Hay, a few questions for those who use hay as a mulch in their gardens.

I found some free hay bales today that was to be throw out so I grabbed it
to use as mulch when the growing season comes around. The bales are standard
pasture hay, grasses and whatever else was growing at the time of cutting. I
have no idea how old they are, no one could tell me. A couple of the bales
are actually growing grass on the top and all the bales are starting to go
mouldy inside. It is late late autumn here, the cold rainey season is upon
us..

A few questions for those in the know.
What is the best method of storing hay in this condition? I though either in
the (cool dry) garage or outside under a tarpaulin.
Do I need to worry about the mould inside the hay? I have heard the odd
story of hay self combusting when it rots, any chance here you think.
I thought to kill the grass simply by placing it face down and letting the
lack of light deal to it.
Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks
Rob

"George.com" <roblyn [at] ihug.co.nz> wrote in
news:e4ml3c$ht8$1 [at] lust.ihug.co.nz:

> Hay, a few questions for those who use hay as a mulch in
> their gardens.

sensible people use straw, not hay.

> I found some free hay bales today that was to be throw out
> so I grabbed it to use as mulch when the growing season
> comes around. The bales are standard pasture hay, grasses
> and whatever else was growing at the time of cutting. I
> have no idea how old they are, no one could tell me. A
> couple of the bales are actually growing grass on the top
> and all the bales are starting to go mouldy inside. It is
> late late autumn here, the cold rainey season is upon us..
>
> A few questions for those in the know.
> What is the best method of storing hay in this condition? I
> though either in the (cool dry) garage or outside under a
> tarpaulin. Do I need to worry about the mould inside the
> hay? I have heard the odd story of hay self combusting when
> it rots, any chance here you think. I thought to kill the
> grass simply by placing it face down and letting the lack
> of light deal to it. Anything else I should be aware of?

don't breathe the mold when you break it open.
and you do know that hay is just chock full of grass & weed
seeds waiting to grow, right? so you aren't planning to mulch
a garden with it... unless you *really* love weeding. there's
a reason those bales are sprouting grass...
i've never heard of a dry (cured) bale catching fire, but
just baled green grass bales do heat up & spontaineously
combust sometimes.
seriously, since it's autumn there, the best thing to do with
half-rotted hay is to just compost the bales. don't use it for
mulch
lee
--
"Fascism would be better described as corporatism,
since it is marriage between the state and business"
- Benito Mussolini

"enigma" <enigma [at] empire.net> wrote in message
news:Xns97C959FF149AEenigmaempirenet [at] 199.125.85.9...
> "George.com" <roblyn [at] ihug.co.nz> wrote in
> news:e4ml3c$ht8$1 [at] lust.ihug.co.nz:
>
> > Hay, a few questions for those who use hay as a mulch in
> > their gardens.
>
> sensible people use straw, not hay.

cheap buggers, like me, are attracted to using free stuff. I will obviously
need to do some more research on what was in the hay, on the pasture, and
weigh up the risks. It is recommended as a, excellent mulch by the domestic
gardeners bible, the Yates Garden Guide first published 1895.

When you say compost it, are you meaning in with the rest of the mix or do
you have in mind some special process that will 1/2 rot the hay down but
keep it intact as a substance in its own right?

rob

COmpost it until none of the original hay is recognizable as hay, it
will still be chock full of pasture weeds so use the compost in deep
shade where they can't gat a start.

"George.com" <roblyn [at] ihug.co.nz> wrote in message
news:e4n55f$gbr$1 [at] lust.ihug.co.nz...
> When you say compost it, are you meaning in with the rest of the mix or do
> you have in mind some special process that will 1/2 rot the hay down but
> keep it intact as a substance in its own right?
>
> rob

You'll find many erroneously use 'straw' and 'hay' as interchangeable words
when talking about mulch.......not true, they are VERY different. If you
mulch with the hay you have you'll be weeding for years to come with what
will be growing in your garden from that field. If you leave it baled and
it's already wet and starting to mold and you put it in your garage or tarp
it you better check your home owner's insurance policy on how they pay out
fire damage. There's a good reason why farmers don't store hay unless it's
bone dry. The other poster mentioned spontaneous combustion.......I suggest
you look that up and read carefully. More than one barn has gone up in
flames because of a wet bale.

If you turn it over, as you mentioned, the grass will just grow out of the
"new top". You could break open the bales and spread them out and then
cover the large thin layer with a clear heavy plastic and weigh it down and
let the heat of the sun cook it to kill all the weeds.......that's if you
have room and since you're going into winter it will most likely be a
greenhouse instead of an oven so probably not really feasible, unless you
can leave it like that on into the coming summer to cook the bejeezuz out of
it.

If you insist on using this stuff in compost you'll want to break up the
bales, spread it out and then mix it well with your compost pile and let it
rot down.....(wear a mask since you have no idea what kind of mold spores
you're dealing with).........and check the temp in your pile to make sure it
heats up to kill all the seeds you have in there, then keep turning and
heating until you get it down to the black loamy stuff compost is supposed
to be. You'll probably still get weeds you've never had before when you use
the compost but it won't be so bad........just weed, weed, weed and weed
some more before all that stuff you've imported goes to seed in your garden.

Val

Val