The use of Christmas tree needles as fertilizer and mulch. Pine and spruce needles are a good fertilizer for plants and an excellent pesticide. Mulching with pine needles and cones

The soil can be protected from drying out and clogging with weeds if loose material - mulch is laid on top.

Mulching not only decorates flower beds and beds, but helps save time and effort when caring for the garden.

Mulch was invented by nature itself.

Any patch of soil that receives light and moisture immediately becomes habitable. The grasses die back in the fall, creating a thick undercoat for the new grass - organic mulch. And in the forest, the surface is densely dotted with onad - leafy or coniferous, or even mixed. In the mountains there is also mulch - mineral! These are small fragments of stone that are washed away by the floor. So we can safely take a cue from nature and use mulch in the garden.

What problems can the use of mulch solve?

A loose, non-caking layer of mulch, even 3-5 cm thick, significantly reduces evaporation. In the dry heat that often happens in summer, this is just a salvation if you are limited in the use of water.

Prevent soil crust formation, which makes it difficult for seeds to germinate, reduces the supply of oxygen to the roots of plants and increases the evaporation of moisture.

Restrain weed growth.

Seeds of annual weeds hardly germinate through a layer of mulch, and rhizomes of perennial weeds are pulled out much more easily than from bare ground. Reduce soil erosion if the site is located on a slope or it rains heavily.

Smooth out temperature fluctuations.

Under a layer of mulch, the earth freezes noticeably longer, and overheats less in summer. which is important for some crops, such as clematis.

Decorate the area.

The right color of the mulch becomes an excellent backdrop for the garden, the inhabitants of the flower garden, and the covered surface gives the garden a well-groomed, tidy look.

In early spring, before mulching, you need to prepare the soil surface: remove plant debris, carefully weed out the weeds. Then shed the plantings, embed the complex fertilizer into the soil and even then distribute the mulching material. Mulch should not touch the trunks and stems of plants, otherwise they may rot. The layer of mulching material depends on the composition of the soil. On loamy soils, it should be no more than two centimeters, on light soils it can be thicker - for grass 7-10 cm, for other materials - 3-6 cm.

Mineral mulch - inorganic particles of various origins. They don't decompose. However, mineral mulch gradually mixes with the soil and needs to be added, although not as often as organic.

In summer, the mulch does not need to be touched. Under trees, shrubs, perennials, the mulch is not removed; a new layer can be added the next year.

If the vegetable beds were mulched with well-decomposed peat, straw or humus, then the mulch can be mixed with the soil during autumn digging by adding nitrogen fertilizers. Sawdust and bark from the beds must be removed and placed in a compost heap, you can leave it in the aisles.

What types of mulch can you choose?

Mowed grass (1).

Grass mass can be composted, but is best used to cover the soil. This is not very aesthetically pleasing, but is great for an orchard - around trees and shrubs. Overheating, the grass works as an organic fertilizer. Cons: the grass is caked and quickly overheats.

During the warm season, you need to lay 3-4 times. For which plants: trees, shrubs, large perennials. Layer thickness: freshly cut grass can be laid 10-15 cm, it settles to 4-5 cm in just a few days.

Coniferous litter (2).

Pine is preferable - it is looser and decomposes longer. Pros: looks nice, cost-free, keeps the top layer of soil loose for a long time. Cons: decomposes quickly, requires backfilling 1-2 times a year. There is some chance of bringing pathogens and pests with it.

With long-term use in large quantities, it makes the soil reaction more acidic. For which plants: ideal for, conifers, acid-loving trees, and perennials. Layer thickness: 5-7 cm.

Leaf litter (3).

Foliage is one of the most affordable types of mulch. Can be used as a covering material

(for example, for warming perennials for the winter). Very large leaves, such as Norway maple, cannot be used as mulch: they cake into one impenetrable layer, drowning out perennials. The best leaf litter is oak. It makes the soil loose and structured, does not cake and decomposes longer. Pros: free. Cons: decomposes very quickly. For which plants: trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs. Ideal mulch for garden orchids - venus slippers.

Layer thickness: about 7-10 cm.

sawdust (4).

Quite affordable, especially if wood production is located nearby or there are homemade ones among your friends. Before using the sawdust, it is necessary to soak it with a solution of ammonium nitrate or urea, so that when overheated, they can use the introduced nitrogen. Pros: Free content. Cons: too small, caking, can inhibit plants, because during decomposition, nitrogen is pulled out of the soil. Light, which significantly complicates the thawing of the soil in the spring. It is better to use sawdust not around plants, but to cover garden paths or beds, in order to dig with soil at the end of the season.

For which plants: garden crops. Layer thickness: 3-5 cm.

Wood chips (5).

These are larger than sawdust, pieces of wood. Pros: decomposes slowly, consumes less nitrogen. Loose, does not cake. It darkens over time (and becomes more beautiful, more neutral in tone). Aesthetic. Cons: the first time will slow down the spring thawing of the soil. Quite an expensive pleasure. Requires supplementation every 1-2 years. For which plants: for any, but it is more reasonable for shrubs and large perennials. Layer thickness: 5-7 cm in tree plantings, 3-5 cm for perennials.

Bark (6).

This is the same wood chips, only bark, usually coniferous. There are different fractions, you can use everything, depending on the conditions. Pros: Slow to decompose, excellent looseness, great color, nice and dark, which helps warm the soil in spring. Cons: high price. It is necessary to renew every 2-3 years, the smaller the fraction, the more often. For which plants: for any. Layer thickness: 5-7 cm in tree plantings, 3-5 cm for perennials.

Exotic mulches (7).

Pine nut shells, sunflower seed husks. Used when there is a cheap source, it is expensive to buy.

The shell of pine nuts is beautiful, but expensive. The seeds decompose very quickly. For what plants: woody, perennials.

Layer thickness: 7-10 cm in tree plantings and 3-5 if perennials.

Humus, compost (8).

Pros: An excellent mulch, if you made it yourself and correctly, is also a top dressing. Cons: Both types can contain weed seeds. In this case, such a mulch will be more problems than good. You will have to sprinkle once a year.

For which plants: all garden dwellers. Rose growers and gardeners especially appreciate compost as a mulch. Layer thickness: 5-7 cm in tree plantings and 3-5 if perennials.

Peat (9).

Horseback is suitable for mulching, it is loose. Pros: relative cheapness. Cons: has an acidic reaction, acidifies the soil. So light that it can be blown away by strong winds when it dries up. Backfilling once a season. For which plants: acid-loving trees and shrubs and perennials. Ideal for rhododendrons, more or less suitable for conifers, for other species it requires deoxidation with dolomite flour. Layer thickness: 7-10 cm in woody, 5-6 in perennials.

Straw (10).

A very affordable type of mulch, most often summer residents squat it in the fields.

For what plants: usually used in the garden, under strawberries and strawberries. Layer thickness: about 5 cm.

Small gravel (0.5-1.5 cm) (11).

Mulch decorative garden

Arrange the pegs along the outline of the drawing. Stretch the twine to mark the planting pattern (1). Assemble the frame of the beds from the boards (2) Fill the beds with fertile soil, mulch the passages with decorative bark (3).

