Garden Mulches

Garden Mulches and Mulch Types

Applying garden mulches and mulching is one of the practices you can do in the garden that is easy and beneficial.

To describe mulch... it is a layer of organic or inorganic material that is spread on the top of the soil to offer protection.

Mulches can be of a variety of material such as; bark chippings, grass clippings, straw, plastic, and stones.

What does Mulch do?

Mulch prevents weeds from growing
Mulch will maintain an even temperature in the soil
Mulch protects the soil from soil erosion
Mulch will conserve moisture thereby reducing amount of watering needed
Mulch helps keep your vegetables and fruit clean
Mulch provides a clean surface for accessing the garden
Mulch can make a garden look neat and finished

Organic Mulch

Applying organic garden mulches has the additional benefit of improving the soil. Organic mulches decompose slowly and the organic matter aids in maintaining loose soil. Organic matter provides plants with further nutrients and encourages earthworms and beneficial organisms into the improved environment. Organic mulch helps improve growth of root systems, improves water retention in the soil, and increases the capacity of water to infiltrate the soil.

Inorganic Mulch

Inorganic mulch has a certain place to play in landscape gardening but they lack the benefits of improving the soil that are provided with organic mulches. Because inorganic mulch is permanent they may be hard to remove when you decide you want to re-design your garden or alter your garden plans in the future.

Personally I prefer to use organic mulches and will therefore concentrate this article on the organic mulching methods and types.

Types of Organic Mulch Material

Lawn and Grass Cuttings work really well when used in vegetable gardening provided you do not spread grass that has seeds in it. In other words, be careful not to put long grass or hay on your vegetable garden otherwise you will have a lot of grass sprouting there. Most lawn clippings are of short grass without seed heads and therefore will not cause a problem and will rot down nicely. Grass clippings do not look so nice on flower beds though.

Newspaper works very well for garden mulches and does rot down. I have used newspaper mulch by putting it slightly under a fine layer of soil so it can’t be seen and it does prevent so many weeds sprouting through.

Leaves and leaf mould are usually quite easy to find, particularly in the fall! Decomposed leaves provide excellent mulch while also putting nutrients back into the soil. Apply in the autumn to give winter protection and they will have rotted down by the spring.

Compost is by far a brilliant way of mulching your garden if you have enough of it. It is not only good at preventing weeds from growing through it is also an excellent source of nutrients for the soil and plant growth.

Bark chippings and/or bark compost mulch can be purchased in garden centres. Bark chippings make a lovely neat finish for garden flower beds and although they take longer to rot down they do eventually. Small chippings are much easier to lay in between smaller plants.

Seaweed mulch is another good nutrient provider but do check with the plants because some do not like seaweed, such as bamboo.

When to Mulch

What time of year or season you do you're mulching in will be dependent on what you are trying to achieve.

Winter garden mulches can provide a temperature protection for your plants roots and help prevent the soil from freezing so deeply. Apply after the first frosts appear and before the temperatures really begin to drop. If you apply the mulch too early you may encourage rodents looking for a warm place.

In summer mulch can help retain moisture in drier weather and prevent weeds from coming up so fast.

For vegetable gardening, apply your mulch after the seeds have germinated as putting it onto the soil before then could prevent the seeds from getting the warmth needed from the sun for germination.