Mulching with zinnias

At the end of my first season growing zinnias I knew that I had a big problem: biomass. What was I going to do with all the plants once the season was over? From the tiny seed they started as, they had grown to 4-5 feet tall and the base of the stalks were about an inch across. They were more like shrubs than soft green plants, and the stems were very strong and fibrous. These plants weren't going to be composted and break down easily. I didn't want a small mountain of zinnias hanging around for years. 

I remembered that a few years back I bought a small electric wood chipper.  It wasn't great with wood branches, but seemed like it would be perfect for zinnias. 

I was able to reduce these tall and fibrous plants into an inch of really beautiful mulch that went directly back on top of the beds. 

As it turns out, it was the perfect much to lay down on top of the winter rye cover crop. For the first few weeks as the rye was popping up in the beds the mulch was thick, soft and fluffy. After about 3 weeks of drying out, and then some rain storms, the zinnia mulch did something unexpected: it created a weed mat. The fibers and small bits locked together as they dried and shrank to make a really wonderful weed barrier.