I like to get hay/straw to use as a mulch in my garden. Anyone have advice on what I should get and where?
I'm currently looking through Facebook marketplace. I see people selling feed hay, straw, construction bales, etc. Any preference on what I should get? I just use it for my garlic and to mulch to keep the weeds down. I'm also interested in the benefit that it decomposes to keep the worms happy.

In the past, I have gotten salt marsh hay which contains little to none weed seeds but it's more expensive and there's a concern about environmental impact. Otherwise, I have no clue what I'm getting. All I care is that it's decent and it's cheap.

I use this in my garden. Its worked very well.

You definitely want to use Straw, not hay. Hay will have seeds, and you'll be weeding all year.

I'm fortunate enough to have ornamental grass lining my yard, and i cut it down before it goes to seed. I use that in place of the straw I used to use. Saves money and a trip.

You can also top it off with grass clippings. Again this is something I do to save money and a trip.

Rockoe10 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:03 pm You definitely want to use Straw, not hay. Hay will have seeds, and you'll be weeding all year.

How do the farmers make hay? They cut the grass before it goes to seed? Or do they thresh the seeds off?

Rockoe10 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:03 pm I'm fortunate enough to have ornamental grass lining my yard, and i cut it down before it goes to seed. I use that in place of the straw I used to use. Saves money and a trip.

Good tip. I'll try to remember to do the same. I have a huge ornamental grass clump. Previous years, I just threw it on the compost pile.

Rockoe10 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:03 pm You can also top it off with grass clippings. Again this is something I do to save money and a trip.

So you put fresh stuff on top of dried mulch? I heard that green grass will consume nitrogen until it turns brown or something like that.

Hay is just assorted grasses and legumes that have gone to seed and harvested as animal feed. Straw on the other hand is grain waste. So the farmer will harvest the crop grain for market, then bundle the waste material for other purposes. This is what you want. That way you don't have seed. And if any seed does make it through, its something less invasive like wheat.

As for grass clippings. Yes, I put green grass clippings onto my brown straw/ornamental grass. I do this months before I plant, and i let it settle in. It will rob some nitrogen at first, but then it will be locked into the now partially composted topsoil for your garden. This is a concern for ALL mulching, not just grass clippings. Infact, 'brown' wastes (ie straw and wood chips) are more of a concern than 'green' grass clippings.

Additionally, I'll put fresh grass clippings around my garden throughout the growing season. Not heavily, just lightly to cover any spots.

Rockoe10 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:40 pm As for grass clippings. Yes, I put green grass clippings onto my brown straw/ornamental grass. I do this months before I plant, and i let it settle in. It will rob some nitrogen at first, but then it will be locked into the now partially composted topsoil for your garden. This is a concern for ALL mulching, not just grass clippings. Infact, 'brown' wastes (ie straw and wood chips) are more of a concern than 'green' grass clippings.

In my experience, such as wood chips only seem to rob the soil of nitrogen if it's actually mixed into the soil. Lying on top of the soil, I've never had any issues whatsoever with nitrogen-deficiency. I've read an explanation for this, but I don't remember the reason.

I've definitely had major nitrogen deficiency issues with wood chips mixed into the soil.

Very good point. Its because of where the mulch is making contact and just how much is actually decomposing. Only the part making contact with the soil, and protected from the UV sun is using up the nitrogen. This is true for straw and grass too.

My straw and grass is still sitting on the top of my garden bed. Waiting for me to till it in this Fall. And start a fresh batch of mulch.

That's my experience at least.

Straw is only the hollow stems of plants that have had their seed heads harvested. Usually it is wheat. You will get a few wheat seeds that will germinate but I have never found it to be a problem.

As previously mentioned DO NOT USE HAY. It is used for animals feed so it is full of seeds and it will make your life miserable.

I rototill once a year in the Fall and then cover the entire garden with straw. This helps to moderate the soil temperature and keeps it from going through freeze/thaw cycles. It also keeps the soil warm longer into the fall and keeps the earthworms working until the soil temperature drops and then they will go deeper for the Winter.