Do not rush to plant plants right away - see how they will look, swap containers, move them around the beds. Transplant the plants into the ground when the overall picture suits you (4).

Bark in garden design - both mulch and decor

Tree bark is a magnificent natural material, which is distinguished not only by beauty, but also by practicality. In landscape design, the bark is used in two versions:

1) actually crushed bark in its natural form;

2) wood chips (as a rule, these are small pieces of bark and finely chopped chips that are steamed, treated with special compounds, and then dyed in various colors - orange, red, blue and yellow).

Wood chips and bark can be purchased at garden centers (as a rule, it is packaged in bags of various sizes). But if you need the bark in its natural form, you can collect it in the forest of fallen trees and chop it yourself.

Both bark and wood chips make excellent natural mulches. These natural materials allow you to decorate near-stem circles of trees and shrubs, as well as beds of spices and flower beds. From the bark and wood chips, you can also arrange paths and even entire areas (although these paths and areas should not be very heavy traffic).

With colored wood chips, you can fill up the plantings of bulbous flowers for the winter, thus decorating the empty places in the flower garden, and marking these plantings for the future. From wood chips, you can create original dry ponds and streams. Also, bark and wood chips are used to decorate the soil in large containers.

With a backfill of wood chips, you can accentuate various garden objects: lamps, decorative figurines, obelisks, mini-compositions. And even old aquariums or simple glass jars filled with colorful wood chips will look like creative garden installations.

You can also make your own garden decorations with wood chips and bark. For example, segments of a stylish sundial can be filled with wood chips of different colors. Large plates of birch bark can wrap flower containers, and pieces of bark of different tree species can be used to make a garden panel. In addition, voluminous garden figurines are obtained from the bark (for example, a small hut).

Let's not forget that the trees themselves with beautiful, expressive bark unusually decorate the garden. This is especially valuable in late autumn and winter, when there are so few bright colors in the garden. Beautiful bark will delight white turf (bright red bark), as well as red turf (bark has a yellow-orange tint). But the serrate cherry has an unusual bark pattern - it is covered with dark horizontal strokes. Gray maple has a characteristic peeling bark in large pieces, which looks very impressive. It strikes with reddish shoots and leather skumpia.

Soil mulching - the opinion of gardeners and gardeners

Mulching: both protection and top dressing

At the beginning of the peta fuss in the garden becomes a bit less. Seedlings planted, trees and shrubs put in order. The first top dressings have been made and preventive strikes against pests have been inflicted. The daily schedule of endless garden chores has been reduced mainly to watering, loosening the soil and mulching.

From buckwheat straw to…

The very definition of "mulching" (from the English mulch - "overlay"), in the everyday life of our gardeners, appeared relatively recently, but as an agro-reception a long time ago. And in the countries of Eastern Europe - already since the 17th century, when local villagers adapted to cover the soil around the planted seedlings of cabbage with buckwheat straw. We have had it for a long time. In the agrarian-industrial complex, only ten percent has become the norm. But the owners of their plots of land use it. one way or another, almost everything. And after all, we were convinced - it makes sense! The story is almost like with potatoes - it took root for about a hundred years, but now it is a second bread. For all the seeming simplicity of the idea, the number of irrigations is greatly reduced, a weed barrier appears, which overcomes only 1/5, the soil microclimate improves, and the number of earthworms increases. And depending on what we use as mulch, it can also serve as a top dressing for sheltered plants.

What can be used

You must have bought lumber or a wood yard at sawmills sometime. Have you seen mountains of sawdust, wood chips and bark? Here is your first source.

The bark of conifers, sifted to a certain size, has for some time become the "official" mulch. And today it is often sold at a high price in beautiful bags of different sizes in almost every garden store. It rots slowly, well prevents weeds, slightly acidifies the soil (which is very useful for some plants, for example, rhododendrons). Serves as a must. and sometimes the only component (greenhouse epiphytes) of soil mixtures for some plants. Decomposing slowly, it adds almost nothing to the soil, affecting only its mechanical properties. And it looks beautiful! So much so that in some places in Europe, paths are covered with it in parks. After watering, they are regularly compacted with a vibrating plate so that the bark does not dust and does not get knocked down by the feet of passers-by.

As well as bark, you can use chips sifted from large fragments. You are unlikely to buy it, but in nature it exists. And if you find a "deposit" - good luck! Both bark and wood chips are good as mulch for planting strawberries: the berries will not lie on the ground. Fine bark is better - slugs often settle in wood chips. With both, you can get into a surprise: both bark and wood chips sometimes tend to overgrow with whole groves of not harmful, but completely inedible mushrooms, often quite large.

Almost classic mulch - sawdust. We mainly saw Christmas trees on boards, so, most likely, you will come across spruce trees. There are also deciduous ones. The differences between the two can be neglected, except that the deciduous ones rot faster, and the conifers acidify the soil a little more. In general, when working with any sawdust, it is good to add a glass of dolomite flour to their bucket. Sawdust is light. falling asleep on the ridges of greenhouses, at times increase the illumination of plants! And at the end of the season, they dig along with the soil and rot.

Fast-rotting mulch is chopped straw of cereals and buckwheat. In addition, let it be inconspicuous, but a good fertilizer for potassium and calcium.

Dried hay rots even faster, which you can prepare by mowing your lawns. Just do not bring lawn cereals to seeds!

Not a bad thing - litter harvested ahead of time in a small-leaved forest. Just freeze it well, and let the winter lie dry and not under the snow - otherwise there is a risk of bringing pests to the site!

An abandoned anthill is just a godsend for a strawberry ridge! And the berries are clean, and the slug will not go on such a mulch. It is very appropriate to treat both rhododendrons and blueberries with such mulch.

Mature humus and compost (of any composition) - mulch is also fertilizer. The use of the universal will appeal to all the inhabitants of the garden!

And two words about the mulch "rich" (in terms of price). coconut fibre. Expensive, but a separate bed with. for example. collection varieties of peppers can be covered - for weeds, the barrier is almost impenetrable.

And then - everything that is not harmful to the soil and has a suitable “fineness”: paper from under the shredder, and polypropylene filling of boxes with equipment, and even polyethylene granules for injection molding ... If only not to harm! © Alexey Anatolyevich Lyubarsky, Moscow

8 gifts from mulch

My set of vegetables is traditional and still small: cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, asparagus beans, onions, carrots, beets. But the harvests are encouraging. This year, for the first time, I planted a bed of eggplants and a bucket of potatoes - so that the young ones can indulge. And I owe all this splendor to mulch. When haymaking goes on for several days, it’s hard, of course: you need to wave the scythe early in the morning, and collect everything, and take it home. But then how much easier it is to care for the beds! I once listed all the advantages of mulch to a friend, and I barely had enough fingers on my hands.

• When irrigating, saving water and your own health.
• When loosening, it is not necessary to chop with a chopper and tear the roots, because the ground under the hay is loose.
• Grace to worms - enriching the soil, they create delicious humus.
• You can forget about the "curse of the summer resident" - weeding, because the grass does not grow under the mulch. An optimal temperature balance is created: during the day the earth does not heat up, it does not cool at night.
• There is additional fertilizer.
• Phytophthora does not break through a layer of grass.
• The fruits do not get dirty and do not deteriorate.

