I tried this, and didnt get weeds, but did get rabbits. I think the bedding I got had little brown rabbit seeds in it though.

SQUASH LOVERS PLEASE READ THIS: On another video that someone posted about how to try to control the squash vine borer moth, a commenter said they used cedar shavings around their squash and it “worked every time”. I got so excited and commented that it made so much sense. Moths hate cedar! I said I was going to try it and I have. AND it is working! My zucchini looks beautiful and NO squash vine borer! One of my plants have at least 6 zucchinis on it and another even more! Just 3 plants is giving us enough fruit to eat several times a week! I’m starting more zucchini seeds and some yellow squash. For everyone one who gave up growing squash, zucchini and others in that family, get some cedar mulch for your plants! (P. S. I haven’t seen any stink bugs either!)

I’m not trying to correct just want people to understand that straw is a biproduct of wheat not hay. Hay is the biproduct of pasture grass cut and dried. Just a heads up!

For those who use straw...The bad thing about straw is that it is loaded with weed killer unless it’s from organic oats or wheat. Weed killer is used as a desiccant in addition to its intended use making all dried crops just soaked in it

I'd love to use this on my allotment, but my finances just wont allow, even for this extra expense =(. But I plan to use the Dried Leaves method of insulation, and, to stop them from blowing about, I plan to use some netting, that was left on my plot by the previous renter, who (apparently) worked the plot, completely by hand (no rotovators or anything other than hand tools) for 30 years, and was in his 90's when he finally had to give the plot up, and he kindly left me with quite a lot of useful items, for which I am very grateful to him =)

So I'm a gardener who has relied on the idea that cedar is great for repelling bugs but deters other plants from growing (just look under a cedar tree in the forest--nuttin' growing there). So with your suggestion I had to update my research from the 1960s and learned it's okay. Thanks for bringing me into this century.

Been doing this for years, good to see I’m not crazy

My grandma's old trick: never throw out old bed sheets, keep them. Then when a cold snap is coming, cover up the babies with those. Drop them down and use bricks to keep the wind from blowing them off. Using that in tandem with mulch should work even better. If the plants are small enough that you're worried the sheet will flatten them, putting small sticks or short stakes to act as tent poles will keep the weight of the sheets off of the plants.

Luke, I used animal bedding (large pine flakes) sold for horse stalls on some Amish Paste tomatoes to conserve moisture and it worked out very well. Had a really great tomato crop with very little maintenance.

Tractor supply sells pine savings in bales just like that. They have large shavings and fine shavings for $5 a bale. I always use that for my Onions. Works great!

Please support your local farm supplier. We just had a farm supplier go out of business because of 2 new TS stores built within 6 miles of each other. The local farm supplier was in this area for over 40 years. Just like Wally world.

I use cardboard with woodchip on the top, supresses the weeds locks in the moisture plus the worms love it! Woodchip can be often sourced free from a local tree surgeon.

If you are in the northeast, the absolute best groundcover to use is saltmarsh hay. This is available at many nurseries and has zero weed content. What's even better is that it stays put, and takes a long time to break down. (helps keep the soil moist through the summer, especially if you lay in a soaker line!). The best solution I've ever found!

I get those at my local feed store for 5 bucks and use them in my chicken and duck coop. I usually clean out the coop and put it in my compost pile, but have put the used bedding on my garden in the Fall to compost the hot manure and in the Spring there is nothing left but bedding.

Thank you for this suggestion. After many years of not having a garden this Spring I am beginning one, love the shavings idea.

love using the pine, looks amazing on the raised beds; never thought of mixing it with cedar but I do have a chipper/ shredder I use to mulch tree service chips into nice much for putting around plants.

I love how you mentioned aeration. I would not have thought about that. Thank you so much for this video!

In NM where I live we have sand for soil. I have the best success when I use 1/31 sand, 1/3 peat and 1/3 wood shavings in the garden beds. We recently discovered that the Tractor Supply Store has wood shavings for 1/2 the cost of the pet stores. Just make sure to stay away from cedar shavings as a mix in the dirt.

