Use of mulch in Japan

[czaujapman]

To mulch or not? Yay or nay?
Mulching overseas is widespread, mainly around trees and paths to stop evaporation and grass growth and for aesthetics. The problem I had in Australia was the garden needed lots of mulch and so it's gotten fairly expensive really quickly.

Here in Japan family has plenty of old trees and wood ready to be shredded, including few areas with bamboo which seems to be great for mulching. So getting a good shredder and using the wood-chips around trees seems to be a no-brainer.

I guess my question is are there any cons to using mulch in Japan's climate that I may not be aware of?
Obviously it rains here much more, it is fairly humid so would mushroom or some sort of tree-rot be an issue if using mulch?

Thanks!

[Tora]

Good shredders seem to be quite expensive.

I thought wood mulch can attract termites. Not something you want around your house or other wood frame buildings. I’d think bamboo would be great mulch.

[DocDoesFarming]

Bare in mind that if you want to chip bamboo it has to be relatively freshly cut bamboo, I wish I knew this before cutting an entire field down because I was planning on chipping it but I left it way too late and they all hardened.

[Zasso Nouka]

Rice straw makes a good mulch and can usually be gathered up for free, you just have to ask your local rice farmer to set the combine so it doesn't chop the straw up as it exits the combine. Rice husks also make a good mulch if you don't live in an area with continuous high winds.

You might be able to hire a good shredder rather than buying one if you have a local tool hire nearby. Unless you are doing a lot of shredding the cost of a good one isn't worthwhile.

Cons to using wood as a mulch might be termites living in it but possibly ants running around the mulch would limit that ? Most of the fungi that will colonise it will be types that feed on dead wood but just to be on the safe side don't lay it in direct contact with tree trunks.

[donguri]

I make my own wood chips and use them on the walking paths in my hatake. Sometimes a few mushrooms pop up but nothing problematic.

For the actual vegetable beds I use momigara (rice hulls), wara (rice straw), dry leaves, sorghum leaves and stalks, and some long leafy grasses (weeds) that grow around here aplenty. Whatever is available

The slugs can be a problem- the mulch gives them a moist place to hang out and then they proceed to mow down lettuce seedlings.

[gonbechan]

You might be able to hire a good shredder rather than buying one if you have a local tool hire nearby. Unless you are doing a lot of shredding the cost of a good one isn't worthwhile.

However if you are big on online shopping... a shredder gets all those pesky cardboard boxes very ready to go on the compost.

[czaujapman]

I usually just remove any remaining plastic tape from the cardboard and lay it along garden beds/paths, weigh it down with stones.
We used old cardboard boxes a lot in Australia after digging down to about 10 cm, laying it down then put soil on top & 10 cm of woodchip/mulch. Worked well for about 2yrs before weeds started coming back.

[Eric in Japan]

I mulch EVERYTHING and have for 4 years now. I used to bag my lawnmower clippings and use that- a pain in the behind but grass melts down into such a nice blanket mulch. I used rice straw- also great, but very long. I used rice hulls- did not like it. Soba hulls- great mulch, looks beautiful. Now I use chipped bamboo.

Bare in mind that if you want to chip bamboo it has to be relatively freshly cut bamboo, I wish I knew this before cutting an entire field down because I was planning on chipping it but I left it way too late and they all hardened.

My chipper only chips old, hard bamboo LOL. But man does it ever chip! It's a Kyocera (Ryobi) GS-2020. A gear type, not a spinning wheel of death type. Here are some photos/videos of it in action and what I have used it for.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JYgDrW253fTKMWD7
About 33,000 yen on Rakuten.
I take old gray/brown Moso bamboo, chop it into meter long lenghts and use my bamboo splitter, then I just feed them into the beast (it only takes up to about 5cm wide splits of bamboo, or 3cm round tree branches). I have made about 3 cubic meters of chips so far. I have mulched almost every tree and bush I have, and made a keyhole herb garden mulched with--- bamboo chips!
If I feed it green bamboo, it just crimps it without making any chips. I think that is because it is a gear type.
I highly recommend this machine if you want to make chips and have more time than money. Seriously, it is awesome.

[DocDoesFarming]

I mulch EVERYTHING and have for 4 years now. I used to bag my lawnmower clippings and use that- a pain in the behind but grass melts down into such a nice blanket mulch. I used rice straw- also great, but very long. I used rice hulls- did not like it. Soba hulls- great mulch, looks beautiful. Now I use chipped bamboo.

Bare in mind that if you want to chip bamboo it has to be relatively freshly cut bamboo, I wish I knew this before cutting an entire field down because I was planning on chipping it but I left it way too late and they all hardened.

My chipper only chips old, hard bamboo LOL. But man does it ever chip! It's a Kyocera (Ryobi) GS-2020. A gear type, not a spinning wheel of death type. Here are some photos/videos of it in action and what I have used it for.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JYgDrW253fTKMWD7
About 33,000 yen on Rakuten.
I take old gray/brown Moso bamboo, chop it into meter long lenghts and use my bamboo splitter, then I just feed them into the beast (it only takes up to about 5cm wide splits of bamboo, or 3cm round tree branches). I have made about 3 cubic meters of chips so far. I have mulched almost every tree and bush I have, and made a keyhole herb garden mulched with--- bamboo chips!
If I feed it green bamboo, it just crimps it without making any chips. I think that is because it is a gear type.
I highly recommend this machine if you want to make chips and have more time than money. Seriously, it is awesome.

That thing is amazing! That's definitely a job for winter time, I'll have to go buy one of those now.
I also need to build myself a pac-man bed.

[donguri]

My chipper only chips old, hard bamboo LOL. But man does it ever chip! It's a Kyocera (Ryobi) GS-2020. A gear type, not a spinning wheel of death type. Here are some photos/videos of it in action and what I have used it for.

If I feed it green bamboo, it just crimps it without making any chips. I think that is because it is a gear type.
I highly recommend this machine if you want to make chips and have more time than money. Seriously, it is awesome.

I have the same Ryobi unit and I love it! When Mr. donguri first found it and suggested it, I scoffed because it looked so compact and toylike, compared to the giant gas-engine spinning wheel of death machine that I was using at the local Ringyo Center. However, the chipping ability is no different than that giant noisy machine, it is far easier to use and doesn't break down constantly. I haven't tried it on bamboo, but on certain types of green branches it does as Eric said and just crimps them.

The portability of the unit is also a great feature-I don't have to haul all the branches to the chipper. I can take the chipper to the branches, and either run an extension cord or if I'm going up in the field, just put it in the K-truck along with the generator.

I'm excited to try bamboo chips!