Hay Fever No Reason to Avoid Gardening
Gardening doesn't have to be out of the question for all allergy sufferers.
By Maureen Gilmer, DIY Network
Filed under: Cleaning, Gardening ...
Hay making
Instead of allowing the hay to lie, as usual in most places, for some days in the swath after it is cut, never cut hay but when the grass is quite dry, ...
The hay fever harvest
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Most Gardeners Are Well-prepared to cope with a variety of pests, from aphids to earwigs. But many aren't prepared to cope with one of the most stubborn garden pests of all -- allergies.
Hay/Straw Decays really quickly. Drawbacks are that they may contain weed or grain seeds and tend to be difficult to spread around small plants.
Using hay as a natural mulch
Old hay, on the other hand, is dirt cheap. If hay gets wet, and spoils, farmers can't use it to feed their animals anymore; it might kill them.
HAY AND STRAW
A 6- to 8-inch layer of hay or straw provides good annual weed control. These materials decompose quickly and must be replenished to keep down weeds. They stay in place and improve the soil as they decay.
HAY: Stems of grass. Most popular feed for horses and cattle.
HEART ROT: most commonly heard of in reference to trees. The center merely has rotted out. Can also happen in root vegetables ...
Ian Hay has had a passion for succulents since he was about ten years old, and admits to being obsessive about many things in life, and these are no exception. Collecting them is compulsive.
Salt hay grass, or salt-meadow cordgrass, is a coarse, wiry long grass native ...
Landscaping with Climbing Plants
Climbing plants are enjoying a newfound popularity with landscape gardeners. The benefits of ...
Spoiled Hay or Straw: These provide lots of nitrogen and allow air to circulate.
Manure: Anything from a vegetarian animal.
Didn't Expect These: Shred your newspaper and cardboard, wash the salt off your seaweed, dryer lint, hair, it's all good.
Straw or hay
Wood/fireplace ash - lots of potash, alkaline pH
Wood shavings ...
SALT MARSH HAY - probably a better mulch that is collected from the grasses grown in coastal marshes. It generally does not contain weed seeds and is fluffy.
Shovel
Mulch (hay, straw, or shredded leaves)
USDA Climate Hardiness Zone map ...
- Hay-Scented Fern ( Dennstaedtia punctiloba)
- Sneezeweed ( Helenium autumnale)
- Ox-Eye Daisy ( Leucanthemum vulgare syn. Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
- Canada Mayflower ( Maianthemum canadense) ...
How to Plant in Hay Bales
Planting a garden in a bale of hay may seem like a strange technique, but.
What Supplies Would I Need to Start a Planter Box Garden?
Biodegradable hay-bale cold frame
Use four to six bales to create a box, set a window frame or two on top, and put your plants inside. This style takes up a fair amount of room, but you can use the hay later as mulch.
SHREDDED ALFALFA HAY is one of the secrets of great compost. It is worth it to rent a shredder for the weekend, and shred up a few bales of alfalfa hay. Worms thrive on it, and it provides the best mulch and soil additive for your garden soil.
Grass Clippings, Hay, Sod, Manure, Vegetable Peels, Melons, Tomatoes, Turnips, Apples, Bananas (even the peel), Bread, Onions, Lettuce, Celery, Carrots, Rice, Potatoes, Broccoli, Cabbage.
Things NOT to add to your compost would be: ...
Straw and Salt Hay are popular mulches for the vegetable garden. They keep the soil and soil born diseases from splashing up on lower plant leaves and make paths less muddy. Straw decomposes very slowly and will last the entire growing season.
It is used in herbal crafts because of its fresh cut hay smell. Woodruff grows 4 to 6 inches high and has tiny white flower blossoms in the spring. It spreads fairly quickly and will grow in partial shade or sun.
Make a compost pile for next to nothing - with some recycled chicken wire, old hay bales, etc.
What's Free?
You need to try and get straw bales and not hay bales. Straw has had the seed heads stripped for use and only the stalks remain. Hay will usually have the seed heads still on it and the hay will start growing once you water it.
Layer 1- The organic materials layer can be vegetable wastes, sod, grass clippings, leaves, hay, straw, chopped corncobs, corn stalks, untreated sawdust, twigs less than ½ inch in diameter, or garden debris.
Organic materials such as straw, hay, shredded leaves or grass clippings work well as mulches. You can apply dry materials such as old hay three to six inches deep.
The fly life cycle requires that immature flies (eggs, larvae, pupae) live in manure, moist hay, spilled silage, wet grain, or a similar environment for 10 to 21 days depending on temperature and fly species.
During the season, use organic mulches like salt hay, compost or straw, which decompose slowly and release nutrients into the soil, especially as you work them in while cultivating your garden.
Fill the cage with straw, hay or leaves. Straw works best because it is usually free of weed seeds and disease pathogens.
Fans of blue flag iris erupt out of the creek bed, as do three varieties of fern (hay-scented, lady and royal fern).
Water pots well, then mulch heavily with straw, leaves, hay or shredded bark. Provide a thick layer of mulch or bales of hay around the outer edge of the cluster.
