Mulch or no mulch?

No_Such_Reality 5/7/2013, 12:15 pm

A little poll for us SoCal semi-desert/desert gardeners.

Do you mulch your SFG or not? If you do, what kind of mulch?

I regularly struggle with the sun cooking my bed dry, or at least, the top inch or two layer. Being in the Southwest, water is frankly, precious. Running my PVC emitter rig to soak the bed for an hour or more weekly already seems excessive as it's on top of a 3X per week irrigation set up that probably wets more than waters.

Roseinarosecity 5/7/2013, 12:57 pm

I agree, water is precious. I mulch after my plants are about two weeks old or the temperatures start hitting 80's F. I mulch with old pine needles from my Italian Stone pine tree. I've tried shredded paper but I water with a sprinkling nozzle and I noticed the paper mulch would clump and the water didn't spread evenly. So I started using what I have naturally in my front yard, pine needles. Some areas I do have a soaker hose but I still mulch with the pine needles. They last more than a couple of years, but I do keep adding on top of the old mulch.

I am in Pasadena and as of today we have only had 8.8 inches of rain this year. Thank goodness for last night's rain.


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Mulch or no mulch?

Mulch or no mulch?

Re: Mulch or no mulch?