I have a 2 acre vegetable garden and need to mulch the paths to keep weeds down...what is my best alternative? I have straw, aged manure and clover seed at my disposal....will any of these work to keep weeds down? Will straw break down well over winter and under snow cover?
Thanks.

All the above! Natural mulches are the best. For large farms, living mulches like low growing cover crops (lettuces, white clover, etc.) are economical mulches, plus they attract beneficial organisms.

Thanks! Perhaps I'll try all three in different parts of the garden. I thought the cover crop would work well to fix nitrogen and then use path area for rotation crop next year...if it's not compacted depending on this year's foot traffic. My fear has been that the straw wouldn't break down well enough over the winter...I suppose I'll just keep paths as they are then and add more next year. We grow a lot of straw for the cows. Thanks for your quick response.

Newspapers, covered with mulch if you want, is a good way to supress the weeds and the worms love them! Michelle

I have raised beds(4') and mulch the paths (1') with newspaper, cardboard in the larger ones, with a top mulch of pine needles or landfill compost. The paths get compacted (which slows the weeds down too) as they are walked on year after year; the beds are not walked on. I also use the paper/top mulch on the beds. This has really given me good results. We'd all rather tend the garden than constantly weed it.

In southern CA, which is semi-arid (and sometimes not so "semi"!) it's easier to mulch paths with something that doesn't require any water. I use whatever is available: seed pods from the bottle trees that line the street, bigger pieces of chipped wood from the truckload the city gave me, hedge clippings from a neighbor, etc.

Another common path surface here in the southwest is pea gravel and/or decomposed granite. It's cheap here, sticks together well enough that it doesn't track all over da place, and it compacts beautifully to keep weeds out. Those that sprout on top are easily pulled (when young).

I tried wood chips for many many years and gave up on them finally because they have to be replenished every spring and raked out of the adjoining lawn every week, despite a good edging.

My next step (sommme daaaaay) is to plop flagstones onto the path to prevent the wheelbarrow and mower from making ruts in the paths.

Do you have something indiginious to your region that 's cheap or free and can be semi-permanent?

-nita

This may not be practical for such a large garden, but I've found that using old carpet strips works great in my paths. It lasts a long time, rain goes through it and doesn't get muddy. When carpet stores rip out old carpets, they usually just throw them away, so they're glad to give them to me for free.

My experience with straw has been that it is mostly decomposed by next spring. I have bigger problems with it wanting to blow away! I prefer spoiled hay as an inbetween row mulch - it enriches the soil tremendously. And only 1 year in 5 did I end up with a weed problem. I would guess 2nd or 3rd cutting hay would be better than first cutting.

I also use newspaper and grass clippings - with excellent results (just keep the fresh grass clippings a few inches away from tender stems or they'll get burnt). I would definitely go with something that will decompose and enrich the soil. Of course it will need replacing eventually as it rots down, but you'll be getting better soil every year. I alternate my paths with planting rows every year. Any leftover mulch in the spring gets flipped over onto the former year's planting row. If it seems a bit compacted, one pass with the hand cultivator is all that's needed, but usually I don't even have to do that. But then our paths aren't heavily traveled either. Just depends on how you'll use your space.

Good luck - wishing you a successful gardening year!