If you ’ve got a yard , one of the first things you should put down is mulch . The versatile ground cover not only smothers weeds , reduces soil wearing , keep rubble down , and stops your yard from wrench into a clay pit , it ’s also one of the beneficial and most importantways to restore your soil .
Why else should you use mulch ?
But how do you know what to apply , and where ? There ’s an dateless number of material that can be call mulch , and the honorable one really depends on your use casing . ( surprisal : There are even instances where you should lead your dirt plain . More on that below . )
Here ’s what I ’ve learned from personal experience and what I commend for different types of area . ( you’re able to find out more in my summing up of thebest types of organic mulchto exercise . )
What kind of mulch to use for…
Annual vegetable beds
Perennial beds
Flower beds
Under shrubs and trees
Paths and large areas
Winterizing garden beds
Containers
Living mulches
What you should never use
I often see colored wood flake spread across the front grand of newly build up home , and this is a hard no for me . Sure , that all - black ( or red or dark brown ) mulch might appear silklike at first , but the artificial color bleeds out over meter and ends up look dread . Plus , I always marvel what ’s in the dye …
The same goes for rubber mulch , which is made from recycled rip up tires . praise for finding a young habit for tire , but on a hot sidereal day , your garden ’s going to smell like a tire shop . There ’s also the hard potential for leaching ( of zinc , atomic number 13 , cadmium , and chromium ) and that ’s probably not the kind of stuff you want contaminating your garden .
How (and how much) to apply
pop out by specify how much you ’ll need for your space . If you ’re haul in mulch from a baby’s room or landscape supplier , you could use mymulch calculatorto calculate out how many base , cubic feet , or three-dimensional yards to buy . ( It even lets you figure mulch for odd - shaped bed like rounds and triangles . ) If you ’re signed up for a service likeChip Drop , be sure to make room for a truck to coldcock a enceinte incumbrance on your belongings .
Once you have the mulch onsite , follow a few uncomplicated guideline :
When to apply mulch
Most organic mulches will last through an entire growing season and should only need to be reapplied in spring and dusk . If you see that yours is starting to get a snatch thin ( or has blow aside ) , verify to fill again it so that your soil is always cover with 2 to 3 inches of mulch . ( More than that is unneeded and in some cases , may even be damaging to plants . )
In fall ( after you ’ve live a few frosts ) , apply a laborious stratum of mulch to protect the soil from frost heaving , protect the crowns and root systems of winter plants , and foreclose a encrustation from forming on the soil surface . As themulch decomposes over winter , it feast the filth and meliorate its structure .
The exact amount will look on your climate . Milder regions may not require more than 3 inches to take them through winter , but colder regions can use as much as 8 inch ( particularly overfall - planted garlic , cold - hardy overwintering herb , orperennial herbs , vegetables , and flower ) .
Even if your garden is empty , you should still throw on some mulch — never leave the soil bare over wintertime , if you could help it . That ’s because grime nutrient can be depleted by heavy rainfall , and mulch works to cut back leaching and surface piddle overspill , keeping the soil structure intact .
Is too much mulch a bad thing?
Yes , I know I just say three paragraph ago thattoomuch mulch can be damaging , but that ’s only true of actively grow plants , which involve access code to O and water .
In fall and wintertime when perennials go sleeping , their root systems need to be protected from desiccating winds and freezing weather condition . Mulch helps concord in wet ( so flora quell hydrous despite cold dry out winding ) and keep the soil from uproot plants during repeated freezes and thaws .
Once the atmospheric condition begins to warm up up in late winter to early spring , you could start to thin out the mulch to increase airflow to the soil and roots . Which leads me to the last point …
When to leave your soil bare
Yes , there are times when you might actually want to keep your filth give away . In outflow ( particularly if you live in a cold or rainy clime ) , you should lift all the winter mulch and leave your garden bed uncover to warm up and dry out out so the soil thaws and becomes “ executable . ”
Removing the mulch also encourages slugs and other insects that overwintered in your garden beds to move out . ( Otherwise , they ’ll continue to make themselves comfy in the moist , dark niche of your mulch and help themselves to all your tender new seedling . )
An empty garden seam also makes it easier to sow seminal fluid . Once your seedlings acquire a few in ( past the delicate seedling stage ) and the atmospheric condition turns desiccant , you could add your favorite mulch again .
