Gleaner Min Yi Su shared her thoughts about mulching and where to get it.
The summer heat is upon us and besides consistent watering of our gardens, there is something else you might want to note: mulching. Mulching does many beneficial things in your outdoor garden. It provides carbon to your garden when it eventually breaks down. It keeps the moisture in the soil longer so the summer sun doesn’t dry out your soil. It smothers weeds, especially if you put uncoated cardboard down first. Mulch makes it easier to remove weeds as the soil under mulch is usually lighter due to the worms working under the moist soil. You can also mulch with straw — not hay, as hay will have seeds that will infest your garden with unwanted weeds.
So now that I’ve convinced you that mulching is a pretty good idea. Where do you get it? Well, you can go to your nearest Rexius and Lane Forest Product and pay for woodchips or go to a farm store and buy a bale of straw. This gleaner, however, likes to glean it. There are three ways I’ve gotten my mulch and I’ll let you in on my secrets.
1. If you drive by an arborist who is filling their truck with woodchips, ask them if they can drop it off at your house, they are particularly motivated to do so if you are nearby as they would have to pay and possibly drive further if they bring it to a composting facility.
2. Call a tree removal company in town and ask if they would be working in the neighborhood anytime soon. One thing to note is if you want them to dump the chips on your driveway, make sure there are no electrical lines above the dumping site, otherwise, their truck may not be able to dump it for you.
3. Go to sites that have woodchips for you to fill to your heart’s content. The one I know of is at Alton Baker Park, there is always a mountain of free woodchips for people to gather next to the community garden. Check your nearest community garden for woodchips as those are regularly refilled.
An honorable mention is getting the city of Eugene to dump their leaves for you in the fall. Their website makes it very easy and convenient to sign up for leaves to be delivered. My only complaint about this method is you can only get it in the fall and depending on the particular load, it could be littered with garbage. You never know what you will get.
Mulching doesn’t seem like much but your plants and your garden will thank you.