Pacific Northwest Garden Forum: Marsh Hay

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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366

Topic: Marsh Hay
Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 8:53am

So I am wondering about mulching some plants with hay. Plants I think are going to have some issues this winter. Is there a place to get this marsh hay that all garden magazines love to tout? Is this an east coast thing. Should I just use hay and hope for no mice and seeds? Oh wait I have a big cat that likes mice so the seeds would be the issue.
What do you all suggest?

~BakingBarb

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tommyb
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Joined: May-01-2004
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posts: 724

Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 9:25pm

There's a lot of activity east of the Rockies that clutters the internet. As a wood worker I hear/read a lot about cherry, walnut, oak, poplar, butternut..."got a pile for 50 cents a board foot from a guy up the road"...wood I pay from $4 to $8 a board foot for, if I can find it. Heavy, sorrowful sigh.

Marsh hay is a product of the shallow marshes of the east coast, if Google hasn't fibbed again, but any available source of straw,like grass seed waste, would work as well. And any bale of hay has seeds of some kind. If you can get some inexpensively and can deal with the resultant weeds and "untidy" appearance, why not??

If you are going to go back east to get a truck load, could you bring back some fiddleback cherry for me??

Tom

Edited by tommyb - Oct-01-2007 at 9:30pm

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DebbieTT
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Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8

Joined: Jan-25-2003
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posts: 4241

Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 11:07pm

One problem with mulching with hay is slugs. Slugs that find the hay a haven where they can mulitply, throw plant parties, and other slimy behaviors.

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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 9:13am

Well I never saw the stuff in Mi either! I have used hay in the past and yes it had seeds and I had weeds growing but just chopped them up into the garden. That was in a large veggie garden. Here my garden is much smaller. I need somekind of mulch for my flower beds, there is one that heaved a bit last year. I have bark mulch, should I just put extra down? Also do I need to pull it away in the spring like the garden gurus like to tell us to do? The mice loved the hay before when I used it and I don't need any help from slugs either, they seem to grow pretty large so I must be feeding them well.

~BakingBarb

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Fern
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Joined: Mar-11-2005
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 1346

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 10:12am

I've wondered about using alfalfa hay, it costs about $12 a bale here. Would it have many seeds, do you think? I know it doesn't grow very well around here. I already have so many slugs I'm not worried about that, but I sure don't want any new weeds! Do you think there are any straw, hay, etc., products that don't have many seeds in it? I am on a tight budget and the price is appealing.

Fern

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DebbieTT
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Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8

Joined: Jan-25-2003
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posts: 4241

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 10:36am

Isn't it the straw that doesn't have the seeds? I always forget which one is which.

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Screaming Eagle
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Joined: Jul-16-2003
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posts: 1146

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 11:48am

You can usually get bales of straw for free if you ask the grocery stores, etc. when they finish their halloween display.

Straw would be the one without seeds theoretically.

Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower...
-Hans Christian Anderson

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tommyb
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Joined: May-01-2004
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posts: 724

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 1:24pm

BakingBarb, I got a question: wait, I got two: are you concerned about specific plants freezing (if so, you could put a blanket of leaves around them wrapped in burlap or chicken wire) or, and this leads to my second question: where are you that you are getting ground that freezes enough to heave??

Not that it's any of my business where you are, but I wasn't aware that anyplace in Western Washington actually got cold enough for the ground to freeze.

Tom

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Fern
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Joined: Mar-11-2005
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 1346

Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 6:25pm

I was at a feed store today (good place to get flea products locally) so I asked. They had experience with it, and said that all hay and straw will have some weed seeds unless it is certified weed seed-free from the grower, something they were not not able to guarantee. They'll had weeds come up from both straw and hay. It is something to ask the grower, I guess, if you buy a truckload or something. The alfalfa would add nitrogen, but their experience was that it got moldy and smelly over the winter and would not decompose by spring, they did not suggest it. They did say the alfalfa pellets were good, they do sell a lot to gardeners, but it wouldn't be the weed smothering and soil enriching mulch I would like, my reason for wanting mulch. Leaves do work, but I don't have enough leaves, and people don't leave bags around for me to pick up. I got woods, but I don't want to steal it from there. So maybe the next time I go the opposite direction I'll stop into the other feed store and ask if they have certified weed-free straw.
And my ground does freeze, only an inch or two down, on and off, with thawing in between, with can be hard on plants. And add some snow, melting some and then freezing at night, to add to the problems.

