Posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011
A quick update on my March post about ’strulch’, the straw based mulching material.
Well, I have to say, it’s worked very well. I’ve used it on a couple of different beds and it’s done a very good job of suppressing weeds. Irritating little annual/ephemeral weeds seem to have been almost entirely kept in check. I’ve had a few of the larger, perennial weeds growing through the mulch, but I don’t mind these so much as I quite enjoy the satisfaction of digging them out…well when the root comes out in one piece anyway!
The colour of the strulch has become darker over time, although it still doesn’t provide quite the same fabulously dark background as a leaf mould or composted bark mulch would.
In areas which are more exposed (for example around the unplanted base of an apple tree) the strulch proved a little too light and has been blown away (probably with a little encouragement from the dog scratching around in it), so I think I may return to bark for those areas.
But all in all strulch has been a real success and I’m intending to extend my use of it to the veg patch next year, particularly around longer term crops such as my onions and garlic, where it will be very helpful in keeping weeds to a minimum.
