I have been happily using cocoa shell as a mulch on my border for a couple of years now. It does its job well and it keeps the cats off. However, my Organic Gardening catalogue came today and I see they have a product available called Strulch, which is a mineralised straw mulch. Has anyone used this product? Is it good? Would it keep cats away? Thanks in anticipation.
G x
Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, but one of my own - where in the catalogue did you see the Strulch, I can't find it?
It's on page 81 under soil improvers.
G x
This is what their website says about it. I t is, of course, advertising, and should be taken with a pot full of salt!
Strulch - Mineralised Straw Mulch, an environmentally friendly alternative to peat in compost and a more efficient way of using wheat straw as mulch.
- Lasting Weed Control
- Reduces Watering
- Adds Organic Matter
- Environmentally Friendly
- Greatly Improves Soil Structure
Tried and tested at the University of Leeds Experimental Gardens and The Earth Centre, The Eden Project ad RHS Harlow Carr Gardens.
Wet straw tends to rot down before the end of the growing season, taking nutrients from the soil. If rotting occurs when the plants are young, it can result in sever nitrogen immobilisation, causing reduced growth. Geoff Whitley in the School of Biology, Leeds has developed a new technique to address this problem using naturally occurring soil minerals to stabilise and condition the milled straw.
As a visually appealing mulch it will last up to 2 years
Can be incorporated into compost or soil to improve soil structure
I've been to Ryton, Wisley and the Eden project in the past couple of weeks and I'm fairly sure they all had beds which said they'd used strulch on this bed, but no explanation as to what it was/why it was being used. Certainly looked OK.
Thanks for that, Ceratonia. If it's good enough for them then it certainly sounds worth a try in my humble garden. :)
G x