Edited by Fern - Oct-02-2007 at 6:30pm

Fern

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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366

Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 9:30am

Tommy, I live in the north Lynnwood area (no worries). I have one area of my flower bed that is always a problem, last year the plants there suffered greatly. The thawing freezing was the only thing I can think of because it looked like the soil heaved (ugh I just realized I am using the word heave). My yard thaws fairly late it seems also. I can go slightly south into Lynnwood closer to the Alderwood mall area in the spring and see my same plants but flowering before mine.
Hay doesn't really seem all that pretty for a city yard and I don't get leaves and like Fern I don't see bags of leaves to ahem borrow (not like I will be giving them back)! I don't need any help with weeds either although I could put some corn gluten meal down first under the hay if I chose to use it.
I thought maybe I just got the worst yard in the area as it is too wet half the time then too dry or too cold. I always thought for being in Wa state I didn't get lucky with my exact location.

~BakingBarb

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tommyb
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Joined: May-01-2004
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posts: 724

Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 1:48pm

So there is heaving going on in Lynnwood? Lots of politically incorrect sports questions come to mind, but I won't.....

First thing I would suggest is to make sure freezing is going on and not tunneling as in moles or gophers. Then I'd look for wind exposure to see if you have a blockable wind effect going on. If the area is always wet, gee, you don't have a water leak or a spring hiding underneath the bed?

Hmmmm. Interesting. Maybe some other Lynnwood area RSG'ers could pipe up with frost "swelling" stories?

This makes me appreciate living in the sunny, warm Willamette Valley.

Tom

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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366

Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 2:03pm

Tommy, there is a spring that runs through our neighbors yard across the street and then poof its gone. Which I assume means it is running through our yard because there is a spot on the corner of my veggie bed that is wet year round.
The flower garden spot is located in a corner with a weeping kitty willow on one side of it and the fence behind it. There is a huge tree root (no tree just a root) that runs through the bed in that spot also. It tends to be fairly dry there even though I have put mulch down in the past, maybe it is time for more.
Probably what I will do is protect those plants a bit.

~BakingBarb

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Oldest Archived Posts 4 ( Forum Locked)
Pacific Northwest Garden Forum : The Archives : Oldest Archived Posts 4

Author	Message
bakingbarb none Joined: Jul-02-2004 Location: Washington, Western Posts: 366	Topic: Marsh Hay Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 8:53am
	So I am wondering about mulching some plants with hay. Plants I think are going to have some issues this winter. Is there a place to get this marsh hay that all garden magazines love to tout? Is this an east coast thing. Should I just use hay and hope for no mice and seeds? Oh wait I have a big cat that likes mice so the seeds would be the issue. What do you all suggest?
	~BakingBarb

	IP Logged

tommyb none Joined: May-01-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 724	Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 9:25pm
	There's a lot of activity east of the Rockies that clutters the internet. As a wood worker I hear/read a lot about cherry, walnut, oak, poplar, butternut..."got a pile for 50 cents a board foot from a guy up the road"...wood I pay from $4 to $8 a board foot for, if I can find it. Heavy, sorrowful sigh. Marsh hay is a product of the shallow marshes of the east coast, if Google hasn't fibbed again, but any available source of straw,like grass seed waste, would work as well. And any bale of hay has seeds of some kind. If you can get some inexpensively and can deal with the resultant weeds and "untidy" appearance, why not?? If you are going to go back east to get a truck load, could you bring back some fiddleback cherry for me?? Tom Edited by tommyb - Oct-01-2007 at 9:30pm
	Favorite Tool: Potato Hook
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DebbieTT Admin Group Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8 Joined: Jan-25-2003 Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula Posts: 4241	Posted: Oct-01-2007 at 11:07pm
	One problem with mulching with hay is slugs. Slugs that find the hay a haven where they can mulitply, throw plant parties, and other slimy behaviors.
	IP Logged

bakingbarb none Joined: Jul-02-2004 Location: Washington, Western Posts: 366	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 9:13am
	Well I never saw the stuff in Mi either! I have used hay in the past and yes it had seeds and I had weeds growing but just chopped them up into the garden. That was in a large veggie garden. Here my garden is much smaller. I need somekind of mulch for my flower beds, there is one that heaved a bit last year. I have bark mulch, should I just put extra down? Also do I need to pull it away in the spring like the garden gurus like to tell us to do? The mice loved the hay before when I used it and I don't need any help from slugs either, they seem to grow pretty large so I must be feeding them well.
	~BakingBarb
	IP Logged

Fern none Joined: Mar-11-2005 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 1346	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 10:12am
	I've wondered about using alfalfa hay, it costs about $12 a bale here. Would it have many seeds, do you think? I know it doesn't grow very well around here. I already have so many slugs I'm not worried about that, but I sure don't want any new weeds! Do you think there are any straw, hay, etc., products that don't have many seeds in it? I am on a tight budget and the price is appealing.
	Fern
	IP Logged

