| Hi ad/bed-ella, Last year I had a problem in my garden. The landlord has a diesel-powered rototiller, with nearly 40" swath, that he was going to use to cultivate the garden last summer... so, instead of a foot or a foot and a half or two feet between rows, which several kinds of vegetables need - it was 44". About what one needs for cucumbers, cantaloupe, zucchini and watermelons. So - that means that there are only 8 rows down most of the garden. Trouble was - he only cultivated about twice, last summer (which is unusual for him, as he's very good at getting everything taken care of - keeping all of the juggling balls in the air). There's so much resistance on the starting rope that I can't pull it! To be fair ... I think that he'd have been there oftener had I merely asked. Which meant that, to get use of an additional part of the garden, (that another guy was to use and didn't), which I needed when I had to transplant about 5 dozen tomato plants that I had planted too closely, I had to pull a lot of weeds that were half as tall as I - and thick on the ground. He cut some tall grass around the garden a couple of days ago and I've hauled it over to drop between the rows ... but it's way too thin to deter the weeds there. I've wondered about hauling some of the now nearly useless bales of straw from the barn to scatter fairly heavily between the rows ... which should deter the weeds a lot. Moreover, it'll retain the moisture when it rains. How do you react to collecting the grass clippings from the lawn ... and dropping them in a pile too thick for the grass to penetrate in a space ... what, a foot? a foot and a half ... or two? around the trees? If you could use straw, it would lie loosely enough (especially in the beginning, before it shrank down, rotting) to allow the rain to run down through and into the ground where it would then retain it longer than on bare ground. However, grass clippings pack so tightly that I think they'd soon repel the rain, so not much would go into the ground under it, and be retained longer because it would evaporate less rapidly. However, the rain would run down in larger quantity at the edges of the mulch, and likely penetrate farther, so there'd be some extra available over dry periods to be absorbed by the roots of the trees. In the beginning, perhaps you would choose to hoe or otherwise cultivate the clippings into the ground around the tree, to enrich it as it rots: elbow grease instead of losses from the wallet. Actually, since there seem to be fewer tasks around the home to provide experience at doing chores to help children and teens learn their responsibbility to pay their way in the world, as they need to learn that there ain't no free ride, perhaps they could help with these tasks, as part of their family responsibility. Actually, probably doing dishes, sweeping, washing clothes, dusting and learning to cook would be more useful, looking to the first days after they leave home. If lacking a bagger on your mower, do you need a lawn sweeper to follow the mower to collect the clippings? I have one in the garage that a friend gave me a year or so ago ... that has yet to be used, here. Good wishes for finding a frugal way to keep the grass away from the trees. olejoyful | 
