EC 1247 Reprinted May 2003

$1.00

Gardening with Composts,

Mulches, and Row Covers
N.S. Mansour

Composting
To make your own organic mulch,
build a compost bin, preferably two.
Two bins will allow you to build one
batch of compost in the first, while you
use completed compost from the
second (Figure 1). You can make the
bins yourself by attaching ordinary
wire fence or boards to solid posts or
blocks (Figure 2, page 2). Each bin
should be 4 to 6 feet high, 3 to 5 feet
wide, and any convenient length. One
side should be removable for convenience in building up the compost
material and for removing it. In late
fall, a temporary piece of wire fence
may be used to increase the height
about 2 feet. After the material settles,
you can remove the extension fence.
Compost is not only an excellent
mulch but also a good fertilizer and soil
conditioner when you work it into the
soil. When properly made, it will be
free of viable weed seeds.
Leaves, grass clippings, stems, and
stalks from harvested vegetables, corn
husks, pea hulls, and fine twigs are
good materials for composting. Always
compost leaves before using them as a
mulch. Raw leaves are flat and may
keep water from entering the soil.
Avoid using diseased plants.
Do not use more than one-third
walnut leaves in a mulch or compost.
They are slow to decompose and
contain a growth-inhibiting substance.
The best way to make compost is to
use two bins. Fill one with alternate
layers of organic material 6 to
12 inches thick and garden soil about

Figure 1.With two

compost bins, you can
build one batch (left bin
here) while you use
completed compost from
the other (right bin).

1 inch thick. As you add each layer of

organic material, add about a cup of
high-nitrogen fertilizer, such as
ammonium sulfate, per cubic foot of
compost material. This is about
5 pounds of fertilizer for a cubic yard,
3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet.
Lime is needed on some western
Oregon soils, and you can add it to
mulch or compost at about 23 cup per
cubic foot. Since some ornamental
plants are harmed by lime, however,
you may choose to add it as you use the
compost rather than adding it to the
compost itself.
Animal manure may be used as part
of the organic matter in compost. If you
use manure, you dont need to add
fertilizer. If the manure contains large
amounts of woody bedding materials
such as shavings or sawdust, you may

add about half the usual amount of

fertilizer.
Be sure to moisten the organic
material thoroughly. Repeat this
layering process until the bin is full or
you run out of organic material. Pack
the material tightly around the edges,
but only lightly in the center so that this
area settles more than the edges and the
water does not run off.

N.S. Mansour, Extension vegetable crops

specialist emeritus, Oregon State University.
Replaces FS 276, prepared by N.S. Mansour
and Duane Hatch, former Extension agent,
Lane County, Oregon State University.

Figure 2.You can make compost bins from readily available

materials.
Observe the pile often during the
summer. Youll need to add water
because heat will cause loss of moisture
needed for proper composting. You also
may want to turn the pile if it becomes
compacted.
Composting is temperature-dependent and will proceed faster in the
summer. Shredding or otherwise
making small particles also speeds up
the process. During the winter, a plastic
cover will prevent rainfall from leaching
away nutrients. Fall leaves may not
compost much during the winter, but
you can turn them about May 1. Fork
the material from one bin to another,
placing the drier outside portion in the
center. Turn again in about 3 to 5 weeks
for the final composting. The material
should be ready by midsummer for
mulching and sidedressing.

Mulches
Using a mulch in your flower or
vegetable garden is a sound practice.
A good mulch can reduce soil packing
and washing, suppress weeds, keep the
soil moist, regulate soil temperature, and
add organic matter to the soil.
Mulches prevent loss of moisture
from the soil by evaporation. Moisture
moves by capillary action to the surface
and evaporates if the soil is not covered
by a mulch. Sun and wind hasten this
loss of moisture.
You can reduce evaporation and
control weeds by stirring the soil an inch
or so deep, but plant roots cannot
develop in this soil layer. A layer of
mulch on the surface gives the same
benefits and allows normal plant root
development.

Figure 3.Plastic ground mulch, tomato cages and plastic

cage covers, roof shingles used to shade newly transplanted
peppers, and wire support for a plastic tunnel (the plastic
has been removed).
Energy from falling raindrops is
dissipated on a mulched soil. The result
is less soil erosion and less soil
compaction (Figure 4).

Organic mulches
Sawdust, straw, and compost make
excellent mulches and are easy to
apply. Simply spread a 2- to 4-inch
layer of one of these organic materials
on the soil surface around your plants,
making certain you do not cover the
plants. Keeping the layer deep enough
to do the job is important, too. This
means you will need to add more
mulching material over the old layers to
get all the benefits of mulching.
Mulching with grass clippings is a
good way to dispose of the clippings,
but dont use more at one time than will
dry readily. If you apply them too deep,
they will pack and/or get slimy and
prevent water from entering the soil.

Sawdust makes a better mulch if it is

well rotted, or if you add one cup of
ammonium sulfate or calcium nitrate to
each cubic foot of fresh sawdust before
applying the mulch. (If you mulch
around camellias or other plants that
like an acid soil, use ammonium
sulfate.) Weed-free straw is excellent,
but loose straw can be a fire hazard,
and some people consider it unsightly.
Mulches suppress weeds, thus
saving a lot of work. An occasional
weed may poke through the mulch, but
you can easily pull it out.
Mulches can be used to regulate soil
temperature. Plastic mulches will warm
the soil; organic mulches will insulate
against too much heat. Many plants,
including those in vegetable and flower
gardens, need a cool soil surface.
Others, such as tomatoes and vine
crops, may benefit from warmer soils.

