What are your thoughts on living mulch or planting in guilds? Like comfrey or clover or the like? Because I've come under the impression, reading various permaculture and gaia's garden type books that mulching isn't the most ecological or efficient way to protect plants from weeds or pests (at least, mulching with chemical-soaked wood chips anyway). Can you give me some more info on mulch?
oh great question. I kinda reblogged that meme just because I like seeing memes about mulch, but here is my actual take. as far as I know, mulch has two basic functions in permaculture: 1) to block weeds from growing by shading them out, and 2) to build organic matter in soil and get it ready for planting. compared to plant guilds, mulching might not be the very best way to prevent weeds & pests, but it does an ok job at function 1 and actually does a KICKASS job at function 2.
for function 1: wood chips are really great for paths, but I like to use straw and especially rotted straw/hay on things like annual beds. rotted straw is great because no one except gardeners really have any use for it so you can get it for cheap (or free honestly) and save it from being completely wasted. also it’s easy to move around, so you can reuse it as mulch in a few different places if you’re doing something like prepping beds before you have the chance to plant.
for function 2: SHEET MULCHING! also known as mulch lasagna. this is by far the easiest, cheapest, best way to prepare a site for planting and gives you gorgeous soil. it’s basically building compost in place. everyone has a different “recipe” but this is a nice basic one. challenge yourself to get all of the materials for free and get a bunch of friends to help you!WHAT YOU NEED:- a lot of cardboard (check local grocery stores) - ideal cardboard will not have much tape or colored inks - or a lot of newspaper with the glossy sections taken out- nitrogen: compost, manure, grass clippings, fresh leaves, vegetables that you dumpster dived- carbon: rotted straw, regular straw, dead leaves, small wood chips, shredded newspaper, anything that is free to you and dead and brown- finished compost and/or topsoil
STEP 1: weedwhack or scythe your planting site and leave all of the clippings there. if the soil is very compacted, consider going over it with a broadfork.STEP 2: make a layer of cardboard/newspaper over your planting site and wet it all down really well with a hose. it should be soaked.STEP 3: spread your nitrogen layer about an inch or two thick. wet it downSTEP 4: spread your carbon layer about eight inches thick. if you’re using REALLY carbon-heavy material (i.e. wood chips or thick hay) add a sprinkle more nitrogen. then Wet! It! DownSTEP 5: add about a 2 inch layer of finished compost mixed with topsoil and, you guessed it, wet it downSTEP 6: top it off with a 2-inch layer of pretty-looking organic matter, like straw, wood chips, or wood shavings. this will protect your beautiful mulch lasagna and also make it look cute.
NEXT: if you’re doing this in the fall/winter, leave it alone and take a nap! it will be so beautiful to plant into in the spring. if you’re doing this in the spring/summer and want to plant into it within the next few weeks, just push the top layer aside and plant your seeds or starts into the compost layer.
