Hello all! I am starting a small orchard in South Central Kentucky. I have an assortment of apple, peach, pear, apricot, nectarine and 1 plum planted so far. Some were planted last spring and some this spring. Most are semi dwarf though I do have a few dwarf and standard trees in the mix. I started out using cedar chips as mulch around the base of the trees to keep out weeds and competing plants but soon I saw that I would spend as much on mulch as the trees cost so I started using hay thatch from the field when I mow it. It is mostly rye and fescue not too finely mulched since I use a bushog to mow the field. This seems to be doing a good job at keeping the weeds down but I'm worried about fungus and/or disease growing in the mulch. I have some sulfur spray and have applied a little of it to the mulch but as I'm a neophyte at this I wonder if I'm doing more harm than good?
I think the biggest danger of your hay mulch is the cover it might provide for mice- they can devastate young fruit trees by gnawing the bark at the base of the trunk. I would make sure the mulch is thin enough that mice cannot make tunnels to travel in, and keep it a few inches away from the trunks.
The only issue I had with hay mulch was the seeds it deposited at times. At least it's not lawn grass. That's what I thought your thread title meant. That almost makes a thatch mat. At least the straw is porous. Are there any wildfire hazards in your area? That's the main thing that would keep me from putting something highly flammable around my trees.
There is no unusual fire hazard in the area. As long as fungus from the rotting hay is not a problem I should be OK. In a few years they will hopefully have enough leaves to start shading the base and the need for mulch will diminish. I know raking it into piles and carying it to the trees is not allot of fun so I don't plan on doing it forever :)