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ebindc

pros & cons: leaf mulch vs wood mulch

ebindc
15 years ago

I am a new gardener and haven't yet mulched this year ... I've been told that wood mulch drains nutrients from the soil, so I was planning to get leaf mulch. But does leaf mulch do a good job reducing weeds?

I have a small vegetable patch and perennials like day lillies, azaleas, hydrangeas etc. I planted bulbs, as well - some of them bloomed, and some I planted too late.

What are the pros and cons of leaf vs. wood mulch? If I need both, I am getting my trees trimmed in a few weeks (cedar, ash, elm, silver maple) and could ask the tree company for the mulched wood. However, the owner told me that he wouldn't recommend using the chipped wood for mulch. They take it to the county to be composted.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Comments (21)

  • joepyeweed
    15 years ago

    Pros of leaf mulch:

    its cheap
    I have to put the leaves somewhere anyway
    I think it looks nice
    they decompose fairly quickly compared to wood mulch

    Cons of leaf mulch:

    if not shredded, they tend to blow around
    they decompose fairly quickly compared to wood mulch

  • digdirt2
    15 years ago

    Honestly I have very little use for wood chip mulch, especially in the vegetable garden. Does little if anything good and does create some problems. Perennial flower beds - fine. Otherwise I give it a 2 on a scale of 10.

    Leaf mold on the other hand is a great mulch, especially if pre-shredded, but even if it isn't it will mat down with water. Improves the soil, provides nutrients, MUCH better at keeping down weeds, no termite problems, not near as much strange fungus growths, and in some climates it actually lasts longer than wood chips.

    Dave

  • Kimmsr
    15 years ago

    Whomever told you that wood mulch would "drain" nutrients from you soil was not being totally accurate and leaf mulch could, potentiall, do the same because both would be high Carbon materials. But neither will do what you were told, when they are used as a mulch and not a soil amendment. Both of those materials have the potential, over time, of improving your soil by adding organic matter to that soil as the soil bacteria slowly digest them and incoporate them into your soil, and that a alone would be a good reason to mulch. Leaves are a bit easier for the soil bacteria to digest than wood chips so they tend to "disappepar" faster and need replenishing more often. But that also means your soil is getting that organic matter mixed in faster.
    Whether any mulch will do a good job of suppressing weed growth depends on how much is used. What is suggested by most garden writers, 1 or 2 inches of mulch, will not do a good job because the weeds can still get the sunlight through that thin layer they need to grow and the additional moisture that thin layer does provide will help them grow even better. A 4 to 6 inch layer is much more better for weed growth suppression.

  • tiffy_z5_6_can
    15 years ago

    I have been using leaf mulch exclusively for a couple of years now. I make my own by shredding the leaves and adding a bit of UCGs (used coffee grounds) and then place on the gardens.

    I must disagree with Kimmsr in that I never place 4 to 6 inches of mulch in the gardens. My experience has been that maximum 3 inches is quite enough and most often place a bit less.

    This is a garden after mulching about 6 weeks ago. As of today there are still no weeds showing and despite the fact that we have received little to no rain, the plants have doubled in size.

    {{gwi:196914}}

  • luckygal
    15 years ago

    I would not recommend chipped wood unless the chips are very fine. I used wood chips one year and didn't like how it looked and it takes a long time to break down. Probably still on that garden, I've moved since.

    I can't easily get leaves so use fine wood shavings mixed with compost to color it and improve nutrition for the plants. It's almost completely gone in a year.

  • trancegemini_wa
    15 years ago

    leaf mulch is great stuff and does wonders for soil, in my climate it breaks down pretty quickly but it really adds a lot of hummus-y material to the beds.

    Every couple of years I also stop a tree trimmer and ask them to dump a big truckload of chipped tree prunings at my house. It has a lot of nitrogen in it from the foliage and is much better than straight wood chips. It makes a great bulk mulch which breaks down nicely and improves the soil, it is slower to break down than leaves but that can be an advantage, the sooner it breaks down the sooner it needs to be replaced.

    I think you should go with what you can get for free, I have never bought mulch, I've always just used what I have access to but dont worry about the prunings robbing the soil, all the green content balances it out nicely.

  • oldmainer
    15 years ago

    Hi ebendc...use either wood chips or leaves for mulch. Fert. with either Rapid-Grow or liquid fish/seaweed...as per instructions. If your not raising acid loving plants sprinkle alittle lime around your plants as per instructions also. You will be happy with the results. Franklin

  • leslies
    15 years ago

    I like and use both.

    Wood chip mulch has some good points: Yours would be free, it would not drain nutrients out of the soil, it's good on weeds, good on moisture retention, it rots down (over two or three years) and makes a nice soil. It's more suitable for areas that you don't work and rework every year - i.e., not the veggie garden. I think it does best when you can spread it and forget it - under trees and shrubs, for instance.

