Mulching in the garden may seem like a waste of time with no visible benefits to you or to your garden. But I can testify that mulching is one of the best techniques that I have ever learned.
There are several different mediums that you can use for the purpose of mulch. If you know someone is a farmer, you can use hay for your mulch. I use grass clippings and newspaper for my mulching purposes. Wood chips will also work. However, they may not break down completely in one year and depending on the wood used, they may change the PH of the soil.
Why should I mulch?
My biggest reason for mulching is for weed control. I personally like a garden that looks neat and doesn’t have many weeds. But other than weeds looking bad, weeds steal important nutrients from the soil instead of allowing the garden plants to get them. Mulching also helps retain moisture in the ground and allows you to not have to water as much. This is important when you are having a dry summer.
When should I mulch?
I start to put my mulch down as soon as my husband starts to cut the lawn and bag the clippings for me. I start with my pathways first and then slowly move around to the plants. I usually try to wait for my plants to be fairly well established before applying mulch to the ground. If you apply the mulch too early, it slows the soil from warming up. This is a very important fact for tomatoes and peppers.
How should I mulch?
Mulching can be as simple as just laying down hay on pathways and around the plants. I found that I personally have had great success with laying down a layer of newpaper and then applying a layer of grass clippings on top of the newspaper. The paper works as a barrier to the weeds and the grass clippings weigh down the paper. By the end of the year, most of the paper has turned into dirt and all I have to do is rototill everything back into the soil in the spring. If I don’t have enough grass clippings to mulch the entire garden at the same time and weeds have started to sprout, I take a hoe and loosen up the weeds before applying the newspaper. I don’t want any of those weeds trying to come up through the mulch and making me have to pull it out.
Mulching saves me hours of work all summer long. It may be slightly labor intensive in the early spring applying all the mulch, but the benefits far outweigh work. I’m always so thankful for not having to spend hours weeding or watering in the heat of the summer.
Thanks for the reminder. My garden is in (just starting – the weather is sooo horrible in Colorado!) And mulching is important, I just gotta take the time and do it!