Straw for Gardening
When Mother Nature is not providing enough rain to keep your garden growing, straw can be your garden’s best friend. Straw is inexpensive and preferred over hay which can create weeds in the future. Use a foot or two of straw over your garden beds to hold in the water and keep down the weeds. The straw will keep the moisture in the soil and will slow evaporation. You will be able to water your garden less which may become necessary if water rationing is called for. You might even get away with watering your garden just once a week if you bed it down with straw!
Straw comes does not contain seed heads that could produce weeds and the stalks are hollow so they are slow to mat down or compact. They decompose slowly which is one reason the it is the perfect mulch.
Some plants like tomatoes, squash and peppers can develop blossom-end rot during drought conditions. You need to keep the soil moist even so calcium can be transferred from the soil to your tomatoes. Straw will help prevent soil-borne diseases. You will find your watermelons, winter squash and pumpkins will grow larger and your potatoes and tuber vegetables will also be larger.
Straw for Landscaping
Drought in summer and cold in winter — straw is the answer to both problems. Put a four inch layer of straw down to protect your trees, shrubs and plants from the cold. It is an inexpensive mulch that is easy to put down and does a good job of protecting plants without introducing weeds.
If you have planted a new lawn or trying to fill in bare spots in your yard, straw can help. Use the straw to cover the seeds to act as a mulch to keep in moisture. It will also keep the birds from eating your seeds. Spread the straw by hand in a thin layer with about a 50% coverage. Allow some of the dirt to show through because your seed will need sunlight as well as moisture to grow.
Stop by North Fulton Feed & Seed
We have straw in stock and we have delivery too if you need more straw than you can carry in your car. Keep your lawn and your garden growing during our hot Georgia summer with the help of a little straw from North Fulton Feed & Seed. Visit our Hay & Straw page to see what we carry.