Much Ado About Mulch

Rebecca's Garden : Episode REB-706 -- More Projects »

No garden, whether it's one with flowers or vegetables, should be without mulch. In host Rebecca Koll's garden, mulching is a must, because the benefits are endless.

If you hate weeding, this is your ticket out of the job. A thick layer of mulch will help suppress weeds, saving you a lot of time.
In the heat of summer, mulch can't be beat in keeping the soil cool and help retain water.
If you use organic mulch, it can be tilled back into the soil at the end of the growing season. Organic mulch will break down and help develop a great soil for future crops.

Mulch Types
There are lots of different mulches out there. Which one is right for your garden?

Figure A

Decorative bark and wood chips are nothing more than ground-up tree branches (figure A). They are easy to find and fairly inexpensive. This excellent mulch lasts up to two years.

However, before you apply bark or wood chips, it's important to add nitrogen to your soil. When first applied, wood chips will steal some of the nitrogen available for plant roots.

Figure B

This is the same with shredded mulch (figure B), which is nothing more than the bark that has been shredded more. With this, you'll need to apply the mulch a bit thicker, at four inches or so; keep in mind that this type of mulch can become a fire hazard when it dries out.

Figure C

Peat moss (figure C) is excellent when you mix it with soil because it helps retain water. Underground, it helps the roots drink the water. However, when used as a mulch on top, peat holds water sometimes 600 times its weight. The problem is, when it dries out, more time is spent for the peat moss to absorb moisture, instead of getting down to the plant's root system. A bag of peat moss also costs $4 which may not be the best choice considering the expense.

Figure D

One fairly new mulch is cocoa bean mulch (figure D). It is attractive, fragrant and seems to be helpful for keeping away deer as well as weeds.

Apply cocoa bean mulch two inches thick, but no more. It does disintegrate quickly, but as it does it adds an extra dose of fertilizer.

Caution: this mulch contains small quantities of theobromine, which has been found to be very toxic to dogs, resulting in serious illness and even death, depending on how much mulch is consumed.

Figure E

If you have pine needles (figure E) in your yard, you have one of the best mulches available, and it's free. It typically takes three to four years for pine needles to disintegrate. The only drawback is that the needles are acidic, so you will need to add lime to decrease the acidity after five or six years. You should also do a soil test at this time.

Figure F

Straw and hay (figure F) are functional, but not terribly fashionable. It's not big in garden centers, but you can find it at feed stores. These options are bulky and attract mice, but this mulch is better than nothing at all and it's very inexpensive.

Picking out the mulch is easy. The hard part is determining how much you need. Here's an easy method.

Multiply the length of your garden by the width.

Multiply the answer by the thickness of mulch that you want. The thickness needs to be in feet, so if you want three inches, you'll multiply by .25 feet to arrive at the cubic-foot measurement you'll need to do the job.

Now the best time to add mulch is in the spring or early summer because it will keep the soil cool, and will help retain water. In the fall, once the weather turns cold, mulch those tender perennials. Mulch them again in the spring. Just pull the mulch away to let the plant start growing then start the process all over again.

Also in this Episode

Rebecca's Garden : Episode REB-706
•	Transplanting Peonies
•	Much Ado About Mulch
•	A Shovel That Really Measures Up

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