Mulching: Stage 1
Having decided to move from the permaculture orchard idea into a food forest, it was time to get some Mulch in place to start the battle against the grass. We ordered 10 yards, knowing we wouldn't be able to get much more than that done before the snow flies, given our current schedules.
Last week the mulch arrived on Wednesday evening and Saturday we started hauling mulch one cart at a time. The mulch we ordered is not the freshly chipped kind, but rather includes leaf litter and is starting to break down. I thought this would be better to get a jump start with new plants.
We put untreated craft paper down as a weed barrier, knowing that it will help to smother the grass but also eventually break down and not be a permanent barrier to plant growth. Then we placed 4-8 inches depending on the pre-existing conditions. When we planted the fruit trees originally we had placed black landscape cloth around them and covered that in wood chips and most had stayed grass free for the summer, so in those spots we put a thinner layer of mulch as we weren't as worried about smothering the grass.
This first load of 10 yards got us just over a third of the fruit tree area covered. The full area is about 50ft x 50ft. We started at one end and were working in the 50ft length, covering about 17 feet of the width by the time we were done. So we sit at around 875 square feet of area ready to go.
If the weather looks like it will hold off on snowing in the next week or two we may order another load of 10 yards to get a bit further. Otherwise, we will mulch the next section in early spring when the snow melts.
Throughout the winter i'm hoping to blog about how the trees are doing, talk a bit about each of the trees we have already planted, and describe plans for the next season.
Last week the mulch arrived on Wednesday evening and Saturday we started hauling mulch one cart at a time. The mulch we ordered is not the freshly chipped kind, but rather includes leaf litter and is starting to break down. I thought this would be better to get a jump start with new plants.
We put untreated craft paper down as a weed barrier, knowing that it will help to smother the grass but also eventually break down and not be a permanent barrier to plant growth. Then we placed 4-8 inches depending on the pre-existing conditions. When we planted the fruit trees originally we had placed black landscape cloth around them and covered that in wood chips and most had stayed grass free for the summer, so in those spots we put a thinner layer of mulch as we weren't as worried about smothering the grass.
This first load of 10 yards got us just over a third of the fruit tree area covered. The full area is about 50ft x 50ft. We started at one end and were working in the 50ft length, covering about 17 feet of the width by the time we were done. So we sit at around 875 square feet of area ready to go.
If the weather looks like it will hold off on snowing in the next week or two we may order another load of 10 yards to get a bit further. Otherwise, we will mulch the next section in early spring when the snow melts.
Throughout the winter i'm hoping to blog about how the trees are doing, talk a bit about each of the trees we have already planted, and describe plans for the next season.
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