Mulch your Landscape
What is Mulch?
Mulch is any material (for example, bark, decaying leaves, or compost) that is laid over or spread around a plant to enrich or insulate the soil. Soil covered by fallen leaves, dense plant life, or pine needles as well as shredded hedge cuttings can be easily noticed, which refers to nature’s mulching of soil. These dead plant materials carry heaps of organic matter and valuable soil nutrients.
Mulching works to retain moisture in the soil, prevent it from compacting, keep it cool as well as suppress weeds, and helps make a garden bed look more attractive.
There are primarily two types of mulching, organic and inorganic. Here are the further categorization of each;
Types of Organic Mulch
Types of Inorganic Or Synthetic Mulch
Benefits of Using Mulch
Mulching gives any garden a neat, tidy look while also reducing the amount of time spent on gardening chores like watering and weeding. Here are some of the benefits of mulching.
How And When To Mulch?
Garden Mulching is effective:
Mulch is any material (for example, bark, decaying leaves, or compost) that is laid over or spread around a plant to enrich or insulate the soil. Soil covered by fallen leaves, dense plant life, or pine needles as well as shredded hedge cuttings can be easily noticed, which refers to nature’s mulching of soil. These dead plant materials carry heaps of organic matter and valuable soil nutrients.
Mulching works to retain moisture in the soil, prevent it from compacting, keep it cool as well as suppress weeds, and helps make a garden bed look more attractive.
There are primarily two types of mulching, organic and inorganic. Here are the further categorization of each;
Types of Organic Mulch
- Bark, Shredded or Chipped
- Compost
- Composted Manure
- Grass Clippings
- Newspaper
- Shredded Leaves
- Straw
Types of Inorganic Or Synthetic Mulch
- Black Plastic
- Landscape Fabric
- Gravel/Stone (mineral mulch)
Benefits of Using Mulch
Mulching gives any garden a neat, tidy look while also reducing the amount of time spent on gardening chores like watering and weeding. Here are some of the benefits of mulching.
- Mulching boots soil retention of water and beneficial nutrients.
- It improves microbial activity and encourages worms that are good for the soil.
- Mulching helps to reduce evaporation.
- Mulching prevents diseases and pests in summer
- Mulch can decrease evaporation rates by as much as 75% in summer.
- Mulching helps maintain humidity, impede soil erosion, and add nutrients to the soil.
- Mulch reduces the heating of the soil via the sun that can prevent the germination of seeds in the cooler months of spring.
- It helps reduce water use by up to 75% due to its protection ability against evaporation.
- The gardening care practice provides valuable nutrients to the soil as the mulch breaks down.
- Mulch layers are vastly insulating. Therefore, its layers keep the soil warm on cold days and cooler on sunny days.
- Encouragement of the worms also aerate the soil and facilitates fertilization in the form of worm castings.
- Mulching control and decreases the amount of weeds by obstructing the germination of weed seeds.
- Organic mulches especially help boost the soil's fertility when they decompose.
How And When To Mulch?
Garden Mulching is effective:
- In early spring, right before the growing season begins and the very first weeds make its appearance.
- During summer, when finely cut pruning waste and/or grass trimmings are available. The soil will have to be moistened first, or it can be given a good soak and mulched after that. The use of only thin layers of grass clippings is recommended due to the fear of grass becoming hot and sultry.
- In autumn, which is also an ideal time as fallen leaves offer certain protection from frost. However, it is advised not to mulch during frost because it will only prolong the soil being frozen or cold.
