Sticks as Mulch

Using sticks as mulch reduces weed growth.

Mulches & mulching

Over the years, I've written about mulching and mulches in my seven books and in various articles: 
- Pine needle mulch (the most read post on this blog)
- Wood chip mulch 
- Too much mulch
- Rock-scaping & more.

But for the past several years, I've also been using sticks as mulch near buildings to reduce weed infestations. Unlike other mulching materials, there's a lot of air or space between the sticks, so there's nothing there for seedlings. Eventually, some weeds that spread via rhizomes or stolons, such as fog fruit (Phyla nodiflora) or Florida betony (Stachys floridana) work their way into the space, but very few seed-spread weeds. 

This type of mulching works well for our yard because have lots of trees. A good time to create a stick-mulch area is after a high-wind event. Yes, we also have several stick piles to create habitat for small birds and various insects, so I don't usually raid those piles for sticks for mulching. 

Creating a stick mulch

It was time for a new treatment
next to the house.

Removing soil was the first step.

Tree roots should also be removed.

It was time to replace the wood chip/pine needle mulched strip between the west-facing bed where I grew an amazing roselle crop earlier this year and the house. 

First, I scraped the remaining mulch toward the back of the bed (away from the house), then I scooped out the soil with a shovel. The scooped out area was about as deep & wide as the shovel. (We'll use most of this soil to fill in low spots in the mowed areas of the yard, in building wide rows in the vegetable garden beds, to fill containers, and also to enrich the compost pile.)  

I dug up a significant tree root as part of this process. While I love having mature trees around our yard, their surface roots are wide-spreading, and because the richest soil is in our vegetable garden beds, I check for tree roots each time I reset the beds for a new crop. I cut a line with my shovel all the way around the bed and when I find a root, I dig it out to at least a few feet back and away from the edge bed. Sometimes they are thick enough to need a chain saw to cut them. I mark that spot with a vertical stick, so I know where to look for it again in a couple of years. 

Once the roots are out, I tamp down the soil, put down a 2 or 3-inch layer of pure pine needles (with no other tree leaves), and tamp it down again. Then I lay in the sticks. I break up the sticks so they are mostly straight. Then I walk on top of the sticks to break them up so there is a more or less level area to walk on.  

From my experience over the years, this method keeps out most of the weeds that are spread by seeds and reduces the weeds spread by rhizomes for several years.

Use mostly straight sticks for a narrow
space like this.

The hose from the 3 rain barrels
lays on a stick mulch next to the
garage & near the vegetable beds.

So I hope, you'll consider sticks as mulch for difficult spaces around your landscape.

Green Gardening Matters.
Ginny Stibolt