Trim Your Evergreens and Mulch Your Tomatoes!

by Marvin D. Wilson
(Saginaw, Michigan, USA)

I had to trim a long row of evergreen shrubs on my property this spring, but decided not to throw the clippings away or shred them and compost them. Instead, I used the clippings for mulch on my tomato plants. It makes a perfect mulch - very porous - so rain can drip through. About 2" to 3" thick inhibits weed growth and still retains moisture in the beds.

Additional note from Tomato Dirt

Great suggestion!

One more thing when using evergreen clippings. Pine, spruce, and other evergreens tend to lower the soil pH (make it more acid). This is good news if your soil is naturally higher than 7.0, since tomatoes prefer a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. If your soil is already acidic enough for tomatoes, then simply sprinkle your evergreen clippings with a little bit of lime to balance things out!