Straw & Hay mulch thickness - how much is too much?

[hardrain]

Hi all. The short question: Have any growers had issues with laying hay or straw mulch too think on established plants? Is there a limit you would stick to?

I've got a log row of second year plants and really need to address the grass/weed issue this year. I'm going to do a bit of an experiment in different sections:

A. 3-4" of straw mulch, from square bale, thickness is effectively one flake (so relatively compact, not like loose spread straw for grass growing).
B. 4-5" hay mulch - I rolled out a large round bale. Layer is very compact because of the way it was baled.
C. 3" of wood chip mulch (raw).

I'm worried the thickness of the straw and hay will undermine the experiment. Any thoughts/feedback/experiences? Thanks!!

 

[day_trippr]

Not sure if wood chips are a good choice, supposedly they steal nitrogen as they decay, and can harbor mold spores.

In the fall I bury my plants under a good 6 inches of chopped up oak & maple leaves. Snow load squishes that down pretty well. In the spring I pull that cover back (encountering a lovely crap load of earthworms in the process), dig in a side-dressing of well-rotted horse manure, push the mulch back to around the crowns, then leave it like that. By harvest the worms and general decay have reduced that cover to a thin layer, when it's time to do it all over again.

Going into the fourth year, so far so good...

Cheers!

 

[hardrain]

Thanks for the response. When you're pushing the mulch back after laying the manure, is that before or after shoots emerge? If it's before, are you leaving the actual hills uncovered?

I guess ultimately what I'm worried about is if 4-6 inches of mulch will prevent shoot emergence.

Thanks!

 

[day_trippr]

For the last two seasons by the time the snow has receded there are lots of pale side shoots exposed when I pull back the mulch. I leave the crowns uncovered after forking in the side dressing and lift the shoots so I can cover around the base of the crowns.

I eventually cut all those shoots off along with the first bunch of greener shoots that emerge from the crown a couple/few weeks later in favor of the second bunch of green shoots. This is to avoid growing any "bulls"...

Cheers!

 

[B-Hoppy]

You could park a vibrating road roller on top of your hills and they'd most likely find a way to come up, haha. Actually, if you use the whole leafs/flakes to try to deter weeds, it will work but like day tripper eluded to, any of the hop shoots that were trying to come up directly underneath will grow along the soil surface (under the obstruction) and eventually come up once they've grown beyond the obstruction, that's a good way to create some nice rhizomes to be harvested the following spring though. The round bale idea may or may not impede the hop shoots from poking through as the plant material isn't woven as tight as the the square bales (at least the ones we used to put up). Wood chips, they'll blow right through them.

Also, like was mentioned, the straw and wood chips can be considered as mostly all carbon and will utilize available nitrogen to decompose but the hay wouldn't rob as much nitrogen from the surroundings while breaking down.

In general, if you leave the central portion of the crowns somewhat open, they'll do fine. Happy Hoppin'~

 

[jakeasaur]

Not sure if wood chips are a good choice, supposedly they steal nitrogen as they decay, and can harbor mold spores.

In the fall I bury my plants under a good 6 inches of chopped up oak & maple leaves. Snow load squishes that down pretty well. In the spring I pull that cover back (encountering a lovely crap load of earthworms in the process), dig in a side-dressing of well-rotted horse manure, push the mulch back to around the crowns, then leave it like that. By harvest the worms and general decay have reduced that cover to a thin layer, when it's time to do it all over again.

Going into the fourth year, so far so good...

Cheers!

This is also what I do. Going on year 3