Using seaweed as mulch

[bayanne]

Hi there
This is my first post so any helpful advice is useful. I live on Yell, which is an island off mainland Shetland at just over 60N. We are within 20ft of the sea and our old house has the right to gather “tang” i.e. seaweed off the beach. There can be a tonnage of it after a storm. Can I just use this as my mulch on no-dig beds? There is a bit of plastic in it which is easy to remove when the tang starts to break down or is it better to mix it with something other?

[charles]

Welcome to the forum bayanne. What a great thing to have all that seaweed!
I would spread it in autumn, if you have a little compost to add that would be good but its good on its own too.
Seaweed is fantastic for perennials such as asparagus and seakale!
Happy growing and let us know how it goes.

[bluebell]

Wow Bayanne what a fabulous but challenging environment to grow in!
Would love to know how you get on. My Brother in Law was raised on Shetland and swears they only ever ate home grown potatoes, cabbage/ kale, turnips and Lamb – all except the Lamb grown by his father, but then only due to having a good solid wall round the garden to provide protection from the wind.

[bayanne]

Thanks for the reply and now another question.
I’ve just read the thread about using wood ash. We cut all our own peat for fuel by hand -no environmental impact incidentally- and have plenty of ash every day. Would it be a good idea to combine that with the seaweed for a mulch? Our soil is fairly neutral as we are on a patch of boulder clay which has been crofted over the years and not typically as acid as the surrounding areas. In fact it’s been farmed since Bronze age times if the archaeology on the land is anything to go by.

[charles]

You could add some. If you have a lot I would keep it in sacks and spread around veg in summer, because of some nutrients being water-soluble. Also add some to your compost heap.

[Author]

Posts