Mulching and Rhubarb Care

Allotmenteers on my site are lucky to have a local tree surgeon that drops off huge amounts and chipped branches. The high wood content makes it great for pathways and for mulching around plants like raspberries and rhubarb. At least, that’s what I used it for.

The area in front of my shed was uneven and patchy with weeds, grass and a few bald spots. I considered levelling it and sowing quality grass seeds, but since it would get heavy footfall over the growing season, (other gardeners need to cross it to get to the water trough) I opted for wood mulch instead.

When I took the plot nearly a year ago, the rhubarb looked well established. In fact, it was so well established that it was overcrowding the bed. Rhubarb crowns are supposed to be separated every few years, but this ancient growth had not been divided for decades. Usually when you dig up rhubarb, the root is a few inches long, but in this case, they were a couple of feet and built like tree trunks. Ordinarily, you would divide a plant into two or three, but I managed to get over 20 crowns from my small bed. No wonder my rhubarb was needing so much water and looked very compact. I replanted two and gave the rest away.

There was an area of the plot that had a lot of gravel. I shovelled it into an old bath, so I could sieve it at my leisure. The bath is an eyesore, so I need to get on with it and get the monstrosity out of sight again.

I decided to leave the pathways mulch-free. It doesn’t take much effort to keep the grass down and it looks better to have the beds divided by greenery. I’m quite happy with the way the plot is improving and plans change regularly. I’m still learning as I go.