And as a result (and this is the most important thing, because for what all the fuss is for) - the harvest is tasty, juicy and healthy! This is best seen in tomatoes. I used to plant many different varieties, but I settled on Sanka.

The fruit is small, it passes through the neck of the jar, the seed chambers are small, and the taste suits me: a real “tomato” with a slight sourness. In the middle of summer, I pick the last red tomatoes. And what to do with the bushes? They are green and continue to bloom. I feed them chicken droppings with spinning top. And when new fruits begin to appear, one single time - with mineral fertilizers (for 10 liters of water, 30 g of superphosphate and urea + 40 g of potassium chloride). And half a liter for each bush. And again a great harvest!

For those who are against mineral fertilizers…

In this regard, I would like to say a few words to the opponents of mineral fertilizers. Remember this expression - everything is good in moderation? A full-fledged fruit cannot grow on nitrogen alone, which gives manure! He still needs a lot of different substances, but the soil is not a bottomless barrel. And these substances must somehow be returned to it.

Yes, I used to be afraid of mineral water too. But in vain! Tomatoes were somehow unsightly, and then they baked in the sun, then phytophthora attacked them. Now everything is different. As already said, I give chemistry only when the ovary begins to appear. Well, I also give potassium permanganate with boric acid on the leaves when it blooms (and in two weeks a couple more times). And of course, a thick layer of hay - not less than 5 cm when dried. And one more thing: when planting, I leave the distance between the bushes 50-60 cm and do not tie them up. How is it possible if the bush blooms over the entire width of the garden?

Pasynkovanie was carried out only to the fork, and both the leaves and the stepsons were cut off gradually, not all at once.

This season, the bushes are even more powerful, and there are even more brushes on them - the land becomes more satisfying and softer every year.

I also dealt with zucchini. Last year, many ovaries appeared, which turned yellow and dried up. And all you had to do was take a male flower, cut off the skirt and pollinate it by hand - that's the harvest for you. Thanks to those who write letters to the journal, for science.

Knitted trellis

Remove one cell at a time, knit, and again on the left hand. All extreme cells should be squares, or rather, rhombuses, since ideal cells will not work, and the grid will bubble in places, and so it can be stretched in any direction. Knitting is really easy, fast and even pleasant. On long autumn or winter evenings, sitting in front of the TV, such tapestries can be imposed on the whole baptized world, there would be bags. ©Tamara Ivanovna Melnichenko

Mulch works for us

4 huge achievements

So, properly organized mulching helps us, without any financial costs (!) To increase the return on the land in the form of good harvests, while significantly facilitating our work. It should be noted that mulching, from a scientific point of view, is the most important agricultural technique, which every year takes an increasingly important place in all our gardening activities. At the same time, mulching solves so many different useful tasks on our site that, with its correct and widespread use, you will immediately see:

• waste (death) of planted plants has noticeably decreased;
• yields of literally all horticultural crops have increased and become more stable;
• soil fertility in the area is rapidly increasing;
• working on the land became much easier, as if an invisible, hardworking and completely free assistant named “mulch” appeared nearby.

You say it's an exaggeration, but it's not. Let's go in order and start with the term itself. The English originally called mulch various organic residues, which, as a result of the action of soil microorganisms and worms, rot, and humus (the basis of soil fertility) is formed in the soil. Accordingly, the process of mulching is the surface covering of the soil around plants with mulch, the use of which is very beneficial for both plants and soil. Thus, mulch is a layer of loose organic material, such as peat, compost, sawdust, chopped grass or straw, and other organic matter, which is laid out on the surface of the soil in order to increase its fertility. And since mulch performs a number of other functions at the same time (in particular, it helps to retain moisture in the soil, makes it difficult for weeds to germinate, prevents overheating of the soil in summer, and in cold weather protects the soil and plant roots from freezing, etc.). In recent years, various inorganic covering materials have also been used as mulch, in particular black and opaque film.

Surprise pleasant and unexpected

During the growing season of plants, all of them must be mulched with a layer of organic matter of at least 5 cm. As it decomposes and thins the layer, it is necessary to add new mulch, and so on until autumn and harvest. Around perennials, as well as around tree trunks and shrubs, mulch remains for the winter, while it is desirable to increase the thickness of the layer. Raspberries and many other shrubs, whose roots are usually located near the surface, will be especially grateful to you for such a shelter.

As for those beds where annuals grew, here the existing mulch can also be left in place for the winter. Here you can also cut the remains of stems with roots and leaves with a pruner - let them slowly decompose until spring under the influence of autumn rains, cold-resistant microflora and frost ... Let the earth and its inhabitants rest calmly under such a warm artificial "blanket". Yes, and moisture in the form of rain and snow on such a litter and under it accumulates better.

If it is possible to fully nourish the soil due to organic matter, inorganic mulch can also be used. With all the minuses, she has one definite plus: she is very decorative. These are gravel, slate, marble and granite chips, multi-colored synthetic materials.

Some may argue that pests will begin to accumulate under a warm cover. You don't have to worry about it. Those leaf, stem, and root gnats that you failed to defeat during the growing season have long since found refuge. At the same time, some of them hibernate in the egg stage, others - larvae, others - pupae, and some in adulthood. I’ll tell you where to look for them and how to deal with them another time ... But under the organic cover, you can soon find many different predatory bugs, bedbugs, spiders, centipedes and other insects that literally rummage through the mulch in search of aphids, lurking caterpillars, larvae and pupae various butterflies, flies and other pests to feed on them. Predators are our tireless helpers in protecting garden plants from pests. But back to mulching. If you leave the mulch in the garden, the soil under it warms up slowly in spring. Therefore, if you plan to plant seedlings of early vegetables, you can go in two ways: either shovel the mulch to the side, exposing the soil to the sun's rays, or cover it with plastic wrap, under which both the mulch and the soil warm up quickly and well under the sun's rays.

You ask, what organic matter is better to use as mulch? I note right away that we will not talk about various artificial films and other materials that are now widely advertised and sold in stores. And not because they are bad, but because for the majority of active summer residents - and these are mostly pensioners, as well as for most rural residents, this is a costly path. And the money saved on buying artificial mulch can be put to better use, especially since free organic matter for mulch is everywhere in abundance, you just need to try ...

As an affordable and free mulching material on our sites, you can use cut grass and torn weeds, leaves of trees and shrubs, needles, hay and straw, leaf humus, compost, husks from buckwheat, rice, sunflower seeds, etc., peat, sawdust, small chips and medium-sized wood chips, paper, incl. newspapers, cardboard, burlap and other old fabrics, the remains of roofing material and pieces of polymer film. I also use all kitchen waste, which I try to cover with other mulching materials, which does not allow attracting ubiquitous flies to them, and decomposition under cover is an order of magnitude faster.