Last year I put an ad on FB Marketplace telling people that I would pick up their Fall straw bale decorations and get rid of them. I got quite a few calls. Luckily we have a pick up truck.

I also called the maintenance department at the local nursing home. They had a lot of bales used for decorations and I got 15 of them for free. Yes, they are wet but I don't care. They work fine as mulch.

In the Spring I just pull the mulch back and plant. At the end of the season the old straw gets tilled under and I apply new stuff.

20200604_105604 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

Here's something I saw several years ago, that was scaring me off of picking up those bales of Halloween straw in the trash. But later, it didn't seem to be affecting anything, when I did some trial tests, so I pick up a few bales now.
https://tendingmygarden.com/garden-mulc ... o-be-safe/

Whatever you use, be careful of herbicide. Some grain farmers dessicate their crops prior to harvest. That means they douse them in herbicide, like Round-up or some such, a while before they harvest to get them to produce a bit more and dry up to be harvested at a specific time. I believe they do it in the North more than other areas. I sure wish they'd stop that practice. That's why I'm interested in organic grains now. (But I'd probably have come to be interested in them eventually, anyway.)

I loved using wheat straw and used it for years but quit using it after one spring where everything mulched with it never thrived and in some cases, didn't grow at all. Then I heard about the effects of herbicide in straw and quit using it "just in case", so I use leaf mulch now.

Funny how I'm seeing this post just a few days after Pickles ran across another article on this. Apparently it's not only in some straw but also in manure produced by cows etc who were fed herbicide sprayed straw. Here's the link:
https://www.tenthacrefarm.com/manure-garden/

I have no idea how prevalent this practice is and I doubt if the feed and seed where I used to buy straw would know which of their straw vendors are using herbicide or not. Regardless and just in case, I made the switch to leaves (free) and left the now $5.30 a bale straw behind.

[mention]brownrexx[/mention] , that's a brilliant idea about free Halloween decoration straw bales! You just can't beat free especially since you use so much of it. And I'm glad it hasn't harmed anything. I'm just gun shy now about using it or I'd be out hunting decoration bales too! I read somewhere else a good while back that Amish or Mennonite farmers don't use the herbicide so their straw is generally safe to use. Whether that's still true is unknown.

[mention]GoDawgs[/mention] I loved collecting leaves a few years ago and I shredded them using my mower. I put a sign at the end of my driveway that I was "Accepting Bagged Leaves" and I got 82 bags delivered right to my house.

However, now that the Spotted Lantern Fly has arrived in PA many people are using a ground drench systemic insecticide on their trees so I no longer would use anyone's leaves.

[mention]brownrexx[/mention] , have you heard any reports yet about the effectiveness of the drench?

It makes a difference WHEN it is applied since it takes about 3 months to spread to all parts of the tree. Sadly I see displays of soil drenches in stores and the tree will never absorb it at this time of year so people are just poisoning the ground.

My neighbor had his trees professionally treated and I think that this involves injection into the root area in the early Spring. Just yesterday I saw some dead lanternflies on his tree trunks so I guess that it is working but it makes me wonder how this will impact the population since there are thousands of acres of woodland in PA and the Lanternflies can just propagate there can't they? I still kill as many as I can with my flyswatter anyway. At least the ones I kill will not be laying 30-50 eggs each.

Since hubby and I raised honeybees for many years, we were registered with the PA Department of Ag and even though we no longer have bees we were notified that honey from PA is showing signs of the pesticides used on lanternflies. The Spotted Lantern flies secrete a honeydew on the tree trunks and the bees are drawn to it's sticky sweetness. I do not know if the honey contamination is from the systemic approach or from people spraying the tree trunks with pesticides. This is very troubling.

I sincerely hope that they come up with control measures before it reaches GA [mention]GoDawgs[/mention]