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Mulching

NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
in Problem solving
Planted a hedge a year ago now 

Trying to keep the weeds down and had planned this year to lay down cardboard and mulch with leaf mould as I have a good source for it

Is this the right thing to do?

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    edited 27 January
    Before mulching with anything, please remove the grass from around the hedging plants so that they aren't fighting for nutrients with any other greenery. This from the RHS "Keep the hedge and 45cm (18in) on each side weed-free". I know this is why you are going to mulch the plants but grass can be persistant.
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Agree with @Ceres the grass really needs to be removed from both sides of the fence to give your hedging a chance to establish and grow. 
    If you just lay mulch without doing that, the grass will happily grow thru it. 
  • NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
    Thanks guys what's the best method to remove the grass? I should mention I have 200m total to do 😂
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    That's a fair bit. If you are unable to physically cut the turf out, you could strim/mow as short as possible and lay black plastic over the areas you want to kill.  Could take a while.  If you aren't averse to weedkiller, you could spray the areas but make sure you protect your hedging and any other nearby plants from leakage/drift.
    Hopefully others may have advice/ suggestions but Good luck with it anyway  :)
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    I have an azada (digging hoe) and that thing can remove turf at speed once you get used to it. It doesn't take long to achieve accuracy. I don't know why they aren't used more in the UK.
  • NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
    philippasmith2 said:
    That's a fair bit. If you are unable to physically cut the turf out, you could strim/mow as short as possible and lay black plastic over the areas you want to kill.  Could take a while.  If you aren't averse to weedkiller, you could spray the areas but make sure you protect your hedging and any other nearby plants from leakage/drift.
    Hopefully others may have advice/ suggestions but Good luck with it anyway  :)
    Instead of plastic do you think cardboard would be ok?
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    Personally, in that situation I would just mulch, then deal with any grass, if it does get through, later in the spring.
    I'd use 2 layers of cardboard, with leaf mould on top.
    I'd leave a gap around the hedge stems - maybe 4 inches or so, to discourage rot (you might need to pull the grass out there), and mulch out to at least half a metre from the hedge stems.

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I used cardboard topped with cheap bought compost then bark chips when I made my shrub bed in March 2021. I planted the shrubs in the lawn then arranged the cardboard around them, which was a bit fiddly.



    Here it is again in May 2023. It has worked pretty well. There has been a bit of weeding to do but not a lot. I topped it up in the winter of 2022 from a pile of rotted wood chip compost that I had.



    I think it would work well for your hedge. Hard work laying it all but I didn't weed out the grass and it worked.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
    Waow that looks great thanks very much!!
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