You don’t want compacted, poorly aerated soil because it’s unable to absorb rainwater, hold nutrients, and support healthy microbial activity and root development.īefore spreading your first layer of mulch, take the time to thoroughly weed your garden beds. Coarse materials like wood chips act as a cushion to protect the soil from being packed down by winter storms. In the fall, spread a layer of wood chips over your garden paths. Mulching in the fall is like tucking in your plants to keep them safe against winter rain, sleet, and snow. Straw has the added bonus of insulating plants from the freezing cold. Laying down a protective layer of straw before winter can prevent the pounding rain and winds from washing away fertile topsoil. If all else fails, you can always buy mulch online or at your local home and garden store. If you don’t have a steady supply of yard waste, consider asking your friends and family to save theirs.Īnother option is to find some hay to use-old, slightly decomposed hay makes for a great spring mulch in the absence of yard waste. Shoveling leaves and grass onto your plant beds feeds the soil with nutrients well into the fall without having to turn over the compost pile. Garden expert Acadia Tucker’s go-to spring mulch is a 50/50 mix of shredded leaves and grass clippings because she always has a lot of yard waste. Mulching in the spring prevents weeds from growing, adds nutrients, and helps your soil retain moisture. Mulch can be applied anytime of the year, but you’ll see the greatest benefits if you do it in mid-spring or fall. The alliance between plants and soil organisms locks carbon underground as humus, the dark soil that every gardener lusts over, thus lowering the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Any excess sugar is released through roots to support soil organisms in exchange for access to nutrients. Plants also pull carbon out of the air to form sugars used to fuel cellular activity. These organisms feed on the mulch, breaking it down, capturing carbon, and releasing essential nutrients that plants absorb as they grow. Natural mulches are high in carbon, which soil organisms like microbes and fungi need to survive. Our favorite mulching superpower is its ability to support a healthy ecosystem under your feet, which benefits your crops and the planet. For really overgrown areas, use damp cardboard as a barrier and cover it with a generous layer of mulch, which is usually enough to knock out even the worst weeds. In the spring, spread two to four inches of mulch on garden beds to prevent new weeds from growing near vegetables and perennials. Mulch is a champion at smothering weeds, which saves time and energy for us hardworking gardeners. The protective layer it provides keeps the soil cool and moist in the summer and insulates tender perennials in the winter. Mulch can be leaves, wood chips, newspaper, pebbles, or even plastic and polyester fabrics-basically, anything that stays in place and protects the soil (more on the types of mulch). Mulch is any material, synthetic or organic, spread over the ground as a covering.
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