You don’t need to be an experienced gardener to know the key elements to successful gardening – plants, light, water and soil are typically the most obvious. But mulch is probably one of the best green thumb secrets out there: It lessens the need for weeding, helps conserve water, insulates roots to avoid soil temperature swings and fortifies the plants.
Mulched planting beds give a garden an attractive, polished look, as well as help conserve water and eliminate weeds.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/Image Point
Mulching your garden mimics the conditions found on woodland and forest floors: It preserves moisture, limits soil erosion and moderates changes in soil temperature.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Donna Krischan
Applied after planting, a layer of mulch keeps weed seeds from germinating and conserves water by slowing evaporation and keeping the surface from forming a dry crust that can promote runoff. In spring and summer, it keeps roots cool. In fall and winter, it helps prevent plant damage by reducing the number of freeze-thaw cycles. Even better, organic mulch – naturally occurring products like cocoa hulls, wood chips, organic compost, ground bark and straw – breaks down as it decays into rich, fragrant humus, creating ideal and nutrient-rich garden soil without too much extra effort on your part.
In addition, mulch simply makes your garden more attractive, providing a sense of neatness and giving your beds definition. What’s more, by lowering the incidence of soilborne diseases and keeping weed growth down, mulch also keeps plants healthy while reducing yard maintenance tasks.
Adding mulch to your planting beds – and even to your containers – is easy. For mulch to be effective, however, you need to apply it correctly. That means laying down about 2-3 inches of it over your planting beds. Make sure the soil is moist before you spread your mulch out, and always leave a space of 3-4 inches between the mulch and your plants’ trunks or stems. This mulch-free zone helps prevent basal rot from developing.
When your mulch has decomposed to about a 1-inch layer, it’s time to replenish it by adding a new layer. How often you need to do this depends on your climate and the type of mulch you’re using. (Typically, bark chips outlast pine needles and straw.) You may need to replenish about once a year…only time will tell.
To mulch properly, grab your product of choice, gardening gloves, a garden cart and a fine-tined mulch rake. Then follow the steps shown in the pictures and described in their captions for – and watch your garden grow!
Mulching Trees and Shrubs
Mulching Trees and Shrubs - Step 1
Rake, remove and discard any old mulch from your beds before adding new mulch. This step also removes leaf litter, insect eggs, fungal spores and soil-disease organisms.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Mulching Trees and Shrubs - Step 2
Use a garden cart to place piles of mulch around your garden bed.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Mulching Trees and Shrubs - Step 3
Rake the mulch into an even 2- to 3-inch-thick layer. Keep the mulch 3-4 inches away from your shrub stems and tree trunks. Replace when the mulch decomposes to a 1-inch-thick layer.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Mulching Perennials
Mulching Perennials - Step 1
After watering thoroughly, stage evenly spaced piles of organic mulch between perennial plants. (Here cocoa hull mulch is being used.) Be sure to check your mulch before application, making sure that it’s free of mold or other fungus. You can usually recognize moldy mulch by powdery white filaments growing between the granules, a gray powder or a cottony fuzz.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Mulching Perennials - Step 2
Use a leaf or hand rake to spread 1-3 inches of mulch evenly around your plants.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Mulching Perennials - Step 3
After the planting area is covered, clear the area around each plant with a hand cultivating tool, a small rake or a hoe. Leave at least 1 inch clear around the stem of each perennial.
Photo Credit: ©2001 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
