Hello Captain, I've been using straw as mulch for several years and I really like it. Using the vacuum option on my leaf blower, I grind the straw up to smaller sections and spread thickly as mulch. A word of caution though, a friend who tried straw as mulch was disappointed when the wind tunnel effect came through his yard. Straw everywhere he said. Keep that in mind I guess. Not an issue for me. m

I too use straw but it's in great big clumps. As said, it's messy. I try to use chopped up palm fronds since they last forever and don't blow away, but there's never enough of them. Both methods hide the drip, so you don't notice a clog until something wilts.

Just to clarify: For me, it's not messy at all. My friend must have a wind tunnel in his yard that I don't experience. I pull the 'clumps' apart and vacuum them with the leaf blower thingy which breaks them down into about 4" pieces. Once the mat of straw is watered one time, it stays in place. When I have wood chips or, even better, dried up old leaves I use them but the straw is readily available and inexpensive. And a clean mulch, imo. Oh, and I use soaker hoses in the beds because the drip lines clog up so easily. ymmv.

That was really the only con I could see with using straw, and it is windy in my part of Peoria, maybe I'll try a bale on a small bed and see how much it moves around. Thanks.

you can buy a binder for mulch at Plants of the Southwest if you are concerned about wind

I have also used straw for a couple of years now, and like it. But last month I scored a load of wood chips from my local tree service guy and like the wood chips even more. And they were free. I think they look nicer than straw, and as noted above, they are heavier and less prone to blow around in high winds.

My cat likes them too.

Captain,

There is a 'mulch mat' on the market made from hemp. It is nonwoven, so it's easy to install and won't blow away in the wind. It's also weed free and hypoallergenic. Depending on where you get your straw, those could be considerations. I'm guessing the hemp mats are more expensive than straw, but it might be worth looking at.

www.woven-earth.com