An update on how the straw is working in my garden.

[Raven]

I posted a while ago about whether straw would keep the weeds down in my garden and got some encouragement and very good advice here. I wanted to report back. We have had almost a month of constant rain here in nh and the weeds and grass took hold of my garden in spite of the straw. This morning I went out figuring I would spend at least 2 days pulling them. To my great relief it took barely 2 hours to pull them all from my 400 sf garden. They were there but they barely had roots and I could just sweep them up with ease. This has made a real difference, especially this wet season. Thanks DU gardeners!

[Vinca]

1. Next time try paper underneath the straw. My aisles have zero weeds.

I went at the beds today, now that the NH monsoons have stopped, and got about half weeded. I noticed some of my summer squash plants have split stems from taking in so much water so I'll probably replant those. Have you got any green peppers coming yet? Mine seem to be making blossoms but no peppers.

[Raven]

2. I didn't plant peppers but I already have a few tomatos on plants

that are only about 2 feet tall. Everything is way behind in growth. Pray for sun! :-)

[ginnyinWI]

4. newspaper?

I'm currently using bark in my aisles, but the weeds are coming through. I don't have a very thick layer of it. Something under it might help.

Last year I put down strips of an old wool carpet that my mother-in-law was throwing away. Don't do it: the carpet fell apart and I had to spend time this spring picking up little pieces of it by hand to throw away.

[Vinca]

5. I've used newspaper before and it's kind of a pain to deal with,

but it breaks down really well and is actually good for the garden. Lately I've been using brown kraft paper you buy on a big roll. (I'm an ebay seller and had some left over I didn't need which is how I tried it in the first place.) I roll out my lanes and my husband spreads hay on top of it. The paper stops the weeds and does break down over the course of the summer. I've been thinking of trying it on some of my perennial flower beds under wood chips, but it didn't get done this year.

[dugaresa]

6. I use newspaper in perrenial beds and it works well for the season

you have to remulch each year of course because weeds will grow in mulch eventually but that is okay by me as I like to churn everything together to keep making the soil richer and more healthy.

[hedgehog]

3. I covered my beds with hay last year whuich has rotted own now.

The hay had weed seeds, of course, but even the ones with tap roots popped right out yesterday.