Figure 4.When
raindrops splash on
bare soil, they
detach soil particles
(which surface water
carries away), and
they compact and
seal the soil, forming
an undesirable crust.

Organic mulches condition the soil

and furnish food for earthworms, which
are valuable in aerating the soil. The
organic matter helps to keep the soil
crumbly and easy to work. At the end
of the growing season, work the mulch
into the soil to supply organic matter
for the following year.
If you use a mulch heavily around
perennials such as rhubarb or globe
artichokes in the winter as protection
from freezing, remove it in the spring
to expose plants to light and let the soil
warm.
Many organic materials, such as
straw and autumn leaves, are low in
nitrogen. Usually, you will find it
beneficial to add nitrogen fertilizer to
the material before applying it as a
mulch. One cup of fertilizer high in
nitrogen for each cubic foot of organic
material, 5 pounds per cubic yard of
mulch or compost, is about right. To
avoid burning the plants, do not let the
fertilizer touch them.

Plastic mulches
A 3- to 5-foot-wide strip of plastic
covering the soil will hasten the
ripening of warm-season crops such as
tomatoes, melons, and peppers by as
many as 10 to 14 days. Lay the plastic
after you have fertilized and worked the
soil to a proper seedbed. Hold the edges
in place with soil. Insert the seeds of
transplants through an X cut in the
plastic.
Clear plastic warms the soil more
than black plastic, but it can create a
greenhouse for weeds. If temperatures of 90F or above are frequent
when weeds are small, they will be
cooked. In Oregons relatively cool
summers, this condition doesnt always
occur. Black plastic smothers the
weeds, conserves moisture, and warms
the soil.
Irrigation water that goes through
the plant openings and around the
edges usually is adequate, and no
special provision is needed to get
moisture into the soil for narrow
mulches. For plastic mulches over
3 feet wide, perforate the surface with a
sharp instrument such as an ice pick, or
use a nail boarda board with many
nails driven through it, which you can
press against the mulch to perforate it.
Or, if puddles form on the plastic, make
a small hole in the plastic at the lowest
portion of the pool to allow drainage

into the soil. Less water is needed with

plastic mulch, since evaporation loss is
less.
A large sheet of black plastic may be
used to cover the garden during the
winter if a portion is to be worked and
planted very early. It will keep down the
winter weeds, and the soil will remain
dry. Weights or a bark mulch may be
needed to keep the plastic in place.

Row covers
The use of row covers can enhance
early development of many vegetables.
These covers increase heat units
accumulated by two to three times. Row
covers make possible the production of
high-quality melons in western Oregon
and enhance earliness for many crops by
improving vine growth and flowering.

Supported row covers

You can lay row cover materials over
the row and support them by wire hoops
to provide a low tunnel for the plants to
grow under for 4 to 8 weeks (Figure 5).
Supports are required for nonventilating
covers such as solid, slitted, or
semiperforated polyethylene films. The
supports keep the covers off the leaves
of the plant and allow air movement.
Place covers over the crop immediately
after seeding or transplanting, and fasten
down the edges with soil.

One method that allows easy

opening and closing of the covers is to
place the plastic over a set of wire
hoops (burying only one edge), then
place a second set of wire hoops over
the plastic. This allows you to slide the
unburied edge up and down between
the two sets of wire hoops to provide
ventilation.

Floating (unsupported)
row covers
Recent developments with different
types of fabrics have generated a
number of materials that you can lay
directly over crops without the danger
of damage (Figures 6 and 7, page 4).
Since the crop provides support for the
cover, and continues to do so for 4 to
8 weeks, the cover floats on top of the
crop as it growshence the name.
Materials suitable for use as floating
row covers include a highly perforated
polyethylene (Vispore), spunbonded
polyester (Reemay), and spunbonded
polypropylene (Agril P17 and Kimberly Farms row covers). Other
materials are being developed and
placed on the market through garden
supply stores.
You fasten these covers on either
side of the row by burying the edges,
allowing enough slack in the cover for
the plant to grow (10 to 15 percent
slack in both directions is required).

Figure 5.Left and right, supported row covers of solid, reinforced polyethylene. In
really hot weather, gardeners need to cut holes (right) for ventilation. Center, these
cylinders of double-walled polyethylene have numerous vertical tubes that you fill
with water. Suitable for peppers and tomatoes, theyre troublesome to fill but quite
effective in cold weather.

Where the crop requires insect

pollination, remove the covers after
flowering begins. You also must
remove covers when temperatures
become too high for good fruit set.
Floating covers are an excellent way to
reduce the need for insecticides.

For more information

Backyard Composting, WAEB 1784
(revised 2001).
Improving Garden Soils with Organic
Matter, EC 1561 (May 2003).
Short-Season Vegetable Gardening,
PNW 497 (1996).
Many OSU Extension Service publications may be viewed or downloaded
from the Web. Visit the online Publications and Videos catalog at http://
eesc.oregonstate.edu.

Figure 6.These cabbage plants are lifting up a floating row cover.

Copies of our publications and

videos also are available from OSU
Extension and Experiment Station
Communications. For prices and
ordering information, visit our
online catalog or contact us by fax
(541-737-0817), e-mail
([email protected]), or
phone (541-737-2513).

Figure 7.Sweet corn growing under a floating row cover. Its June 10, just before
cover removal.
Trade-name products are mentioned as illustrations only. This does not mean that the Oregon State University Extension Service either
endorses these products and services or intends to discriminate against products not mentioned.
This publication was produced and distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Extension work is a
cooperative program of Oregon State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Oregon counties.
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Published November 1986. Reprinted May 2003.