I have an orchard of stone fruit and want to use mulching to keep moisture since the weather is very hot and we lack of water sometimes and to get rid of weeds. can you tell me what kind of plants we can use as mulch? I have enough alfalfa do I use the cut alfalfa beneth the tree base as mulching or?
thanks
I don’t know your location… but in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we’ve got a major infestation of meadow voles who love the cool cover of mulch. It keeps their predators from nabbing them as they go to work on the roots below. If a person could occasionally rake it back and poison the vermin when their holes are present, that might keep them at bay.
I also suppose when the alfalfa molds around the trees it would no longer draw deer… better not poison them 
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I don’t envision any problem with the alfalfa idea. I’m watching a new apple orchard developed in which the owner dumped what appears to be an eight inch thick circle of straw & manure about six feet out around 60 trees. I suspect it will suffocate any residual ‘grass seed’ shoots from its former use. …if I see him out I may stop by and mention voles…
Meadow Vole control: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1201&start=15
The mulch would also provide cover for mice, who in a hungry winter, would love some nice tender bark to munch on. I use a combo of dwarf rye grass and lawn clover as a cover corp to keep out unwanted weeds, shade the ground, and preserve ground moisture. I keep the ground bare approximately 18 inches out from the trunk to make mowing easier and not provide winter cover close to the trunks for mice, etc..
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