Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 14, 2010 8:18 am My garden is filled with natives such as diosma, limelights, flax's and rosemary to name a few. In the last 4 years in spring I have just given them osmocote and had only watered them probably once or twice during the summer. My question for Fu is do I need to mulch my garden? My husband thinks I don't because the plants are all thriving and doing really well as they are. Only the limelights had fungus on their branches which he had removed. Could you please help me. I have also brought some molasses after reading your comments on benefits of using it and plan to water it in soon. Thanks for any advice Re: Do I really need to mulch 2Sep 14, 2010 8:29 am Diosma and rosemary are not natives Diosma is South African if I remember correctly Rosemary is Mediterrean unless you are talking about Westringa Mulching is essential to maintain moisture and also return nutrients back into the soil The plants might be doing well now but as soon as a summer arrives and we have back to back scorchers say Good bye plants 7-10mm layer of Garden leaf mulch is best as it has small and large material and take different times to breakdown It would be like furnishing your home with the all the wall and ceiling studs still showing and living it IMO I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 3Sep 14, 2010 9:14 am Mulch mulch mulch! And aren't flax's from NZ? After 4 years - we're in! Re: Do I really need to mulch 4Sep 14, 2010 9:29 am stonecutter1309 Mulch mulch mulch! And aren't flax's from NZ? Yes! Yes they are missed that one I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 5Sep 14, 2010 10:13 am Thankyou Mecha-wombat and Stonecutter for replying so promptly. I stand corrected with your comments that my plants are not natives my mistake. Mecha-wombat I know you are right to suggest that the plants wont do well when the weather heats up but the strange thing is that we have never mulched this garden when we moved in which is 4 years ago and the plants do look healthy and have grown heaps. Re: Do I really need to mulch 6Sep 14, 2010 10:23 am it is an easy mistake to make I have only being gardening for 7 years and things I thought were native quite clearly were not too LMAO Now I am RABID about native LOLs I have spoken to people who are even more rabid about INDIGENOUS plantings they can be a little EXTREMIST Personally about the mulch I would do it regardless, eventually the soil may become hydro phobic Do you have weeds?? as mulch will suppress them too making that job easier to bear I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 7Sep 14, 2010 12:09 pm mecha-wombat Now I am RABID about native LOLs I have spoken to people who are even more rabid about INDIGENOUS plantings they can be a little EXTREMIST oh I don't think I could go indigenous to my area - I love my alyogyne huegelii (and it's doing quite well in western Sydney) After 4 years - we're in! Re: Do I really need to mulch 8Sep 14, 2010 12:15 pm yeah I know, I love my Doryanthes palmeri and its a QLDr BWAHAHAHAHA I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 9Sep 15, 2010 2:07 am If you think they look healthy then I can't imagine at what cost. Mulch with uncomposted mulches and watch the difference over summer! Not only that you will be learning basic skills that can be applied in other parts of the garden. Over 12 months you'll see new soil form. Australians are some of the worst in the world for creating new soil. There really is only two types of mulch that should be used. 1. Straws of any sort. Some are better than others but in the end, any sort of straw. Particularly in winter. It composts and also warms the soil creating healthier plants. 2. In summer, use harder uncomposted mulches like the stuff from mulchnet.com or your local tree lopping chap. Avoid black composted mulches of all types. Research is showing thta these can increase garden water use by 20% over no mulch and be a significant contributor to plant disease and pest problems. Uncomposted mulches like shredded up tree prunings are going to be a 70% improvement on garden water use. The benchmark thickness for any mulch is 100mm. Just pull it away from smaller plants. They will grow fast enough and the mulch will begin to compost on the soil and drop in height. Water them in well and neither will budge an inch in even the windiest conditions. I say that from a west aussie perspective where 100km winds in winter are common as often a once a week and with summer seabreezes that nudge 60km/hr gusts on a daily basis. You think you are doing well now, You wait and see what happens As far as the osmocote goes, well it is fertiliserwise being a controlled release fertiliser. The Osmocote feeds the plant. Never feed the plant, always feed the soil instead Re: Do I really need to mulch 10Sep 15, 2010 8:35 am Thanks Fu Manchu for replying to my question. I've learned from the you and others the advantages of using molasses and plan on applying it to my garden this weekend. Which of the 3 mulches would you recommend I use now - Euca, pine park or core organic or would you still recommend straw at this time. Thanks once again Re: Do I really need to mulch 11Sep 15, 2010 11:46 am Mulching also keeps weeds down for months at a time and makes weeding much easier as the soil stays 'soft' so easy to pull weeds out of. Generally, you wont have to use as much fertilisers and chemical sprays either as the mulch feeds the soil and the plants are stringer. I have citrus trees thriving in melbourne due to mulch. My relatively young lime tree gave off HEAPS of limes this year and all I do is give it a bit of dynamic lifter and then mulch it with horse poo, straw and stable manure, once or twice a year Re: Do I really need to mulch 12Sep 15, 2010 11:50 am Reno_girl Thanks Fu Manchu for replying to my question. I've learned from the you and others the advantages of using molasses and plan on applying it to my garden this weekend. Which of the 3 mulches would you recommend I use now - Euca, pine park or core organic or would you still recommend straw at this time. Thanks once again Leaf mulch over straw would be ideal I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 13Sep 15, 2010 12:37 pm I don't use pine because it doesn't break down fast enough and doesn't return good volumes of carbon back to the soil. It is also made of uniform pieces, something a good mulch should not have. It blows around a fair bit too. Just get onto your local tree guy As mentioned, I alternate between straws and the stuff from my tree lopper. Avoid the use of dark, black composted mulches that hold water in the mulch at the surface. Not cool. Keep the water in the soil, not the mulch. An excellent mulch should be slightly uncomfortable to walk on in barefeet. Re: Do I really need to mulch 14Sep 15, 2010 12:48 pm Fu Manchu An excellent mulch should be slightly uncomfortable to walk on in barefeet. unless you are like me and go barefoot everywhere Reno girl does your soil repel water ATM?? I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Do I really need to mulch 15Sep 16, 2010 8:42 am Thanks everyone for your help, the back garden beds are filled with weeds particularly where there are large gaps and as everyone had suggested by mulching will stop future weeds from appearing. Mecha-wombat the soil is absorbing the water and while I was weeding yesterday noticed worms in the soil which I know is a good sign. I will lay some straw down in the next few weeks. Thanks once again. Re: Do I really need to mulch 16Sep 17, 2010 12:26 am When you do hose it really toughly. That will matt it together and firm it up so it doesn't make a mess. 100mm thick. Then next year look to using a harder mulch. While you maybe satisfied of the garden now and in years past. 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