An Introduction to Mulching for Beginner Gardeners

November 21, 2008

Gardening
Simply put, mulch is a layer of organic or synthetic material which is laid on top of your garden soil. This top layer is designed to help the soil hold moisture longer, prevent soil from eroding, prevent the soil from fluctuating in temperature too drastically, and prevent weeds from easily being able to grow around your plants.

Mulch is usually light enough to allow plenty of water and air to get through it to the roots of your plants, but it’s also dense enough to prevent weeds from being able to grow easily. Organic mulch deteriorates over time too, and this has an additional effect of adding nutrients, minerals, and vitamins to the soil around your plants too.

Organic mulch usually comes from some type of plant material such as leaves, grass clippings, wood bark, or straw. Mineral type mulches can be used too though, and these usually come from some type of stone, gravel, or other small rocks. There are also plenty of synthetic mulches available too, and these can be made from a variety of materials such as plastic or rubber. Many synthetic mulches are made from recycled materials, and they can last for quite a long time.

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Garden Tip...

The Calla Lily, or "The Lily of the Nile," is an old and popular favorite, and is found in window-garden collections everywhere. It is a native of the tropics, where it is said it grows to an enormous size; a single flower often measuring one to two feet in diameter. The Calla will attain its highest perfection if planted in a rich, mucky soil, obtained from a swamp or bog. It also requires an abundance of water during the growing season. Callas, like all other bulbous plants, must have a season of rest. If required to bloom during the winter or spring months, they must be rested in the summer season, if this is not done we must not expect to have any success in flowering them. The blooming season can be reversed if desired, by resting in winter. Without allowing them at least three months of rest, it is useless to expect to flower them successfully. By "resting," we mean to withhold water, and allow the leaves and stalks to die down completely to the bulb. Then turn the pot on its side under a tree or grape-arbor, and let the soil dry up completely; this will kill the stalk but not injure the bulb.
~ James Sheehan
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Organic and mineral type mulches will often help keep the soil beneath them cooler, and synthetic mulches tend to help the soil warm up. Organic mulch will of course degrade and decompose over time, so it has to be added to regularly. Mineral mulches can last several lifetimes, and some types of synthetic mulches can too.

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Garden Tip...

The earth in vases of plants that stand out in exposed places, will rapidly dry out; if shells or fine gravel is laid over the surface of the soil, they will prevent it from "baking" after watering, and hold the moisture much longer than without. Try it.
~ James Sheehan
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Any type of natural material which decomposes on its own can be used as a mulch material. Some of the most popular include grass clippings, hay, tree leaves, wood chips, and straw. It helps to create thick layers of mulch when you’re using organic materials, because the thicker layers help protect your plants from weeds and weather better. Thicker layers will also pack down a bit better, and not be lost or scattered with any little breeze that comes along.

One of the best reasons to use mulch around your plants is for weather protection. If you put a nice deep layer of mulch around the base of tender plants before winter sets in for instance, that mulch will often allow the roots to stay alive even when it gets quite cold outside. And when the roots of your plants can survive through the winter, you’ll be able to enjoy the plant when it starts budding naturally the following spring.

The other major advantage to mulching is, when done correctly, you’ll find yourself fighting weeds much less often in your garden.

Additional guidance on mulching…

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