Love it! I did this this year and not only is it so pretty but it’s def helping my pots hold moisture

I applied used pine shavings from my guinea pig over a dry summer here in Australia. The birds dug at it for juicy worms underneath and made an absolute mess. I'd cover mine next time. Pine shavings also work best soaked with compost, preferably vermicompost before application. My fruit trees love it.

Thank you Luke. I had not realized I could use this. I am thankful for ya.

I appreciate how detailed yet simple your explanations are. Really helps to demystify gardening. Keep putting out these informative videos.

Great tip on a very affordable and practical mulch Luke. I'll be trying it out on a few beds for sure!

Wow, and I'm cold at 60 degrees tonight here in Texas! A lot of what you grow there won't grow here, but you still have great ideas. Spring has done sprung, and we are heading into summer. Thanks for your advice!

I’m in Southern California- tried cedar bedding in my raised beds a few years ago and it kept my soil too dry for our weather. Here we need mulch that holds the moisture better, straw works great here

What a great idea about mulching raised beds. I have about 130 square feet of raised beds. My neighbor is a woodworker and is always asking me if I'd like some of his pine shavings. I, from time to time, take a huge bag of the stuff and put it in one of my two compost bins. Now I can get some cedar bedding, mix it with the pine saw dust and mulch my veggie garden. Great idea.

I've totally done this! At the 99 cents store they sometimes have bedding for small animals like the big bags you have in the video. I can attest that ot works!

Amazing to see your channel grow so fast. I think you were at 100k subs when I started watching. I’ve probably only missed a handful of videos in the last 1.5 years. You guys are the best! I bought most of my seeds from you and they all germinated great. Thanks.

I've been wondering about this and now you've answered my question! Thanks Luke! Wish I could send some warm Arizona weather your way. Hang in there!

Again, I learned something very educational from your channel and I would Never, in a million years, thought of using animal bedding for this. Thank you so much for the great information!!

This is wonderful! I am blessed to have a rabbit farm. Lots of incredible shavings/hay mulch with rabbit manure mixed in, so not only does it mulch, the "slow-release poo pellets" add nutrients all year! Everything on my 1/8acre farm is covered in bunny mulch. Thanks for all your videos, here's to a GREEN 2018!!

I was raised on a farm and our straw came from the oats. You stated that straw comes from hay. They are two different crops.

I just went through most of the comments. calling straw hay really got people to start typing. LOL

I'm using a dye free cedar mulch of my raised beds this year. I'm just over one week from sowing. Everything is coming up. It is currently May 24 2021. And I live in Northern Michigan. Happy growing!

Early season trick I stumbled upon: using a very dark colored mulch absorbs more solar radiation, heats things up a bit faster. But any mulch is better than no mulch, by a lot. I've seen all-natural black colored landscaping mulch at stores that I used in a pinch once and it worked great. It lightens over the season but you only really need it to be black at the start of the year. Not as cost effective as the animal bedding though. Also props on mixing the two.

You can probably get bigger bags of the pine shavings at Tractor Supply for less money. I buy pine shavings by the bale at the feed store for around $5. It's gotta be at least 3 times more than what you have there.

I've used this type litter for mulch before. It seems to really be a good weed deterrent. I got bigger packages of it at the tractor store for horses. Takes quite sometime to break down. I grew some great purple potatoes in the bed I used this in. I will be using this again in some of my beds.

I use hemp, looks similar to bedding, smells great. I use it also to mark all the area and lines where I planted seeds.

I did this last year and worked great! I was very happy with it.

Thanks Luke! Great idea! Looking forward to trying this on my beds

I followed this tip last growing season and it worked great for me. Thanks!!!

We plant garlic in the fall in Kentucky. We cover the bulbs with a think layer of straw. The bulbs sprout before Thanksgiving and live alo through the winter with no problems. Love your videos. Thank you

Both straw and hay can be called “forage” but there's an important distinction between the two. Straw is a by-product of seed (or grain) production. For example, a farmer who grows wheat will harvest the grain; the dry plant that remains after harvest is straw.

I use pine shavings for my 3 chickens' bedding. It absorbs some of the moisture from their poops, too. I then use it like you do - mulch in the garden. Works great!