Let me share an interesting fact. Since winter, I have been throwing potato peels under the chopped stalks of tomatoes and cannes, with which the near-stem circles of young garden trees were mulched. And what was my surprise when, in early spring, strong potato sprouts began to break through the mulch (see photo)! They won't harm the trees, I reasoned, so let them grow. During the spring, I did not pay attention to the thick brush of greening stems, on which there were no Colorado beetles. I remembered potatoes already in June, when its long stems drooped and began to turn yellow. I lifted a 15-centimeter layer of mulch and froze in surprise ... Directly from the soil, a dozen potatoes the size of a fist looked at me! And when I rummaged a little in the ground, I got a bucket of selected potatoes from one near-stem circle! And this is from cleaning, without any care, hilling, only watering was regular - in our south, without watering, you can’t grow a good crop ...

Three important rules for mulching

In general, the choice of material and the very process of mulching must be approached creatively, taking into account the characteristics of both your site and zonal natural and climatic factors, and, of course, your capabilities.

Since various organic materials simultaneously serve as a source of micro and macro elements, as well as other substances used by plants as fertilizer, it is very important to follow a few rules.

The more components the mulch layer includes, the more valuable it is, since it increases the number of useful elements that ultimately enter the soil to the roots of plants.

When using fertile, rejected and even diseased plants as mulch, try to avoid close kinship: for example, you can’t put the remains of plants of the nightshade family (the same tomatoes, peppers or potatoes) under tomatoes, respectively, under cucumbers - the remains of other pumpkin and so on. Then there will be no transfer and accumulation of diseases that usually selectively affect only related plant species.

Tip on sawdust: it is desirable to use as old as possible as mulch, and when using fresh ones, nitrogen fertilizers must be added to them, since fresh sawdust, when decomposed, draws nutrients from the ground.

I know this firsthand, since my brother Boris faced the problem of sawdust about ten years ago. He has a dacha near Dnepropetrovsk, and the soil there is sandy. And he decided to radically enrich it with organic matter, having bought sawdust from KamAZ in the fall, which he evenly distributed on his 4 acres. And how disappointed he was when, in the spring, the seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages and peppers, planted in the now fluffy earth, began to wither quickly and all died as it was, completely without giving a harvest ...

A similar picture was observed the following year. And only in the third year, when the sawdust in the soil almost completely rotted, and the owner brought a manure truck and additionally applied a decent dose of nitrogen fertilizers, the soil on the site restored its fertility, and the brother finally got a good harvest ...

Dangerous winter windows

It should also be noted that in early spring, while there is enough moisture in the soil, and it rains regularly, it is not recommended to abundantly mulch heat-loving plants, since the soil has not yet warmed up enough, which can delay the development of mulched plants. Mulch, along with retaining moisture in the soil, prevents it from warming up. By the way, this fact can be successfully used in gardening, especially in the south. The fact is that due to global warming, prolonged thaws are increasingly occurring not only in February (the so-called “February windows”), but also in January. They negatively affect the trees, which began to wake up and bloom much earlier. .. Everything would be fine, but during the flowering period (usually the earliest varieties) the cold returns, and frosts destroy most, if not all, flowers, and gardeners are left without a crop.

So, in order for the trees not to wake up ahead of time and bloom, their roots need to be in the cold. And here the same mulch comes to the rescue! In frosty and snowy times, you should not be too lazy and remove the 8th side of the mulch in the tree trunks of early varieties, pour snow in its place, compact it well and return the mulch back to its place. If there is excess hay or straw in stock, throw them on top as well. Now trees are not afraid of temporary thaws, and dense packed snow under the cover of mulch will keep cold under it for a long time, which will delay the flowering of trees.

In this way, mulch helps to effectively regulate soil temperature and moisture. In the south, where bare unshaded soil can easily heat up to 50-60 ° in the sun, it is simply irreplaceable. How uncomfortable it is in such a land for the roots of your plants and all soil microfauna and microflora! And the mulch does not allow the soil to heat up above 30 ° and retains moisture in it well, which can significantly reduce the amount of watering.

Proper use of mulch practically eliminates the loosening of the soil near the plants, since the ground under the mulch, even after heavy rains, is slightly compacted.

In addition, mulch allows you to suppress the growth of weeds, while annual weeds practically do not break through a layer of mulch more than 5 cm, and only rhizomatous perennial weeds are capable of this, and even then not all, but the fight against them becomes much easier. It should be remembered that the mulch gradually rots during the growing season of plants, so it needs to be added 1-2 more times.

Let's summarize what has been said. We have seen that mulch allows you to regulate the hydrothermal regime in the soil, creating more favorable conditions for root growth. Mulched plants practically do not require care in the form of loosening the soil and weed control, which greatly facilitates the work of the farmer. And finally, mulch successfully helps (without additional fertilizer costs) to increase the yield of almost all crops, and also helps to increase soil fertility. What could be better?

Mulch: useful beauty

Mulching is a well-known soil care technique in gardening. It has a lot of advantages: mulched flower beds and beds can be watered less often, weeds do not grow so zealously in them, and such plantings look much neater.

Most often, organic materials are used for mulching - tree bark, dried grass and leaves. And this makes mulch even more practical: decomposing, it turns into fertilizer. But the plus is followed by a minus: the backfill needs to be updated every 3-4 years.

Some materials have other disadvantages: for example, when sawdust, straw, and bark are recycled, nitrogen from the soil is consumed.

The loss of this substance can be replenished if, before mulching, horn shavings are introduced into the planting (with a calculation of about 50 g / m 2) or, alternatively, semi-decomposed material is used, which no longer needs nitrogen for further processes. It is also worth considering that slugs like to hide in a layer of mulch. And one more thing: not every material is universal.

So, the bark and chips of coniferous plants acidify the soil, so they should only be mulched with those plantings whose green inhabitants have nothing against an acidic environment, such as rhododendrons and heather.

Landings with sun-loving plants that prefer dry, sandy soils should preferably be mulched with mineral materials, such as gravel or crushed stone. Such "admirers" of the stone include, for example, lavender, Mediterranean herbs (rosemary), as well as herbaceous perennials that traditionally live on the prairies (echinacea). By the way, in recent years, mineral mulch has been increasingly used not so much for the good of the cause, but purely for decorative purposes.

Important: it is impossible to protect the planting from rhizomatous weeds with just a layer of mulch - you should spread non-woven material under it and pour bark, humus, shells or gravel on it.

How does mulch work?

A layer of mulch made from tree bark or wood chips (shown on the left) softens sudden changes in weather conditions. In sunny, hot weather, the soil does not dry out and crust so quickly, and when it rains, water seeps through loose soil without lingering on its surface. At the same time, organic material gradually decomposes, enriching the soil with nutrients. Soil microorganisms under such a “blanket” work more actively, improving the structure and composition of the soil - as a result, plants feel excellent and develop just as well.

It is impossible to completely suppress the growth of weeds: the seeds of these plants are often carried by the wind, and they immediately germinate on organic mulch.

Freshly cut grass can only be mulched on plants with a good appetite, such as tomatoes. In other cases, the grass must be dried first.

Types of mulch

Mineral mulch (left)

1. A crumb of red lava looks spectacular and supplies the soil with valuable nutrients.

2. Shells - a very decorative mulch, in which slugs will probably not hide (they have very sharp edges).

The only "but" is the most expensive material.

3. Slate chips and other types of stone are also expensive. It will be profitable to buy such material only if there is an actively developed quarry in your area.