Some supplies that will come in handy for your fall garden are mulch (hay and fallen leaves are two good organic mulches) and floating row cover, which are both useful for protecting your plants from cold.
Coarse-textured materials, such as stemmy hay, straw, and wood shavings or chips, are good mulches. Fine or flat materials such as leaves or sawdust must be loosened occasionally to prevent sealing the soil surface.
After the mound is frozen solid, cover with hay, pine boughs or other loose material.
Description: Perhaps you laid down compost, straw, salt-marsh hay or some other organic mulch last fall. This made a protective blanket for your plants, especially for marginally cold-hardy perennials.
Compost is sold in bags at garden supply stores, or you can buy it by the truckload from farmers who turn out batches made from sources ranging from rotten hay and stable litter to spent mushroom-growing medium.
Organic mulches include chopped or shredded leaves, straw, compost, salt hay, shredded newspaper, grass clippings and rotted hay. Inorganic mulches include Pro Weed Mat, Tomato Booster Mulch, Fiber Tree Rings and recycled rubber Tree Rings.
You can leave the spot bare, or to help keep soil moist, lightly cover the spot with weed-free straw, marsh hay, or other mulching material. Make sure at least 30 percent of the soil is visible through the mulch.
-- around each rose, tree, or shrub. Alfalfa meal and hay used for mulch contain vitamin A, folic acid, trace minerals and the growth hormone "tricontanol." Use at 25 pounds per 1,000 square feet or 400-800 pounds per acre.
Agricultural production such as grains, hay, root crops and fiber in contrast to vegetables and fruits. See also: truck crops.
GardenWeb Glossary of Botanical Terms
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Wheat sheaves and/or small hay bales, sometimes available for purchase at supermarkets, farmer's markets and craft stores
Husks of multi-coloured maize in rich hues ...
"Keep your eyes and ears open for organic waste -- grass clippings, leaves, spoiled hay, fish scraps from the fish store, food waste from restaurants, and collect and compost the free stuff," he advises.
Many wildflowers have become more scarce in farmland through loss of hedgerows, hay meadows, chalk grassland, and because of pesticide use. This guide will help you make your garden a haven for bee species.
On this page ...
Horse manure: may contain many weed seeds from hay
Pig manure: breaks down slowly
Turkey manure: feces usually contain urine since both are excreted together ...
Cover strawberries two inches deep with hay or straw.
Secure your raspberry canes to stakes to protect them from wind whipping.
"I've never even heard of hay fields catching fire," he said. "Most of them are irrigated." ...
Dennstaedtia punctiloba/ Hay-scented Fern
Galium odoratum/ Sweet Woodruff (at your own risk, invasive)
Thymus spp. / Thyme (Most of the herbs work here; tarragon and lovage and savory)
Annuals
Cymbopogon citratus/ Lemon Grass ...
border harvesting. A harvesting method that leaves a strip of uncut hay along every other border; next harvest these borders are mowed and the alternate borders are left standing.
Uses Tea can be made from the whole plant fresh or dried and taken as a tonic or remedy for hay-fever. An infusion of the leaves can be used to bathe tired, sore eyes.
The Green Chronicle Community ...
To reproduce the mulch that forests naturally create, you can use garden waste from your home, such as shredded leaves, hay, shredded bark, or other similar substance.
Frequent watering and mulch are necessary to attain any degree of success. Mulch with 4 to 6 inches of sawdust, hay, leaves, bark or other organic media. This keeps the plants' roots and crowns cool and moist for longer periods.
Strawberries ...
Cover the leaves with marsh hay to prevent them from blowing away. Do not cover leaves with plastic, tar paper, or waterproof covering. About April 15, remove the soil mound and water the plants thoroughly.
Spring Pruning ...
After there have been a couple of hard frosts (but before temperatures drop to below 20 degrees (F)), cover the strawberry bed with 3" of mulch. Straw and hay make wonderful mulch for strawberries.
Carbon materials are usually dry and brown (examples: straw, paper, fall leaves, & hay) ...
If they have been packed in bundles, open them out to allow air to circulate and prevent rotting. Cover roots with straw, hay or similar material and store in an open, rodent-free place. Keep just moist to avoid dehydration.
Once prepared, Peat Moss can be planted with flowers, plants or edible crops, spread over same or used to cover planted grass as with hay or straw.
Autumn leaves, lawn clippings, compost and pine needles are all suitable for use as mulch. Other organic materials include sawdust, straw, hay, wood chips, wood bark and shredded redwood.
Plant roots have a hard time growing in clay soil; they may die due to lack of air and water. Improve it with loads of organic matter, such as grass clippings, chopped leaves, old hay, ground bark or wood shavings, and gypsum.
Kelp breaks down into the soil very quickly, conditioning the soil, improving texture, and fertilizing all at once. Yes please.
It does not carry weed seeds, unlike hay (and sometimes straw when it is mislabeled. Boo).
 See also: Plant, Soil, Water, Flower, Spring
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