I’m trying cedar bedding as mulch for my container garden this year. Thanks for the idea!

I have only recently turned to KZfaq for others answers to my questions. Thank you for this video. I can’t wait to try this mulch method. I have always wanted to use pet cedar for all my mulching, and never tried it.

I can really tell that your plant diet is successful. I bet you’re feeling really good. Good ideas in this video!

Luke I would never thought of using those kinds of mulch in my garden beds that's a good idea I well be thinking about that

Neat. I just saw this stuff at my local Tractor Supply and was wondering if it could be used. Now the KZfaq algorithm is reading people's minds and not just listening to you lol.

As others noted, straw and hay are two separate products. There are no seeds in straw - it's the stems of grasses that have had the seed heads removed (wheat, rice, barley, etc.)

I guess people don't read any other comments so many corrections on the straw and hay. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for sharing! I will use this method!

I'm definitely going to try this. It's really convenient and I would also think the cedar would help to repel, at least a few, insects.

Wood mulching and happy to explain the benefits of less weeding, watering with more consistent moisture, fertilizing and insulating from either being too cold or hot... Someone might be getting back to Eden, Luke might try planting vegetables in his woodchips next.... I think at least one tomato grown in woodchips with trifecta would be a great idea to show in comparison to just compost.

Good idea. We've been trying to figure out a good mulch for parts of our garden. Leaves really do blow around when we tried it also.

I am in Indiana, I usually plant garlic around November. After planting I put a short fence around inside of bed & fill with close to a foot of straw. It diminishes in height over winter. Garlic grows up through it in Spring & is well mulched for weed prevention & moisture retention. Rarely do I have problems with weed seed with straw.

Luke, You are mistaken about straw, at least in my area. I live in wheat/barley land and after the crop is harvested, they cut the stems of the plant and bale them. That is the straw. It doesn't have any seeds on it because the seeds were harvested as the crop. There is an issue of the spray that was put on them. But no seeds.

I used this in my strawberry and tomato's last year works great.

I love using pine bedding as mulch. It works great between rows to keep weeds down. Doesn't have to be too thick and it layers together and stays put. Fairly cheap. Decomposes well. Worms love it. Breaks down great overwinter for the next year. I use the stuff all over the place. I do mulching and smothering with straw and leaves and actual wood chips, depending on what I am doing. The pine is acidic, but neither the needles or the wood will significantly change ph. As they decompose, the ph actually goes more neutral. I mulch my strawberries with pine shavings and they absolutely love it. I do cover the strawberries with straw come winter time for a little extra insulation. Gets pretty cold in MN sometimes.

We haven’t had rain for almost 2 months here in Maine. Just threw some on the tops of my beds. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the info Luke!

Hi there, Luke - great info! I am going to do this today. FYI - straw is not a byproduct of hay, it is a byproduct of grain. Straw is the stems/stalks of wheat or other grain. Until next time, have a fabulous day!

There are pros and cons to using wood chips (flakes-pine or cedar). Before wood fully breaks down it can bind with the nitrogen in your soil and keep it from being used as needed by the plants. To prevent this, remove any unbroken down pieces before top dressing with compost or working the soil in any way. You don’t want those larger pieces in your soil. After working your soil and replanting, add a another layer of wood chips as mulch.

This is an awesome tip I will be trying this out myself!

I can't imagine you have the time to read and answer all the comments you must get, but I had to write one anyway. I'm not new to gardening, but I'm very new to the Back to Eden style of mulch in place. Several of your videos have inspired me. I love to just see you guys in action. It was especially nice when it was winter here in Oregon and I had garden fever with all my new knowledge. I'm videoing my journey, but before I get to far along, I just wanted to share my appreciation. Keep teaching us. Love it! Thank you.

Bag your grass clippings and spread 8-10'' deep around your plants without it touching them. I have been doing this for over 30yrs and works perfect with not a single issue.

In the UK we get frost up to the end of May. Late May and June is where most UK Gardner's plant out. My local Govenment dumps wood chip next next to my garden. Ìv mulched most of my beds including the strawberries.

