Mulching is one of the simplest ways to make huge benefits to your garden. It suppresses weeds, improves soil fertility, helps retain moisture and beautifies your landscape—among other benefits. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose and use it, here is an easy guide to get your mulching underway!
Simply put, mulch is a layer of material that you add on top of your soil. Typically, it’s made of organic matter, like bark, wood chips, leaves, or grass, and sometimes it can even be stone. All of these choices:
Organic mulch has the added benefit of actually building your soil. Just like leaves on a forest floor, decaying mulch nourishes soil microbes and gives important nutrients to your plants. But which mulch do you choose?
Bark Mulch is a popular choice for aesthetic gardens. This sweet-smelling stuff comes from trees in the lumber industry, like pine, spruce, and cedar. It’s great for around perennials, shrubs, and trees. Keep in mind that bark mulch is not ideal for vegetable gardens, as it gets in the way when you sow seeds and transplant.
Wood Chips are similar to bark mulch. They come in many natural shades and textures. You can even find them dyed in color if you’re looking for a unique twist in your landscape. Choose chips with natural dyes if you want to spare your gardens the extra chemicals.
Grass Clippings make great nitrogen-rich mulch for the vegetable garden. Adding a thin layer is perfect for stopping weeds from taking root, retaining moisture, and feeding your plants.
Straw or Hay are other nourishing options for a vegetable plot. They add to soil fertility and give it a crisp, clean look. Avoid piling it around stems to prevent slug damage, and keep your layer thin to avoid rodent activity. Also, make sure you opt for weed and seed-free hay and straw.
Leaf Mulch is most often available in the fall. Simply raking leaves into your beds protects your soil and plants overwinter, and adds an abundance of healthy bacteria and nutrients.
Stone or Pebbles lend a special beauty to the landscape. They can be lower maintenance, as you typically only need to add them once. However, to prevent leaves and plant matter from collecting on the surface, you’ll likely need to blow them off with a leaf blower. And unlike the other choices, stones won’t build your soil.
Applying mulch is as simple as laying it down with a bucket or wheelbarrow, and spreading it out evenly with a rake. Keep in mind two important rules before you begin: make sure you lay it on weed-free soil, and lay enough to suppress future weeds.
For bark mulch or wood chips, we recommend a 2-4 inch layer that tapers to the ground around plant stems and trunks. Mounding mulch around a plant invites rot and mold, so keep 1-2 inches around the crown mulch-free.
You can buy mulch in bags or order it by the yard. One yard covers roughly 100 square feet in 3 inches of mulch.
Feel free to mulch any time of the year and top up your mulch whenever you see it running low. It’s one of the surest ways to give your garden a fresh, polished look.
Before you apply mulch, it’s good to re-edge and even deepen the edge of your beds so the mulch won’t spill onto your paths and lawn.
Mulch has another added benefit of protecting your plants over winter. A nice layer of bark mulch, wood chips, or leaves regulates any changes in temperature. They protect them from thaw or freeze cycles that might trick your plants into budding too soon. They also insulate the roots of any sensitive plants against colder weather.
If you have any questions about the mulch we carry or would like some advice about your particular garden, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our garden centers in Alexandria, Belle Haven, and Lothian would love to help you take advantage of the many benefits of mulch!
At Greenstreet Gardens, we take pride in the fact that our number one goal is to make our customers successful.
Equipped with a diverse wealth of information and a knowledgeable staff, we are confident that we are able to provide all of the right tools and plant material necessary to help make your gardening ideas become reality.
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