    Leaf mulch is wonderful and perfect in every way, but unshredded leaves do sometimes blow around.

    Another option for the veggies is horse manure. Several people post it on craigslist in the DC area.

    If you have to pay money for something, buy the leaf mulch, but don't let those tree chips get away.

  • bob64
    15 years ago

    I use a lot of wood chips but that's what I have in abundance and I want the mulch to last a while due to time limitations. The bottom of my old wood chip pile has also turned into some very nice tilthy stuff all on its own over the years. An underlayer of newspaper or carboard would also help suppress weeds whichever material you use. Leaves or chipped wood is great for perrenials, trees, shrubs, and ornamentals. You can even use both in the same place. Chipped wood would be a pain in an annual crop garden. Whether you like the looks of one or the other is up to you. Wood chips from your tree service will definitely be more "rustic" looking than what you would purchase at a big box store. Depending on the state of the trees you are grinding you might get a fair amount of leaves and green wood mixed in which I happen to like but some prefer a more uniform look to their mulches. You might want to leave the wood chip pile alone for a few days to let it do some initial composting/heating before you use it for mulch but I don't think that is critical.

  • Kimmsr
    15 years ago

    Many people here seem to be concerned about how their mulch looks, but by this time of year you cannot see my mulch because the plants have grown up and hidden the mulched soil, except where I have not yet fenced to keep out the wild turkeys that kick the mulch out of the beds.

  • ken_mce
    15 years ago

    >I've been told that wood mulch drains nutrients from the >soil,

    You were told wrong. There are no Nitrogen fairies that sneak out of the chips and down into the soil to steal your Nitrogen.

    You can use either product. They both break down over time, enriching your soil as they do so. The leaves are quicker, the wood chips slower. The chips from a guy who cuts down trees and tosses 'em in the chipper will be rough and coarse. They are not suited for a highly formal situation. Luckily, I'm not a highly formal guy, and "free" is an attractive price, so I use them everywhere. You can always top them off with store bought material for looks.

    I like to put down a base layer of newspaper or cardboard and then lay the chips on top. They serve as a mechanical barrier to intercept seeds and sprouts.

  • gadzooks1
    8 years ago

    After reading these posts and being able to get both free leaf mulch and wood mulch from my county, I am thinking that it might work out well if I put a layer of leaf mulch followed by a layer of wood mulch on top with a total depth of around 3 inches. It may take a bit more time, but I have time. What do you think? (living in Virginia between zones 6 and 7).

  • idaho_gardener
    8 years ago

    In my personal experience, chipped leaves are an incredible soil amendment. I like your idea of the layers because the leaf mulch will serve to protect the soil from the wood mulch. By the time the leaf mulch has decomposed or been stolen by earthworms, the wood mulch will probably harmless.

    Do you know if the wood mulch is aged? I've seen 'fresh' woody mulch at a nursery that was steaming because it was still actively decomposing. When it was applied under shrubbery that had lilies planted underneath, the lilies did not thrive. That same mulch was applied underneath tomato plants the plants struggled until I pulled the mulch away from the plant.

    Do I need to say that you don't want to till wood mulch into the soil unless you don't want something to grow there?

    Good luck!

    Paul

  • toxcrusadr
    8 years ago

    I've done bilayer mulches many times for various reasons. Compost or half done compost is great for the soil beneath but may not look that great and can get dry and crusty, so I cover it with grass clippings, leaf/grass mix, or wood chips. Same goes for shredded leaves with wood chips over top. Some people like the colored mulches but that costs $ so you can put something else down and cover with a thin layer of decorative mulch. It will improve the soil AND look the way you want at low cost.

  • gadzooks1
    7 years ago

    Thanks so much, Ousama!


  • Renee Texas
    7 years ago

    I generally don't care for wood mulch...but being that it's free, and you know where it came from, I'd use it in a landscaping bed which I just weed/mulch, but NOT a veggie bed I work in a lot. Reason being, it takes awhile to decompose, and it's annoying to dig through.

  • gadzooks1
    7 years ago

    Thanks! :)


  • drmbear Cherry
    7 years ago

    I use wood mulch as a sort of berm around the edges of garden beds, as a barrier from grassy areas, and also along pathways. Within the garden beds I use ground up leaves, lots of them. This time of year I cover over everything with ground up leaves because they work down over the winter, then I can just move aside some when planting in the spring. Once plants are growing well and the soil warms, I can just push the mulch back in place. I have about no weed problems in any of my mulched beds.

  • gadzooks1
    7 years ago

    These are good ideas. Thanks!

  • Ousama Abdu
    7 years ago

    You got it Gadzooks!!