I'll be sure to try this. Thank you.

I used the pine on my strawberries and was going to use straw on my garlic till it sprouted grass. Glad to have caught this video ... to the hardware store tomorrow to get the cedar and will be mulching my beds this weekend . I love your videos and my garden just keeps getting bigger thanks for sharing your knowledge 😊

I’ve been looking for a cheap alternative for mulching. Thank you!

thank you for the tip ...i like the idea..have a good day Ray.

Straw is a by-product of oats. Hay is a by-product of Hay says oat farmer Chessie. Another good source of mulch is a local saw mill (I just messaged mine) or a tree-in-yard cutter. I trade veg for wood chips.

Definitely gonna try this...I usually add cedar mulch behind my Hedges to keep bugs away from my house:) but this year for my Strawberries;) Thanks! 🍓 It also smells so good wn entering my porch!

The northeast is going to get another cold blast in a week. It is very hard on the farmers. I love your very practical videos.

Great idea! I have containers and did not need a whole truckload of mulched yard waste from my city, but didn’t want to buy bags of dyed mulch to put on our food. Time to head to Tractor Supply! Thank you!

Great tip. You can get both fine and course pine at Tractor Supply if you have one near you.

thanks for the good tips on the type of combo mulch your using pet bedding (pine& cedar) good tip thanks!

I see this video is from a few years ago. Are you still using this method? Has it worked as well as you thought it would? Any drawbacks? Is this appropriate for all of your plants that need a mulch layer or is it better for specific plants?

Just got into woodworking and I seem to have an endless supply of this stuff... Don't have a garden on the new place so ended up dumping a bunch around a pine tree....I wonder if the pine tree was a bit disturbed by this

Thanks for the video. We got horrible weeds over the winter from using straw. Never again! I will definitely try this out.

I just finish putting up my garden beds. It’s so muddy where I put them because there’s no grass. We were trying to use material we alReady had, so I put stone. We have a lot of bags of stone and still have 3 bags left. It looks so pretty now, I can’t wait to start panting

Thank you I'm going to try it.

I just used this method on a windy day. I had to wet down the bedding as I worked. This allowed me to pick up big chunks of bedding with one hand and put them in place.

How's your baby? Keep up the great work with the videos. I'm a huge fan!

In the UK we get frost up to the end of May. Late May and June is where most UK Gardner's plant out.

Pine shaves are extremely variable, some bags are nice size shavings and others can be mostly saw dust.

Great info on the cedar saving the squash. Going to get it today.

Straw is the stem part of cereal crops after the seed heads have been harvested. One year long ago, we replaced our lawn and used straw as mulch to protect the grass seed, and grew a fine crop of oats ! Lol!

I use the bedding from my hamsters, My plants love it.

I might use this mix to mulch my garden floor! I use wood chips in the beds themselves. It's the reverse of what Luke's got going on here haha.

You could bag your leaves with a lawnmower and use them for mulch. This will shred them a bit and keep them from blowing around. This will direct compost in the garden, save you money, and you can use your nitrogen based compost ingredients to compost other brown waste

Thanks so much for the info. I am a Master Gardener and have never heard this tip before. I never thought of going to my tractor supply. Seems like it would be quite a bit cheaper.

Hay and straw has seeds and weed seeds plus mold!

I'm doing this. Such a great idea. Thanks

Could always have some extra woodchips on hand that you can usually find free to mulch your beds with and if you wanted removed at any point could move them on top of your woodchip path

Ive heard ceder is also a pest deturent and good for dealing with fungas knats, makes it so they suffocate and can't fly out, especially in pots.😁

Well done and much-appreciated information. Thank you!

Bet it's going to work great! Thanks!

I seriously just put my young chicks out in a new garden spot in a portable cage to scratch the dirt and fertilize the area. I put out the pine chips with them to help them have bedding. What a win win. I plan to lay compost with it also before I plant.

I can't count the times someone upset me and my parents would say, "just let it roll off your back, it's not worth letting it upset you or making you say something you may regret".

Pine bails work great for my city chickens. 🤘