You can unsubscribe anytime. Here are just 6 reasons you should mulch this Spring: Mulch helps improve soil moisture and prevents plants from drying out too quickly. Mulch helps reduce soil erosion and soil compaction. Mulch helps maintain optimal soil temperatures by creating a barrier from the heat and cold. Mulch helps increase soil nutrition as it decomposes by improving soil structure, thus providing better drainage and better use of nutrients.
Mulch helps reduce weeds that can steal nutrients from your plants and lets face it, weeds are ugly and unwanted. Mulch helps protect shallow-root plants from freeze damage and frost-heave. Like what you've read? Subscribe to our blog! This Post Has 5 Comments. Helpful info, thanks for sharing! Leave a Comment. Proud Co-Op Partner.
Award Winning Garden Center. Yes, I would like to receive emails from Patuxent Nursery. Shredded leaves are nature's favorite mulch. They can be used as mulch anywhere and have the added bonus of being free. You will also entice more earthworms to your garden soil. If you spread a layer in the spring before plants spread out, the leaf mulch tends to blend into the view within a short time.
Shredded leaves are perfect for woodland gardens , and if you spread a layer over your vegetable garden in the fall, it will begin decomposing over the winter.
Unshredded leaves can mat together and repel water in rainy areas. If that happens, you can always rake and fluff them up a bit if they appear to get matted. Straw and salt hay are popular mulches for the vegetable garden.
They keep the soil and soil-borne diseases from splashing up on lower plant leaves and make paths less muddy. Straw decomposes very slowly and will last the entire growing season.
It also makes a nice home for spiders and other beneficial insects who will move in and help keep the pest population in control. Synthetic and inorganic mulches do a good job of holding moisture and blocking weeds. However, as plastic decomposes, it's detrimental to the soil and the environment. Likewise, landscape fabric allows weeds through as it decomposes after a few years. If you like the functionality of plastic or landscape fabric but not the look, you can always add a thin layer of bark mulch on top of the plastic or fabric for camouflage.
As the bark decomposes, weed seeds will be able to take hold on top of the plastic or fabric. You will also need to replace the bark as it disintegrates. However, if you're an organic gardener, you may want to forgo using plastic in vegetable beds, as it can contaminate into the soil as it breaks down. Plastic and landscape fabric are good choices for around foundation plantings and other shrubs and trees. Plastic gets very hot in the summer and, besides smothering weed seeds, it can also kill all the good things in the soil, including plant roots and microbes, unless there is sufficient moisture.
Be sure to cut holes in the fabric to allow sufficient water to pass through. Gravel and stone work well as mulches in areas that require good drainage or beds with plants that like a little additional heat, like Mediterranean herb gardens and rain gardens. Stone is hard to remove, so give it a lot of thought before using stone or gravel as a mulch.
Which mulch you choose depends on the function and aesthetic you are looking for. There are more and more choices each year, so review your options before you start spreading and choose a mulch that will please you and aid your garden for many years.
Mulch Basics. Follow me on:. Share this article. Subscribe our blog. Featured Posts How do you dispose of old and bad gasoline? Grass Seed vs. What is Mulch, Anyway? It is most commonly made from organic material such as: Leaves, Wood chips, Grass clippings, Pine straw, Bark chips. Whichever mulch you choose, spreading a few inches of mulch around your garden beds can be a great way to get the most out of your garden, By spreading mulch around your trees, plants and garden beds, you will save yourself time and money.
Well here are four major functions of mulch. Function 2: Mulch Slows Evaporation Nutrients are important, but so is water. Function 4: Mulch Balances Ground Temperature The final function that mulch serves is balancing temperature extremes.
In fact, properly mulching your flower beds will always say: I care. About The Author Gene Caballero. Arlington, TX. Detroit, MI. Kansas City, MO. Minneapolis, MN. Philadelphia, PA. Louisville, KY. Memphis, TN. Sacramento, CA. Colorado Springs, CO. El Paso, TX. Chicago, IL. Miami, FL. Raleigh, NC. San Jose, CA. Washington, DC. San Diego, CA. Atlanta, GA. Milwaukee, WI. Oklahoma City, OK. Houston, TX. Tucson, AZ.
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