To mow or not to mow that is the.
Lee reich carpet mulch vegetable garden.
I have a vegetable garden close to some pine trees.
I don t mean to speak for lee but he has explained this to me on a couple of occasions.
Sunflower seed hulls may reduce weeds and so they should make a good mulch.
If the mulch is laid down on top of the soil not dug into it the nitrogen loss takes place only at the soil mulch interface.
Here is lee reich s recommendation for blueberries.
I grow oats as a cover crop because i never till the soil in my vegetable beds.
Come spring i could plant right through that mulch.
Oats loves the cool weather of fall and early winter quickly sprouting into a lush green carpet.
No annual raising of vegetable seedlings.
Lee reich soil scientist from new paltz new york would concur with chalker scott.
The second step is to add permanent garden paths and beds to avoid soil compaction and the need for tilling.
Preparing your vegetable.
He recommends acidity ph 4 5 5.
In spring just rake off and compost the carpet of dead oats so the soil beneath can warm up.
You have a forest in which you plant a number of fruit and nut trees and bushes and perennial vegetables and then with little further effort harvest your bounty year after year.
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Larger mature plants and shrubs are least likely to be affected by any allelochemicals leeching into the soil.
Particularly the small quantity from an xmas tree are perhaps not as effective an acid mulch as we have been brought up to assume pine needles acidify your soil garden myths.
Photo by lee reich then build a fence and arbor to keep out critters.
Whether he is right or not i can t say.
Clean up after cover cropping is quite simple.
Learn the right way to set up composting for your garden.
If you use the compost as a mulch it is unlikely to cause a problem.
Find out what tools you need how to compost and more.
See more ideas about garden of eden veggie garden gardening tips.
By february though that lush carpet turns tawny and flops down on the ground dead.
Forest garden skeptic forest gardening or agroforestry has increasing appeal and i can see why.