Sweet Pea Mulch

Gardener:Old Mangakino Orchard (McCallum's Garden)

Date:06 Nov 2023

Blog Type:Flowers

After seeing Sues sweet pea arch last year, I felt inspired to add sweet peas to our garden. I planted two lots. One in a garden bed to hopefully fix some nitrogen and the other lot by a tree stump just to look cool. What I failed to consider was when they would flower and my need for the garden bed for my summer veges which need planting out soon.

So..... I had to cut down a massive load of sweet peas that were just about to flower as I need the bed. Luckily the ones by the stump are in full bloom and putting on quite a show. 

Rather than compost the cuttings, I figured I would lay them on a different bed that I will be planting out in a couple of weeks. I read that you can dig the plants into the ground to add nitrogen but figure this will act similar to a pea mulch keeping the soil moist while feeding the garden as it breaks down. We have a some pretty sweet weather coming according to the forecast so they should dry up before I need to plant out the garden. 

Our first lot of lettuce is nearly at it's end and I have the next army lined up ready to replace them on the battlefield. 

Also I found this really cool dianthus in the garden which is half solid red and half white with specs through it. These were grown from seed and I'm not sure if this a genetic abnormality or not but regardless it's pretty cool!

Sweet Pea Mulch