If you’ve heard the term ‘mulch’ before and are wondering what it is, you might find the answer to be remarkably non-technical. Mulching is simply a technique whereby all open soil is covered with a layer of material. People have used all sorts of things as mulch from grass-clippings and sawdust to bark or pebbles.
However, there’s nothing to beat a good, organic mulch. Pebbles can make maintenance difficult and don’t enrich the soil. Grass clippings can be a problem, since they often form a water-repelling mat. Sawdust is great but might contain tannins that can harm your plants if it is too fresh and the mulch is accidentally worked into the soil. Although bark chips aren’t the cheapest, they look nice and are easy to work with. There are also various commercial mulches that can work very well.
Mulch has several advantages. Apart from helping to keep the soil moist so that you don’t have to irrigate as often during dry spells, it also keeps the soil surface covered, preventing the germination of weed seeds that are adapted to grow in open soil. That’s great news, especially during the summer months when the weeds can be really hard to keep up with. Particularly important in the warmer climates such as the Gold Coast, Australia.
There’s more: some plants with delicate root systems can be damaged by very high or low soil temperatures and mulch acts as an insulating blanket that keeps them happy in extreme weather. Mulch can even help to deter certain pests while simultaneously benefiting the soil organisms that keep our soil and our plants healthy.
If you mulch regularly with organic mulches, you’ll improve the organic content of your soil and therefore also its texture. Regardless of whether your soil is too sandy or has too high a clay content, organic material is what you need to turn it into a good growing medium.
An added benefit in the vegetable garden is that it prevents soil from splashing all over low-growing vegetables. Strawberries and lettuce are examples of plants that mulch will help to keep clean and delicious. Last but not least, mulch looks good and everyone loves a neat, low maintenance garden.
How to much a plant, lawn and garden care video:
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