughts?

Thank for your reply Dave. I am thinking about opening the mulch and letting it dry out some before I put it around my tomatoes and squash.

I have no idea about oak leaves.

Hi Dave - I too use oak leaf mulches - tons of them here too - but shredding or composting them first is required I believe. Otherwise the problems are just as you describe.

Personally I don't care for hardwood mulches in the vegetable garden. Too many potential problems. Especially when there are so many more viable alternatives such as the shredded leaves, straw, hay (which we have in abundance here), dried grass clippings, composts, etc. (Mimi - Check out the Soil & Mulch forum here for even more discussions and ideas.)

But naked, un-mulched soil in the garden? No way! Even with hardwood mulch if that is all available the plants are 10x better off than with bare soil. ;)

{{gwi:10965}}

Dave - the other one

Thanks Dave,

The last thing I need right now is another thing in the garage.

Another thing to work on.

Another noise converter (converts money into noise).

ERRR!

I could do a better job composting but you know what its like. If your main ingredient is oak leaves, it takes a truck load to make a bucketfull.

Been meaning to build a bigger bin ... ERRR!

:-)

A cheapo box of Wally World blood meal mixed in with them in the bin does wonders. ;)

Dave

PS: Some have posted that they use their lawn mower to shred them - big spread of leaves and then run over them a couple of times. Course if you don't have a bagging lawn mower then you have to rake up all the chips. :(

Thanks for the tip on the blood meal. If it works, it might just be worth the night visitors.

I've gotten away from mowing them. The dust was too thick the rest of the year when I did. Now its many trips with the lawn sweeper to the woods. Keeping them whole seems to work better for that but there are so many ... I could try it near the bin.

Thanks