DebbieTT Admin Group Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8 Joined: Jan-25-2003 Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula Posts: 4241	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 10:36am
	Isn't it the straw that doesn't have the seeds? I always forget which one is which.
	IP Logged

Screaming Eagle none Joined: Jul-16-2003 Location: Puget Sound corridor Posts: 1146	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 11:48am
	You can usually get bales of straw for free if you ask the grocery stores, etc. when they finish their halloween display. Straw would be the one without seeds theoretically.
	Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower... -Hans Christian Anderson
	IP Logged

tommyb none Joined: May-01-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 724	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 1:24pm
	BakingBarb, I got a question: wait, I got two: are you concerned about specific plants freezing (if so, you could put a blanket of leaves around them wrapped in burlap or chicken wire) or, and this leads to my second question: where are you that you are getting ground that freezes enough to heave?? Not that it's any of my business where you are, but I wasn't aware that anyplace in Western Washington actually got cold enough for the ground to freeze. Tom
	Favorite Tool: Potato Hook
	IP Logged

Fern none Joined: Mar-11-2005 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 1346	Posted: Oct-02-2007 at 6:25pm
	I was at a feed store today (good place to get flea products locally) so I asked. They had experience with it, and said that all hay and straw will have some weed seeds unless it is certified weed seed-free from the grower, something they were not not able to guarantee. They'll had weeds come up from both straw and hay. It is something to ask the grower, I guess, if you buy a truckload or something. The alfalfa would add nitrogen, but their experience was that it got moldy and smelly over the winter and would not decompose by spring, they did not suggest it. They did say the alfalfa pellets were good, they do sell a lot to gardeners, but it wouldn't be the weed smothering and soil enriching mulch I would like, my reason for wanting mulch. Leaves do work, but I don't have enough leaves, and people don't leave bags around for me to pick up. I got woods, but I don't want to steal it from there. So maybe the next time I go the opposite direction I'll stop into the other feed store and ask if they have certified weed-free straw. And my ground does freeze, only an inch or two down, on and off, with thawing in between, with can be hard on plants. And add some snow, melting some and then freezing at night, to add to the problems. Edited by Fern - Oct-02-2007 at 6:30pm
	Fern
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bakingbarb none Joined: Jul-02-2004 Location: Washington, Western Posts: 366	Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 9:30am
	Tommy, I live in the north Lynnwood area (no worries). I have one area of my flower bed that is always a problem, last year the plants there suffered greatly. The thawing freezing was the only thing I can think of because it looked like the soil heaved (ugh I just realized I am using the word heave). My yard thaws fairly late it seems also. I can go slightly south into Lynnwood closer to the Alderwood mall area in the spring and see my same plants but flowering before mine. Hay doesn't really seem all that pretty for a city yard and I don't get leaves and like Fern I don't see bags of leaves to ahem borrow (not like I will be giving them back)! I don't need any help with weeds either although I could put some corn gluten meal down first under the hay if I chose to use it. I thought maybe I just got the worst yard in the area as it is too wet half the time then too dry or too cold. I always thought for being in Wa state I didn't get lucky with my exact location.
	~BakingBarb
	IP Logged

tommyb none Joined: May-01-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 724	Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 1:48pm
	So there is heaving going on in Lynnwood? Lots of politically incorrect sports questions come to mind, but I won't..... First thing I would suggest is to make sure freezing is going on and not tunneling as in moles or gophers. Then I'd look for wind exposure to see if you have a blockable wind effect going on. If the area is always wet, gee, you don't have a water leak or a spring hiding underneath the bed? Hmmmm. Interesting. Maybe some other Lynnwood area RSG'ers could pipe up with frost "swelling" stories? This makes me appreciate living in the sunny, warm Willamette Valley. Tom
	Favorite Tool: Potato Hook
	IP Logged

bakingbarb none Joined: Jul-02-2004 Location: Washington, Western Posts: 366	Posted: Oct-03-2007 at 2:03pm
	Tommy, there is a spring that runs through our neighbors yard across the street and then poof its gone. Which I assume means it is running through our yard because there is a spot on the corner of my veggie bed that is wet year round. The flower garden spot is located in a corner with a weeping kitty willow on one side of it and the fence behind it. There is a huge tree root (no tree just a root) that runs through the bed in that spot also. It tends to be fairly dry there even though I have put mulch down in the past, maybe it is time for more. Probably what I will do is protect those plants a bit.
	~BakingBarb
	IP Logged

Topic: Marsh Hay( Topic Closed)