4. Crushed stone has sharp corners, resulting in a more stable deck than pebbles.

5. Pebbles are rounded. Like crushed stone, it comes in different sizes and colors, there is even a monochrome pebble, for example 6 white.

Organic mulch (right)

1. Shredded wood can contain harmful substances that inhibit the germination of seeds, so it should not be used for garden beds, like bark mulch.

2. Painted chips (decorative mulch) from the core of a tree decompose more slowly than the bark, but its color fades over time.

3. Pine bark is beautiful, relatively durable, and contains many resinous substances that inhibit the growth of weeds.

4. Mulch from the bark of various species of coniferous trees is cheaper than pine, and in quality it is almost in no way inferior to it.

5. Humus or compost from the bark - semi-rotted material that does not absorb nitrogen from the soil.

6. Straw is ideal for mulching beds with representatives of the nightshade family.

Your backyard or summer cottage is an exceptional place for nature management, where you are the owner and creator - you can ensure peace of mind as a compensation for daily stressful situations, living in unity with natural events. All you have to do is not harm nature.

Try to move from traditional to organic farming for this.

Make it a rule: never dig or harrow the soil. The best soil cultivator is plant roots.

Make the most of mulch. Under a thin, several centimeters thick, breathable mulch layer, the soil remains loose and moist, earthworms and microorganisms involved in the formation of humus are in ideal conditions.

Mulch suppresses the growth of weeds and, thanks to its slow decomposition, simultaneously supplies the soil with nutrients.

While the soil consumes dead plant residues from mulching, take care to grow green manure from green manure plants. For this purpose, use annual crops that are mowed before seeds are formed. At the end of summer, non-frost-resistant green manure can be sown.

In winter, they will die and turn into a layer of mulch, and the soil will receive only nutrients. Even during the growing season, these plants will shade it, so that it remains breathable, moist and retains its natural structure. The roots of these plants loosen it to a depth of two meters.

For those who decide to switch to organic farming, I want to recommend the following.

In January, mulch the experimental area with hay or straw with a layer of 10-15 cm. Scatter chicken manure over the mulch.

In early spring, carefully spreading the mulch layer, plant peas, alfalfa or other green manure plants on green manure.

In mid-May, plant the main crop in this area. To do this, cut green manure in the rows intended for its planting and loosen the soil with a Fokin flat cutter. Leave cut plants as mulch. In between rows, cut the green fertilizer as the main crop grows.

After harvesting, immediately compact the sowing of white mustard in this area. It should go under the snow before seeding and be used as mulch the next season.

I hope that my call will not go unnoticed, so I ask everyone who is interested in the principles of reasonable agriculture to conduct experiments on their site ..

Intensive use of the arable layer leads to a decrease in soil fertility. In order to increase the yield, one has to apply mineral fertilizers, and a person who does not have special knowledge can make serious mistakes at the same time, which will make this event either simply useless or causing considerable harm. The soil without vegetation dries up, nutrients are washed out of it by rains, it is eroded, and it takes about 300 years for nature to form 1 cm of fertile layer.

Mulch is the skin of the earth. It covers and protects the soil from all kinds of adversity. In a forest where loosening has never been carried out, under a natural cover of plant residues, in soft soil permeable to rainwater and air, soil microorganisms and earthworms thrive. But where can you get so much mulch on your backyard?

For this, all weeds from the garden and vegetable garden that are not clogged with live seeds, hay, straw, tree leaves, cardboard, compost or peat, sawdust, bark and specially grown green manure crops, such as sweet clover, goat's rue, white mustard, are suitable. On one hundred square meters of a garden, it is enough to sow a glass of mustard seeds in order to have enough organic matter for mulching in the spring. Additionally, it will improve the soil, destroy pests, loosen it and suppress the growth of weeds.

: Mulching the site to combat ...: Unusual top dressing: husks from seeds ...

Pine needles are known for their medicinal properties, but it can be used not only as a remedy. Needles help in the fight against pests, contribute to the recovery of plants after a number of diseases. It can be used to increase the growth and development of crops.

Pine and spruce needles

Larch needles are effective as a fertilizer. Certain types of needles are used in the fight against diseases and pests. Needles can be fruitfully used for the following purposes:

1. Fight against snails, slugs. It is used without complicated preparations - the plant is surrounded by a large number of needles, a “fur coat” of needles is made around it. Pests are afraid of terpenes.
2. Needles are used as fertilizer. Applicable to crops growing on acidic soil to increase the rate.
3. For mulching. For a normal effect, you need to use a huge number of needles.
4. Used as a support for strawberries or strawberries. If the berries are raised higher, the bushes will grow more actively, as a result, it is better to bear fruit. The attacks of the mole cricket and other insects moving underground are significantly reduced.
5. For the speedy decay of other fertilizers. Having covered the leaves with foliage of needles, which will be used later as fertilizer, they will not scatter so much. Moisture will be stored in the compost better, rotting will increase.
6. As an insect control agent. You can prepare a solution by insisting on water and apply pure or diluted. Many plant diseases recede after the application of the prepared liquid. Various areas of crops are sprayed. A strong infusion is sometimes dangerous for plants, it is recommended either to dilute it with water, or to use it only between rows, without direct application to the crop.
7. To repel insects. Having a specific smell, the needles drive away pests.

Fertilizer for the garden

The needles show themselves well as a fertilizer. It is used to accelerate the development of tomatoes, potatoes. Preparation of the mixture: the needles are mixed with ash in a ratio of 2: 1, after which they are boiled in water. The content is filtered, mixed with water 1:5. Shrubs process 2 times with an interval of a week. Bushes tolerate pest attacks more easily, growth accelerates, and yield increases.

You can accelerate the growth of potatoes by adding needles with sand, compost, ash in equal proportions. For the best growth of strawberries, a mixture of needles, bark of these trees, ash, compost in the same amount is used. The composition is laid under the tubers in an amount of about 1 liter per 1 shrub. Diseases and pests almost completely recede after applying this mixture. The yield increases by about half, the taste of the fruit improves.

Needles can be laid with other types of fertilizer in a common compost heap. After overheating, a mass suitable for any plants comes out. Soil properties after application are improved, as if regular compost was used. It can be used as a fertilizer and in liquid form. The effect of the infusion: enrichment with vitamins, disinfection, removal of bacteria from the culture.

Pine needles as a fertilizer are prepared as follows: branches with needles are finely chopped, folded into a 3-liter jar. Steep boiling water is added there, the mixture is infused for 4 days. Before use, the composition must be diluted with water in equal proportions. Any plants in the garden or vegetable garden are watered with liquid.

Pest protection

Needles can be used as fertilizer for the garden for any crop. Needles have other useful properties for gardeners, for example, they will protect against many pests. Copes well with aphids, copperfish. To remove pests, a more concentrated solution is made: 2 kg of needles are taken per 10 liters of hot liquid. It is necessary to insist the composition for a week in the dark, stirring thoroughly every day for a better return of nutrients. Before use, the solution is mixed with water in an amount of 1:3, respectively.

