Keep your plants happier and good for you with these dos and don’ts for using mulch in the garden .
I was a Modern gardenerplanting my first vegetable patchyears ago when a friend give me hay from his farm to apply as mulch . Planting in mulch can really benefit your plants by keeping their roots cool in hot spells , helping mastery sess , and holding wet in the soil . So I gladly accepted the hay and spread it around my capsicum pepper plant , cucumber , and Lycopersicon esculentum , then sat back to watch things rise . thing grew all flop : plenty of weeds ! If only I ’d known that I should havecomposted the hayfirst to kill the weed seeds in it orchosen a dissimilar mulching stuff , such asshredded leavesprocessed with aleaf mulcher . Here ’s how you may avoid common mulching mistakes in your garden .
Kelli Jo Emanuel / BHG
Credit:Kelli Jo Emanuel / BHG
1. Don’t Use Mulch Mixed with Soil
Greg Baka , a long - time gardener and the owner ofEasy Diggingtools , take note that it ’s OK to mix compost into yourtopsoil to improve it , but let bark mulch consist on the surface of your soil . " Mulch mixed with soil causes difficulties in savvy and weeding , " Baka explains . Plus , it can modify nutrient availability and land social system . Jeff Gibson , landscape painting business manager forBall Horticultural Company , adds that you should never utilise woody mulch as asoil amendmentin containers or the dry land because " in the outgrowth of decaying , it binds up the available nitrogen that could be plump to the plant you desire to grow . "
Among your veggies , woody mulch like barque chipsare not the unspoilt choice . " For avegetable garden , cheap compost does a much better Book of Job of mulching than expensive cosmetic woody mulch . And itfeeds the soil , " say Baka . A layer of woody mulch also makes it intemperate to rapidly hoe gage from between your rows , Baka adds , noting that you must remove it first , weed it , and then put the mulch back .
3. Avoid Fresh Mulches
This was my novice mistake . Mulch materials such as shredded brush , manure , or hay from " pastureland , meadow , or street and highway rightfield - of - ways may contain pot seeds , " Baka enounce , as well asherbicide residuesthat can kill your industrial plant . " Let fresh mulch sit down a few months to leach out any residue and let weed seeds sprout and give out , " he advise . Compostingit before consumption is even better .
4. Watch out for Creeping Plants
Plants that spread by creep prow , particularly turfgrassessuch as Bermuda Gunter Grass , are sometimes so vigorous that they ’ll grow right under mulch . Do n’t spread mulch on or near these plant if you may forefend it . alternatively , Baka recommend keeping them in check withedgingthat hunt above and below the ground , or you’re able to dig a small oceanic abyss along a bed so you’re able to see runner trying to obtrude upon and remove them before they get into the mulch .
5. Get Rid of Weeds Before Mulching
While a goodlayer of mulchcan fuddle small , young weeds , do n’t anticipate it to magically eliminate well - established weeds . It ’s good toremove any big weedsand patches of weeds before mulching over them , or they ’ll pop right through . Or , as note in the previous tip , some may keep on diffuse under your mulch .
6. Don’t Use Too Much Mulch
Plant roots take oxygen and water to come through , and a very cryptic layer of mulch can determine the provision of both . Plus , fungi can become a problemwhen your mulch layer is too thick , channelise out Sam Schmitz , grounds supervisor and plantsman for The Gardens at Ball . " Fungal mats can get and actually repel the body of water you are trying to conserve by apply mulch to start with . One inch of mulch is plenty and more economical . "
7. Prevent Mulch from Touching Your House
When soften mulch meet your siding , it create a path fortermitesand other plague to use to get to your home . Baka says it ’s all right to employ mulch against a concrete rampart but keep it at least 6 inches away from wood orwooden structures .
8. Don’t Make Mulch Volcanoes Around Trees
While mulching aroundtreesis a good idea , mound it up against the trunk is not . That ’s because it can keep the tree ’s root catch too damp and cause it to rot , warns Gibson from Ball , plus it can further insects to birth into the luggage compartment and countermine it . Instead , like keeping mulch from touching your house , leave a little outer space between your mulch and a tree ’s trunk . And do n’t pile mulch decently up against other works likeshrubsandperennials , either , says Baka . direct for at least a few inch of quad between their stems and any mulch .
9. Avoid Using Dyed Mulch
If you apply bagged mulch , Gibson allege , " Read the label , as some mulch contain natural dyes , but others may be sprayed - on colorants full of toxins bad for PET and kids . They can strip into the soil and destroy good bug . " He recommends usingcompostedleaf mulch instead , which look more lifelike and ameliorate the soil . " Leaf litterprovides winter habitat for butterflies and other beneficial insects , too . It ’s a instinctive , renewable resource people pocket up and throw out , and then apply Sir Henry Wood mulch to brood those same beds ! Be more Zen in the garden ; leave it be . Nature knows what it ’s doing . "
Credit:Kelli Jo Emanuel / BHG
Credit:Kelli Jo Emanuel / BHG
Credit:Kelli Jo Emanuel / BHG
