Mulch question

rdhwyalane 9/9/2021, 2:41 pm

Hello, newbie here. I made the mistake of mulching with wheat straw, and have now managed to successfully grow grass.

I’ve been trying to pull up the grass, but new grass pops up so quick.

Any suggestions what I should do? Should I remove all the wheat straw?

Thank you for any input.

Alane

rdhwyalane 9/9/2021, 2:43 pm

**sanderson** 9/9/2021, 4:36 pm

Just keep pucking the sprouts while they are small. I used to use baled bedding straw and one bale had a few viable wheat seeds. If you want to finish using the bale you have, shake out the stray and look for wheat heads. I use E-Z Straw now and it's been seed-free so far.

OhioGardener 9/9/2021, 5:05 pm

+1 What Sanderson said!

It isn't grass popping up, it is wheat. Just pull them out and drop them on top of the straw to provide more mulch and organic material to your bed. Sometimes the wheat is so poorly combined that a lot of seed is left in the straw, and those tend to sprout when used to mulch the garden.

As Sanderson said, shake the straw fairly rigorously before putting it on the garden beds, and most of the seeds will drop out. And, the few that do sprout are easy to pull up and throw on top of the mulch.

yolos 9/9/2021, 9:11 pm

My first year using wheat straw. I put some on top of my compost pile to keep the rain off the compost. I had a large stand of wheat straw growing on top of the compost pile that year. But I use it every year as mulch on almost all my beds. I now buy the wheat straw from Tractor Supply and it is not free of wheat seeds but it is very easy to pull up any wheat that starts to grow.

rdhwyalane 9/9/2021, 9:45 pm

Oh my word! Did you harvest the wheat?!?

**AtlantaMarie** 9/10/2021, 8:44 am

Hi Alane. Welcome from Buford, GA!

You've already gotten some good advice. Yolos, OG, & Sanderson are all very knowledgeable...

rdhwyalane 9/10/2021, 10:56 am

Hi AtlantaMarie, I’m in Marietta. :o)

yolos 9/11/2021, 1:13 pm

rdhwyalane wrote:Oh my word! Did you harvest the wheat?!?

I cut it down and added it to my compost pile. That was an unusual year. I have no idea where I got that load of wheat stray. But I always get mine now from Tractor Supply and try to make sure I do not get any seed heads. But I do get a few and just pull them out easily as I walk thru the garden.

I am located in Brooks GA. About 20 miles south of the Atlanta Airport.

OhioGardener 9/11/2021, 1:26 pm

yolos wrote:I am located in Brooks GA. About 20 miles south of the Atlanta Airport.

I lived in LaGrange for 2 years, and then we moved to East Point where I finished High School, and then worked in downtown Atlanta. Then years later I lived in Chamblee (NE of Atlanta) when I attended Ga Tech. Had gardens in all those places, and learned about red clay!

yolos 9/11/2021, 7:20 pm

OhioGardener wrote:
yolos wrote:I am located in Brooks GA. About 20 miles south of the Atlanta Airport.

I lived in LaGrange for 2 years, and then we moved to East Point where I finished High School, and then worked in downtown Atlanta. Then years later I lived in Chamblee (NE of Atlanta) when I attended Ga Tech. Had gardens in all those places, and learned about red clay!

Yep, that red clay is what got me started on SFG. Had to have raised beds with nice fluffy soil at my age. Days are gone when a tiller would jump and bounce almost pulling my arms out of their sockets when trying to churn up the clay.

MrBooker 9/15/2021, 5:52 am

sanderson wrote:Just keep pucking the sprouts while they are small. I used to use baled bedding straw and one bale had a few viable wheat seeds. If you want to finish using the bale you have, shake out the stray and look for wheat heads. I use E-Z Straw now and it's been seed-free so far.

I use the E-Z straw also. I may get a weed (wheat) now and then but they're almost non existent.

yolos 9/15/2021, 1:20 pm

Does E-Z Straw have anything mixed in that makes it E-Z. What makes it E-Z.

rdhwyalane 9/15/2021, 1:59 pm

My guess would be that it has less seeds, so less work pulling up wheat?

OhioGardener 9/15/2021, 2:14 pm

rdhwyalane wrote:My guess would be that it has less seeds, so less work pulling up wheat?

Good guess! Very Happy

From the Tractor Supply web page:

Organic, biodegradable seeding mulch is easy to use
Leaves no mess to clean up
99% weed-free seeding mulch promotes plant growth
Seeding mulch is conveniently bagged
Safe for pets and children
Protects against birds
Works well in small or large areas

The main drawback to it is the cost. At the local TSC a 2.5 cu ft bag of EZ-Straw costs $15.99 plus tax. Lowe's occasionally has it in stock for $12.99. I buy high quality wheat straw from a local farmer for $4.00 per bale, and each bale is approximately 8 cu ft.

MrBooker 9/15/2021, 3:41 pm

yolos wrote:Does E-Z Straw have anything mixed in that makes it E-Z. What makes it E-Z.

It's easy for me because it's tightly packed but easy to pull apart plus it's shredded and easy to spread. No long stems or clumps. A bale of it costs about $13.00 but it really goes a LONG way. I strawed about 18 half barrels plus four 4x8 raised beds with less than a bale. Still have some for next year.

Yardslave 9/15/2021, 7:17 pm

I once tried to make my own EZ-straw once and It's doable but If I had a choice, I'd open my wallet and just buy some from a vendor. I bought a bale of straw and quickly found the length of the straw was a bit too long, and made it hard conforming it to cover around my veggies. I gathered it up and tossed it in a trash can, took the weed-eater to it and gave it a buzz. It was a mess and took a lot of time to get it right. I ended up burning out my weed-whacker's motor when the vents clogged and the motor overheated and fried. Would have been better off if I'd just went for some EZ-straw.

MrBooker 9/16/2021, 6:37 am

Yardslave wrote:I once tried to make my own EZ-straw once and It's doable but........

I bought a bale of straw and scattered it all over the driveway then mulched it with my mulching mower. It worked, kinda sorta. Way too much work. E-Z straw is so much better.

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