As a fertilizer, larch needles show good results. Suitable for restoring cruciferous flea salads. You can also process cabbage and other root crops. It is necessary to dilute the prepared solution with water 1:5. You can use undiluted medicine between rows without direct application to crops. The needles are used to control the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes.

Spraying with a solution of vegetables and fruits and berries is undesirable in the presence of dew (in the early morning), during rain and residual drops. To prevent the solution from getting lost from the plants, a small amount of laundry soap is added to it. Enough 30g per 10 liters of the prepared mixture. To remove the effect of soil acidification, ash is added to the needles, in addition to laundry soap.

After the research, it became clear that the addition of cones, branches from trees to the solution makes the composition weaker and reduces insecticidal properties. Needles for fertilizing the soil in the garden can be quite useful. It can be used to combat crop diseases.

The preparation is as follows: 1.5 kg of needles are infused for 10 liters of hot water, cooled and filtered. Bushes and trees are treated with the resulting solution with a sprayer. It is worth starting processing from the bottom, moving up the branches to the green zone, which is processed last. It is necessary to perform work at the very beginning of flowering plants 3 times. Weekly breaks are made between repetitions of processing.

Mulching with pine needles and cones

Pine needles work well as a fertilizer, but can also be used for other purposes, such as mulch. It is advisable to take exactly pine, not spruce. Spruce has a high acidity, so it is not suitable for this purpose. Pine will also increase the acidity of the earth, but minimally. It is suitable for mulching many crops. Covering the bow will be especially useful. Needles allow the plant to maintain the required level of moisture in the ground. A useful property will be protection from pests due to a specific smell. Weeds struggle to break through the bed of needles.

It is not bad to fill the beds with strawberries with pine needles. The berries will no longer touch the ground, so they will not rot. Slugs and the like will no longer have access to the fetus thanks to a pillow of needles. Needles can cover the area around fruit trees or berry bushes in a small radius to retain moisture and protect against insects.

It is better not to use needles for flowers - most of them do not like acidic soil. Exceptions: heather, hydrangea, rhododendrons, which are suitable for mulching with needles. It is desirable to use dry needles, since the goal is not to transfer the properties of the needles to the soil, but to protect and shelter it.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the needles as a fertilizer in the country can be used. Any type of needles is suitable for treating the garden and vegetable garden, fertilizes plants and protects against pests. Contains calcium, manganese. Magnesium, copper, zinc and other substances in the majority have a positive effect on crops.

Cones are an affordable and effective material with which you can make the site blooming, beautiful and fruitful.

This article talks about when cone mulch is used, highlights its features, benefits and specifics of application.

Pine cone mulch is highly acidic and therefore not suitable for all types of plantings. But there are a number of plants that will grow well in such soil:

1. Coniferous: cedar, spruce, pine, larch, sequoia, yew.
2. All hydrangeas.
3. Heather (rhododendrons, erica). Their root system is in symbiosis with mycorrhiza (mushroom threads) and receives substances from humus through it. Mushrooms feed on the secretions of the roots of the plant and love acidic soil.
4. Berries of northern latitudes: cranberries, drupes, lingonberries, bearberries, blueberries, blueberries, cloudberries.
5. Fruit: remontant strawberries and strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, onions, garlic. For these plants, the cones serve as protection against slugs and snails. It is better to use covering material in the composition with organic matter (foliage, straw).
6. Roses. This combination is practical and original. But in this case, ash should be poured under a layer of mulch to neutralize acidity.

How to mulch with pine cones?

The procedure begins after the winter on the ground completely dried out and warmed by the sun, when the garden plants have already grown a little.

Under the trees and bushes, it is optimal to lay out a layer of 10-15 cm, on the beds 5-7 cm is enough.

Because useful micro and macro elements from the cones are released slowly; when watering, it is recommended to add liquid fertilizers suitable for a particular crop to the water.

Under perennial plants, cones can be left for the winter, and in the summer they can be dug up with green manure, compost or any other soft organic matter.

In the case of annual crops, the mulch is removed from the beds after harvest. Can be left under strawberries and strawberries to protect the soil and roots from freezing.

With regular use of coniferous litter, the soil is strongly acidified. In this case, the additional use of green manure, manure, fallen leaves is strongly recommended. To stabilize the soil after harvesting, dolomite flour is added to it, and once every 2 years - ash.

Features and benefits of pine cone mulch

The cones have a woody structure. This distinguishes them from other types of coverage and adds a number of features:

• the earth remains as loose as after cultivation, which contributes to better air exchange in it;
• during rain, the cones work on the principle of dispersion, breaking the drops into smaller particles and softening the impact;
• in windy weather protect the soil from spilling;
• do not allow weeds to germinate, especially in combination with additional covering material;
• due to the porous structure, air freely penetrates through them to the soil;
• have thermal insulation properties: in winter the roots under them are warm, and in summer they are cool;
• protect plants and root surface from attacks of insects and rodents;
• the woody structure decomposes more slowly, which provides the soil with useful substances for several months;
• reduces the number of waterings, because. moisture stays in the ground for a long time. This is convenient if it is not possible to water the site regularly;
• closing the soil from rain and sun, they retain a little amount of nutrients for a longer period;
• the harvest remains clean: the coniferous coating protects it from dirty splashes during rain.

Pine cones are considered the strongest type of mulch.

The use of spruce and pine cones as mulch is dangerous near buildings, because the material is rich in resin, which is easily ignited. Therefore, it is impossible to lay them out near houses, baths, household blocks.

It is forbidden to spread such a coating under barbecues, barbecues and cauldrons: an accidentally falling spark can quickly lead to a fire.

When choosing cones, you need to pay attention to their appearance. The presence of dark spots can be the cause of the disease. If the soil is mulched with such material, diseases can be transmitted to horticultural crops.

Beautiful and even cones give the garden bed or flower bed a neat and attractive look.

Mistakes gardeners make when mulching soil with cones

Often, gardeners lay out pine mulch under any crops on the site. But due to the property of conifers to acidify the soil, they are not suitable for all plants. It is especially not recommended to lay out cones under plantings that prefer an alkaline environment.

Another mistake is to leave pine cones in the beds for the winter: during the winter they will acidify the soil even more. If the cones have not lost their appearance, they must be collected, washed, dried and put away until spring in a dry place. So they will retain their properties and decorative function.

Do not spread pine mulch without pre-treatment.

To exclude infection of cultivated plants, it is necessary to water the cones with any disinfectant solution before using. You can find one in a specialized store.

In no case should you add cones to the compost: they break down for a long time, and the resin kills beneficial microorganisms in the humus.

Disadvantages of Pine Cone Mulch

Despite the obvious advantages, the considered material for mulching has its drawbacks:

1. If the soil needs additional nourishment with useful substances, then it is not advisable to use coniferous mulch: the cones decompose for a long time, giving a small amount of micro- and macroelements to the soil. Therefore, annual crops and plants with an underdeveloped root system need additional fertilizer.
2. In places where there are no pine and spruce forests, it is difficult to collect suitable material. Exit - buy in the store.
3. Cones are not suitable for uneven surfaces: they will roll down, be washed away by rain, and be carried around the site by gusts of wind.

We make mulch from pine cones with our own hands

The collection of material should begin in May - June. With an earlier collection, they contain seeds that can germinate on the site.

