Straw as mulch

 

Hi

I have seen bales of straw advertised and I was wondering if this would be
fine to use as a mulch, as it is cheaper than lucerne mulch?
Thanks
Sandra

 

On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:02:58 +0900, Sandra Bodycoat wrote:


Yes. Where?

 

g'day sandra,

if it's cheap use it that's the rule, when you say lucerne mulch is
that spoilt lucerne mulch hay or fodder quality? usually spoilt hay is
not that expensive around here about $8 per bale the same as sugar
cane mulch in rough bales.

staw doesn't put much nutrient in as it slowly breaks down mostly
carbon is what it adds, so maybe from time to time yo could altenate
and sue spoilt luceren or pasture grass hay's?


On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:02:58 +0900, "Sandra Bodycoat"
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

 

Sandra Bodycoat wrote:

Straw is generally excellent mulch.  As with anything you put into your soil
it is a good idea to understand the provenance of what you are buying..
Usually (but not always) straw is just the stalks and refuse from a cereal
crop and contains little in the way of nasty chemicals or living things.  It
is possible however for weed seeds (including the cereal crop it came from)
or other undesirable things to be included.

Cut and dried lucerne and lupin would more properly be called hay.  Hay is a
mix of whatever plants were in the pasture at the time of cutting including
all parts of the plant above the cutting level.  Thus depending on when it
was cut you can get high levels of viable seeds.  The nature of those seeds
depends on the grasses and weeds present.  In such cases composting may kill
the seeds but then you have compost not mulch.

You can often buy cheap bales that are too old to use a stock feed (hay) or
stock bedding (straw) and they may be partly composted already from just
lying around or getting wet.  Such may be quite good and fairly harmless.
They can also come complete with snakes and other vermin depending on where
it has been lying about and how long.

David

 

Have a look at the results here...
http://tinyurl.com/HeyHay