It’s helpful to mulch your garden for many reasons. Mulch can do a great job of retaining moisture in the soil for your plants and even keeps weeds down as well. Using the right mulch will help improve your soil for healthy, thriving plants while reducing evaporation, which is especially good for dry soils, and maintaining a regular temperature. Cooling in the summer and keeping warm during the colder months.
How to mulch your garden
Think of mulching as placing a doughnut around the base of your plants, shrubs and trees. Leave some space from the base to where the mulch starts. You can apply it directly to the soil's surface and leave it or dig it in a little at the top. Which action to take will depend on what type of mulch you use. If you are using a non-organic mulch, this is likely to be a one time job, but if you are feeding the soil with an organic mulch, ideally, this is done in the springtime, but autumn also works well.
Mulch your garden with the right material
Mulch can be many different materials, from grass clippings to pebbles.
- Organic mulch can be leaf mulch, well-rotted garden compost, animal manure, wood chip and anything made naturally.
- Non-organic mulches might be materials such as slate, gravel or even landscape fabric. Anything that performs as that insulation for your soil and plants.
Choosing your mulch will depend on what look you want to achieve as well as how you would like to treat your soil. There are so many options from grey slate to white pebbles and plant-based mulches or garden composts that make the garden look really tidy very quickly.
Use your own to mulch your garden
You can purchase all of the different types of mulches, but you can also use your very own homemade mulch. It’s very satisfying to replenish your garden with material made by you in your own garden! Grass clippings make a great mulch, as do pine needles if you want to help acidic loving plants. Collect and store fallen leaves in autumn and allow them to break down to make a great leaf mulch for your plants. Make space for building your own compost pile where you can throw your garden waste and allow it to break down and replenish your soil again when it is well rotted.
Visit us in store for a range of mulches suitable for your garden.
