Looking for better options this year for my balcony garden. I have some MG mulch left over from last year, but considering pine shavings or straw. I'm on a balcony and concerned about wind, but I think the flake and straw mulches stay put when wet.
What do you guys suggest for a city balcony that gets a fair share of wind.
by beatniknomad
7 Comments
Jumping in from N. Arizona where we average 20mph winds with gusts in the 50-60 range. I would ditch the wood mulch, not because of the wind but because unless it’s going around a tree forever I’ve found it’s a pain, especially on your second season of planting trying to remove it all. I would also stay away from the pine shavings. They are great for composting but the smallest wind and they will be all over your neighborhood. Straw is what I and everyone I know uses. It breaks down super easy so you don’t have to get every piece up to easily amend the soil and reuse all your planters. It allows a good amount of light and air to move through as well helping to stave off some molds and diseases. The one caveat is because it’s so lightweight I do have to help keep the straw down in the wind with a few irrigation stakes/staples. The stakes/staples are cheap, readily available, and reusable though so I don’t mind getting a small pack of them. Just my two cents from my corner of the garden. Best of luck!
I use wood shavings and once they are watered in they hold together pretty well. But i dont live in a very windy area (just ocassional windy days).
I’m using pine shavings as mulch for my container garden and so far it has been great! The soil has been staying moist for a longer period of time and is considerably cooler. I’m on the OK/TX border, so heat and wind have already been a huge problem. For the most part the shavings haven’t been blown out of the container bags (most lost shavings have come form my vertical planter) and im using about 1.5-2 inches of mulch. It’s brought up that wood shavings can leach nitrogen from the soil, but being placed only on top, would make it negligible. Also for the price/amount made pine shavings an absolute win.
I was between pine shavings and straw. I decided against straw mostly due to the potential of it sprouting in the container
Using the wood shavings, mine is “horse bedding” from Menards, for the first time this year. It has been crazy windy and rainy the last few days here and I haven’t seen a noticeable amount of shavings flying around. It also smells great, looks good and just works really well overall as a mulch.
I also have some straw laid down in a few areas and it has started to sprout. Not a huge deal but it could definitely become a nuisance.
Straw with tack, the shiny fluffy nature of it helps keep soils cool in the summer. ive also used horse bedding. whatever straw or hay is available. woodchips are fine but straw has some helpful qualities.
Pine shavings! It’s insane how far that bag will go too. I
Any kind of animal bedding is gonna be my go to. I like the fine white “show” stuff because weed pop out against that. Once it gets wetted down it more or less stays in place