In order to avoid soil oxidation under the layer of cones, it is recommended to lay a covering material: it will delay the entry of excess resin into the soil and protect the laying site from the germination of weeds. Special fabric does not spoil, well passes moisture and air. A layer of cones with a thickness of 7 to 15 cm is laid on top.

To deepen the mulch before laying the fabric, it is recommended to make a recess along the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe intended cover.

Another way to reduce the acidity in the soil is to add wood chips, tree bark, moss or peat to the cones. You can use chopped branches or nutshells.

To improve the fertile properties of the soil in summer, the mulch is dug up with compost or humus. In autumn, you can add manure or ground top of green manure.

The larger the plant that is supposed to be embedded in the soil, the larger the pieces of cones in the mulch should be.

There are many types of fertilizers designed to saturate the soil with minerals. Mulching with pine cones is an easy way to combine the benefits of plant material with its decorative properties.

Are you familiar with the situation when a lot of trouble awaits you at your summer cottage, and there is a catastrophic lack of time? One of the effective ways to make life easier for a novice summer resident, as well as an experienced gardener, and solve many problems in the spring with the soil, with the growth and development of plants, with weeds and pests, and in the autumn with the harvest, is soil mulching. This agricultural technique has stood the test of time in a variety of climatic zones, with a variety of soils, and has proven its worth both from a practical point of view and from a decorative one. It is especially useful when growing strawberries.

Why Mulch Strawberries

If you want to grow a rich crop of strawberries (garden strawberries), and not constantly water, weed, treat diseases and fight pests, then strawberry beds should be mulched.

The main advantages of mulching garden strawberries:

• Mulch protects the soil under the strawberries from drying out and moisture loss, respectively, it needs to be watered less.
• The mulch layer is a kind of "cushion", thanks to which the earth around the strawberry bushes does not heat up.
• This is an excellent protection against weeds and pests (slugs and snails).
• Berries always remain clean. For example, after rain, if you do not have a mulch layer, then the berries will always be dirty.
• Mulching improves the structure of the soil, the earth becomes looser and more fertile.
• Productivity increases.

When to Mulch: Timing

You can and should mulch strawberries 2 times a year: in spring and autumn.

In the spring, mulch is laid in strawberry beds around May, when the first berry ovaries appear, so that the peduncles do not come into contact with the soil, in other words, do not come into contact with the ground. And when the crop is fully harvested, you can remove the mulch, but not for long.

In autumn, around October, strawberry beds are mulched again, but this time for the purpose of sheltering them for the winter. And the next spring (March-April), the mulch is removed again until the first ovaries appear.

By the way! In autumn, coniferous twigs are suitable as a mulching (covering) material.

Methods and materials for mulching strawberries

Various materials can be used as mulching material for strawberries.

Organic:

• straw, hay;
• cut grass;
• needles and pine cones;
• sawdust;
• manure and compost.

Inorganic:

• black film;
• agrofibre (spunbond);
• cardboard.

Next, we will talk in more detail about each of the materials and, accordingly, the method of mulching garden strawberries: what are their advantages and disadvantages, when should they be used (in spring and / or autumn), can they be combined.

Organic Strawberry Mulching Materials

The main advantage of organic mulch is that it enriches the soil with useful organic matter, increasing its fertility. However, such mulching material must be constantly added, because over time it erodes and goes into the ground.

Mulching with hay and straw

Straw is the most popular material for mulching strawberries.

By the way! Under straw can be very successfully grown and

It is very important to knock out all the weed seeds from the straw before mulching, which is done by actively whipping, a kind of “shaking out”. Then the hay must be soaked and dried well in the sun, because mulching can only be fully dry straw.

When you mulch strawberry beds with straw, remember that the layer of dry hay should be somewhat larger than the other mulch. This is due to the fact that such an “airy” mulch settles over time, so it is advisable to immediately put 10-15 centimeters. As a result, it will gradually settle, and the layer will become about 5-8 centimeters.

Note! When the straw rots in the garden, it will become a very good organic fertilizer. Moreover, due to the decay of hay in the soil, it will begin to multiply hay stick, and this is a very useful microorganism that perfectly protects against fungal diseases.

Dry straw and hay are suitable for both spring mulching and shelter for the winter.

Video: mulching strawberries with hay (straw)

Grass mulching

Instead of straw and hay, you can also use ordinary grass, for example, the same dangling weeds (but it is imperative that they do not have seeds and, of course, they should not have roots). But, as a rule, mowed lawn grass from under the lawn mower is more often used. Its main advantage is that it is small and fits well.

Important! You can not immediately use the cut grass for mulching strawberries, you only need to lay sluggish Otherwise, it will instantly begin to rot and decompose. Therefore, freshly cut grass needs to be kept in the sun for a couple of days so that it dries.

It often happens that beds with grass mulch are attacked by snails and slugs. If this phenomenon is not uncommon in your area, then it is advisable to sprinkle the ground with ash and mustard before laying out the mulch layer.

Video: mulching strawberries with grass

Mulch from needles and pine cones

Coniferous litter is often used in agriculture as a mulching material, respectively, it will also go as a mulch for garden strawberries.

The advantages of such coniferous mulch (from needles and cones) are quite standard: it slowly rots, reflects sunlight, prevents weeds from breaking through, retains moisture in the soil, slugs and snails do not really like it, and phytoncides in its composition protect plantings from fungal diseases, as well as all sorts of pests.

Not taken into account, but no less important advantage! You can collect coniferous litter in the forest for free.

As for the time of use, it is possible to mulch with needles to shelter the beds from frost both in spring and autumn.

Important! It should be understood that the needles and especially the bark of coniferous trees will acidify the soil over time, and this is not very good for strawberries, so you should not overuse its use on already overly acidic soils. But if your soil is not acidic, then you do not need to be afraid.. It will take many years (5-10 years) to increase the acidity of neutral soil with such mulching.

Video: mulching strawberries with needles and cones

Mulching with sawdust

Mulch material such as sawdust is great for keeping weeds out and retaining moisture in the ground.

Pour sawdust should be a layer of 4-6 centimeters.

Advice! It is advisable to use exactly rotted sawdust. The fact is that fresh ones pull nitrogen out of the soil, so you will have to additionally feed the plantings with nitrogen fertilizers. To make the sawdust rot faster, you can shed it with urea (carbamide) and leave it for several weeks (3-4 weeks).

In sawdust, it is better to leave strawberries for the winter. However, many use them in spring and summer.

Note! If you use sawdust of coniferous trees, then remember that they acidify the soil, which means that it will not be superfluous to add deoxidizers such as wood ash or dolomite flour to the garden bed.

Video: mulching strawberries with sawdust

Mulching with manure and compost

Humus and compost - not only do they perfectly protect the soil from drying out and weeds, they also best nourish and saturate the soil with useful elements.

As a rule, this type of mulch is used only in spring and summer.

Important! Humus and compost are quickly absorbed by the earth, so new nutritious mulch should be thrown in during the season.

Inorganic Strawberry Mulching Materials

The main advantage of inorganic mulching materials is their durability. However, they will not be able to improve the fertility of the soil.

black film

Note! Both black film and agrofibre are only suitable for mulching spring during the planting of seedlings of strawberries.

