How Savvy Gardeners Use Mulch To Make Garden Work Easier

Article by: Judith Schwader

Mulch provides many benefits to plants , Winterizing Your Pond and soil: insulation, shade, moisture , Find Peace And Happiness Through Gardening retention, weed , Problems With Peonies? reduction, and soil , Garden Benches - What They Are building. But when mulch is applied at the wrong time or in the wrong form, it can do more harm than good. Use the following guidelines to get the greatest benefit from your mulching effort.

First, make the most of your garden , Growing Great Asparagus space, moisture, , Rose Gardening and organic , The Best Types Of Fish For Your Garden Pond matter (including mulch) by planting wide rows - a width that you can comfortably reach across, rather the width of a single plant. , Beware of Toxic Mulch Wide row planting reduces the number of paths , Learn How to Enhance Your Habitat needed through your garden, , Lawn Disease And What To Do About It and keeps more of the soil , How To Choose The Right Trees For Your Front Yard Landscaping Ideas surface covered. This results in fewer weeds , Tips for Planting an Outdoor Herb Garden and better moisture , Hydroponics in Your Garden retention, so your mulch can be applied where it is really needed.

~~Finished Compost , Lawn Disease And What To Do About It Mulch~~
There is no bad time to add finished compost , Bare Root Roses, What To Look For When Buying to the soil, , Free Concrete/Hypertufa Mixer Plans but for maximum value from this black gold the best time is shortly after spring , Beware of Toxic Mulch shoots and seedlings have gotten established and have their true leaves. Apply a layer of finished compost , How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way mulch. Often called a top dressing, this layer will merge with the topsoil quickly, but try to keep the compost , Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life from touching the plant , Would You Like More Information About Climbing Roses? stems anyway.

How thickly you layer the finished compost , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money mulch depends on how much you have available and how much ground you have to cover. Even a thin layer is beneficial; it provides nutrients that gradually work their way down, and gives some protection against weeds, , Bare Root Roses, What To Look For When Buying temperature , Beware of Toxic Mulch extremes, hard rain, and so forth.

~~Partially Composted Material~~
Half-finished compost , Hot New Sunflowers to Grow or compost , Themes of Shade that is noticeably fibrous is never good for mulching plants, , Wrought Iron Patio Furniture is Easy to Clean for Summer or even for adding to the soil , Easy Hypertufa Planters near growing plants. , Wrought Iron Patio Furniture is Easy to Clean for Summer Separate additions of partially composted material from planting by at least two or three weeks. The best time to add this kind of compost , Growing Ginseng is in October or November in ground that will be allowed to rest.

Soil bacteria will break down the material, but these organisms have to use nitrogen in order to do their work. Eventually, the microbes will release the nitrogen and make it available to plants , Grass Varieties again, but in the meantime, the half-finished compost , Tips for Planting an Outdoor Herb Garden has the effect of starving rather than feeding any growing plants. , Growing Great Asparagus

~~Hay and Straw~~
Apply a layer of straw , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money or hay once plants , How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way are beyond seedling stage. The timing also depends on soil , Grass Varieties temperature. Since this mulch forms an insulating layer, wait until the soil , Winterizing Your Pond is warm; else the layer of mulch will insulate in the wrong way-preventing the soil , Free Concrete/Hypertufa Mixer Plans from warming up.

In addition to the straw , A Choice New Hydrangea With Variegated Foliage or hay forming an insulating layer and helping retain moisture, , Tips for Planting an Outdoor Herb Garden the mulch becomes a nice resting place , Growing Ginseng for melons and squash.

Straw is more carbonaceous than hay, and will break down more slowly. Hay often has a moisture , Trees content, and will break down faster. Both are good mulches, but if slugs and snails are a problem, straw , Hibiscus is better. Again, keep the mulch back from touching the plant , How To Start Your Garden From Seeds The Right Way stems.

~~Leaves and Grass , Starting a Shade Garden... Clippings~~
I prefer to compost , Tulips: Anything But Typical leaves and grass , Orchid Care What The Flower Tells rather than use them as mulch. Leaves are generally acidic, and affect the ph of the soil. , Growing Great Asparagus However, some plants , How To Choose The Right Trees For Your Front Yard Landscaping Ideas such as raspberries prefer slightly acidic soil, , A Low Maintenance Landscape Can Save You Money and for plants , Wrought Iron Patio Furniture is Easy to Clean for Summer that don't like an acid ph, an amendment of lime could help neutralize the effect of the leaves.

Grass clippings can be very effective mulch - especially for moisture , Tuscan Garden Design retention, but keep an eye on it. Grass , Easy Hypertufa Planters packs down, preventing air , Free Concrete/Hypertufa Mixer Plans circulation so that anaerobic decay occurs. Again, I prefer to compost , Beware of Toxic Mulch grass; turning the compost , Starting a Shade Garden... keeps it aerated.

Life-time gardener Judith Schwader specializes in organic gardening , Beware of Toxic Mulch methods. She shares expertise, humor, and advice , Growing Great Asparagus for your gardening , How to Grow Bananas success at A to Z Gardening. , Garden Benches - What They Are Also visit FB Home , Themes of Shade for additional home , The Flower Drying Game - Part 3: An Affordable Flower-Press and garden , Hibiscus information.

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How Savvy Gardeners Use Mulch To Make Garden Work Easier

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