A much belated reply to this post, but I just stumbled upon it.
I didn't realize "core gardening" was an actual *thing*, but I did exactly that this year after greatly overestimating how much straw I needed for another project. Having barely made a dent in the bale I bought, I decided that burying a whole layer of it about 8-12 inches down in my garden might help with moisture retention and as a sort of "slow release compost/fertilizer." I also have super heavy clay soil that I am slowly trying to improve every year, and thought it might help with compaction.
I live in Southern NM, where it gets to be 110F on a regular basis, and so any anecdote I could give you about watering probably won't be relevant; moreover, we are also having a very hot year, so it's hard to tell if the mulch is helping with moisture retention. That said, it certainly isn't hurting.
On the other hand, it's REALLY helped with the soil compaction, and plants that typically would die because their roots couldn't get through my clay pot of a yard are flourishing! I even grew a bunch of potatoes in the clay soil, where I added the core of straw. This is the first time I've really been able to grow root vegetables without having to buy new dirt for the garden areas.
A much belated reply to this post, but I just stumbled upon it.
I didn't realize "core gardening" was an actual *thing*, but I did exactly that this year after greatly overestimating how much straw I needed for another project. Having barely made a dent in the bale I bought, I decided that burying a whole layer of it about 8-12 inches down in my garden might help with moisture retention and as a sort of "slow release compost/fertilizer." I also have super heavy clay soil that I am slowly trying to improve every year, and thought it might help with compaction.
I live in Southern NM, where it gets to be 110F on a regular basis, and so any anecdote I could give you about watering probably won't be relevant; moreover, we are also having a very hot year, so it's hard to tell if the mulch is helping with moisture retention. That said, it certainly isn't hurting.
On the other hand, it's REALLY helped with the soil compaction, and plants that typically would die because their roots couldn't get through my clay pot of a yard are flourishing! I even grew a bunch of potatoes in the clay soil, where I added the core of straw. This is the first time I've really been able to grow root vegetables without having to buy new dirt for the garden areas.