Mulching with a black film and agrofibre is carried out during the period. The black material is laid out on a bed, the edges are placed in a furrow and covered with earth. Then cruciform slots or rounded holes are cut and through them holes are made in the ground and planted there. .

The main disadvantage of using black polyethylene film is the fact that it does not allow air to pass through and can cause the roots of garden strawberries to rot, and during the period of return frosts, condensation can form under it. Again, do not forget that the film does not allow moisture to pass through, which means that you will either have to install internal drip irrigation, or come up with something else.

In the south, it is advisable to use a special film, in which the top layer is white (gray) and the bottom is black. Such a two-color film significantly reduces the chance of overheating of the earth during the scorching summer heat.

Advice! To prevent the soil under the film from overheating, pour straw, hay or mowed grass on top.

Of course, plastic film is more cost-effective, but experienced gardeners, as a rule, still prefer spunbond (agrofibre), which has much more advantages in use. In addition, it is more durable, and it is easier to fix it on the bed.

Video: mulching strawberries with black film

Agrofibre (spunbond)

The use of agrofibre (spunbond) as a mulch for strawberries has the following advantages:

• Berries will always be perfectly clean and immediately usable.
• It is very convenient to adjust the mustache.
• Spunbond perfectly passes and holds moisture.
• Bushes are not washed out during heavy rains and winds, and moisture is not blown out.
• Does not transmit UV rays.
• Naturally, agrofibre prevents the growth of weeds.

Mulching with cardboard

Cardboard from old boxes is great for mulching strawberries. Moreover, it is desirable to use the most colorless, because. colored paint often contains lead, which is definitely not good for plants.

Note! Cardboard is used when mulching strawberries only in spring; this material is not suitable for autumn shelter for the winter.

When mulching strawberry beds, you need more than just cardboard. As a rule, only the first layer is made from it, while the mulch is laid in 3 layers:

Thus, such a mulch will last a full year - from spring to autumn.

Video: mulching garden strawberries with cardboard

If you have already decided to grow an enviable crop of strawberries in the country, it will come in handy to use such an agricultural technique as mulching. Everything will work out quite effectively if you responsibly and correctly decide on the timing, materials and methods of mulching garden strawberries.

Video: 3 ways of autumn planting and mulching strawberries

In contact with

Pine and spruce needles known to most readers mainly for its medicinal properties, which are well studied and widely used in medical practice. According to well-known herbalists in the country, with the help of needles today it is possible to cure up to 2/3 of all diseases, including cancer. However, needles, as experience shows, are capable of more, including serving a person in his fight against pests and diseases, in increasing soil fertility and plant nutrition to enhance their growth and development.

The most effective results of the use of pine and spruce needles are known in control of pests and diseases of fruit and berry crops: apple codling moth, moth on currants and gooseberries, weevil on raspberries, etc. In all these cases, it is enough to take 1-1.5 kg of needles, insist it in 10 liters of hot water, cool, strain and use a sprayer to process trees and bushes, and best of all, first the trunks, then the branches and then the green crown. Such treatment of trees and shrubs is advisable at the beginning of their flowering and 2-3 more times with breaks for a week.

The experience of using needles against aphids and suckers is also very effective, and they take 2 kg of needles per 10 liters of water and insist for a week, keeping the infusion for about 7 days in a dark place and stirring daily. Before use, the infusion is diluted to a ratio of 1:3 or 1:5 in water. Both pine and spruce needles give good results in the fight against cruciferous flea on salads, cauliflower and a number of root crops (radish, turnip, radish, rutabaga, etc.). Moreover, the plants are either sprayed with a solution of infusion in water at a ratio of 1:5, or a mixture of needles and water at a ratio of 1:1 is introduced into the aisles of plants. There was also a positive experience with the use of needles in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle on potatoes.

It should be noted that spraying with a solution of needles of fruit and berry and vegetable crops can be carried out both in the morning and in the evening, avoiding only periods of dew and rain. In order for the solution not to be lost, you can add 30 g of laundry soap to it. According to my observations, some gardeners add an ash extract to the solution of needles, which, in combination with soap, eliminates the likelihood of soil acidification that occurs when using needles. The addition of chopped coniferous branches and cones to the infused mixture of needles and water by individual gardeners, according to available information, only weakens the insecticidal properties of the solutions.

In recent years, I have also gained some experience in the use of pine and spruce needles when growing tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes. In the first case, we added ash to a mixture of pine and spruce needles, boiled the mixture in water, filtered, and then treated 10 tomato bushes twice with a solution having a ratio of 1:5. By this we managed to induce them to more intensive growth and eliminate the backlog in development. What is important, the treated bushes bloomed earlier and more amicably than all the others and did not hurt anything, and the harvest on them was greater than on the untreated bushes.

But, perhaps, strawberries and potatoes were the most pleasing, when planting which, in the first case, a mixture of needles with sand, ash and compost was used in equal proportions, and in the second - a mixture of needles, bark, ash and compost in the same ratio, and on In a strawberry bed, the mixture was embedded in the soil of the upper layer, and when planting potatoes, it was applied under the tubers and on them in a volume of about 1 liter per bush. As it turned out, strawberry bushes, being in such soil and having enough nutrition and moisture, did not have pests and diseases, bloomed faster than others and yielded a crop of almost 1.5 times more than before. At the same time, the berries differed not only in their large size, but also had some particularly pleasant taste.

However, the potato was the most surprising, the planting tubers of which were affected by scab. When digging up its first bushes, we were surprised to note that none of the tubers had not only scab, but even any of its very tenacious sclerotia. The harvest of grown tubers turned out to be quite good, although the weather that year was not very pleasing.

Excellent results when using needles are obtained by the famous experienced gardener L. Rendyakov. In his practice, he covers the onion plantings with coniferous spruce branches, and after removing the spruce branches after 2-3 weeks, the top layer of soil is well mulched with needles, due to which the soil retains friability, nutritional value and moisture for the entire period of onion cultivation, does not have weeds and protects plantings from diseases and pests . As a result of all this, from 1 kg of sevka, the harvest of a full-fledged onion is up to 40 kg, and for about 4 years and regardless of the weather.

Known from the press is the experience of the craftsman gardener V. Shchelkov, who uses needles mixed with sawdust to fumigate potatoes stored in the cellar with smoke. Such processing of the cellar is carried out for about 0.5 hours, and monthly, until the end of the storage period. At the same time, potatoes not only do not rot, but also retain their properties well.

From all of the above, it can be seen that the needles effectively serve not only as a doctor of the garden and vegetable garden, but also as a fertilizer for the soil and plants. This is explained by the fact that the needles contain, first of all, a very rich complex of physiologically active substances; it also contains many chemical elements: calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, etc.

Of course, there are also obvious opponents of the use of needles in areas, pointing to the harmfulness of removing green needles from trees and the possibility of terpenes, ethers, etc. garden and garden are very small, and scientists have not found a noticeable difference between the properties of green and fallen needles. So, it is quite possible to get by with fallen needles.

Anatoly Veselov, gardener
photo by Olga Filippova