YouGarden 2 x 100L Strulch Mulch Straw Mulch in 9kg Bags, Natural Straw Mulch for Gardens Perfect as a Natural Slug and Snail Deterrent, Mulches for Gardens UK

This is the second year I have been using STRULCH on my garden borders.This product really has helped to deter slugs and I have noticed considerably less damage to my plants but I have still had to use slug pellets around a few vulnerable plants. Weeds are greatly reduced but not totally eliminated. I noticed that especially around my bird bath in the border a lot of weeds were coming through so I placed some cardboard under the bird bath and covered in STRULCH and so far so good - no weeds.You do need a fair amount of this product, I used all of the 2 bags to cover the small border in the picture. However, the borders I covered last year only needed a little extra topping up after weeding.This product has a fairly strong, sickly sweet smell when opened but this disappears over the course of a few days. It is also very light in colour initially but darkens over the course of a few weeks and eventually takes on the colour of soil.I much prefer STRULCH to bark chippings which I use in my front garden as the bags are very light and so much easier to manoeuvre around the garden and the results are the same but visually more subtle and aesthetically pleasing.I would highly recommend this product.

so good i ordered some more has slug repellent and biodegradable

Good product., bit pricey. However lets be honest. It does not last 2 years, it not does not enrich the soil with hardly any nutrients as the NPK values are really low. It will add humus, but because of the high carbon content it will rob your soil of nitrogen, temporally at least, until the bacteria releases it again. (look up the carbon/nitrogen cycles). It's main selling point is, it suppresses the weeds and helps keep the moisture in, so water the ground before using it if the soil is dry. I use it in the spring for a woodland like path running through my herb garden. The rest of the year I use my privet hedge trimmings etc and my green manures (phacelia tanacetefoila etc) and layer it on top. It dries and works just as good. The strulch is used when I haven't got any thing else to use yet.

This is my second order of strulch. Does what it says, it has greatly reduced the weeds. It has stayed in place since last summer, I don’t need to put anymore on my flower beds yet. I’ve ordered this next lot for my newly created veg patch. It’s ideal if you want to use the no dig gardening method, as there’s no need to disturb the soil for weeding.

Great for slugs and snails. Strulch. Two bags is better value too!

Great product easily applied

I have been using this for years, and I find worms REALLY like it. My soil, which was terrible, has become crumbly, holds more water (is very sandy, almost silt, as I live near the Thames) and I constantly see earth worms active at night. It would help heavy soil with drainage, too, I am sure – far more effective than adding sand or digging. If you use this, the worms will do that work for you.It looks neat, is easy to spread, and has virtually no smell, only a pleasant, mild hay scent. You're not supposed to use normal straw for mulching, as it can leach nutrients from the soil as it breaks down, but this is mineralised, so that does not happen. It is also a lot softer than normal straw, so far more pleasant to use.One thing to note: this should not get too wet before use, or it becomes a pulpy, soppy mess, is no longer easy to spread, and gets a musty, nasty smell. I would order shortly before use, and try to keep it under cover if possible.Another thing to note is that you should wet it down after applying, if you can. When dry, as it comes, it will tend to blow about. That is the biggest disadvantage, that it's very light when dry and tends to “track”.But this adds plenty of organic material and conditions the soil, which that large bark mulch stuff hardly does. I use home-made compost underneath, but this will work fine without, and still massively improve soil quality. It did take a few years with my soil, but it was really bad to start..I try to use this generously twice a year, in spring and autumn. It is very good to protect roots from frost damage over winter. You can also use it to pack plant pots over winter. So put a few in a larger container, and pack all the gaps and cover the tops.

I was sceptical but must admit it’s suppressed most weeds in my veg plot.