My blue hay mulching experiment

Wooden hay rake leaning on apple tree in front of freshly scythed grass — *It may look bucolic but I can tell you it’s hard work…*

Grass in Welsh is glaswellt, which translates as “blue hay”. I’m using freshly scythed grass as a mulch in the polytunnel 🙂

Thursday 26 April 2018

Last year I experimented with a green mulch in the polytunnel. It didn’t really work out, far too much growth and lots of time spent keeping the mulch down. Which kind of defeats the point of a mulch!

Piles of freshly cut grass, young trees, polytunnel in background — *Mounds of grass ready for bagging up and distributing in polytunnel*

This year, I’ve decided to stick with a grass/hay mulch, from the orchard area in the forest garden. I will cut down on the amount of grass but it is useful as a crop for mulching and as a habitat for wildlife (I think bumblebees nest in grass tussocks?), so I’ll keep an area of grass long-term.

Polytunnel raised beds mulched with freshly cut grass — *The end setup, grass mulch on top to keep moisture in*

There’s a series of soaker hoses under the surface, plastic funnels to water lower down, a layer of cow muck and then grass mulch on top to keep the moisture in. Tomatoes 🍅 to be planted out this afternoon!