Mulch

Mulch is a layer of material, usually natural, placed on the surface of ground, around growing plants. It prevents loss of moisture and growth of weeds. It encourages the activity of earthworms and keeps the soil from becoming hard. In the long term it breaks down and forms humus and nutrients.

Very thick mulch can be very effective, without harming the plants.^{[verification needed]} deep enough that you have to dig a bit to find what's underneath, e.g. 10cm/4in or more.

Weeds have to fight to get through such thick mulch, and often fail. If they do make it through, they can be easily pulled out of the loose, moist soil that develops beneath the mulch.

Pull out big weeds before mulching. Or, for a lazy gardening approach, try tramping them down - this assumes you're ok with coming back to pull them out later, if they don't stay stay down - but the soil should have softened and it will usually be much easier.

Mulch is an important component of lazy gardening, as it greatly reduces the need for most of the regular garden tasks such as watering, digging and weeding.

Cautions

• Mulch containing seeds, such as lawn clippings when the grass is seeding, or straw, can result in an increased number of weeds. Ways of dealing with this are:
  • When mowing, or growing a crop for mulch, cut it before the seeds approach maturity.
  • Have an additional thick layer of seed-free mulch on top.
  • Be sure to pull out the weeds before they become too established, while it is still extremely easy.
  • Compost the mulch before adding it to the garden. Form the mulch into a pile, wet it or let it soak up rain, and let it sit for a few months. Moisture in the pile will germinate the seeds. Turning the compost every few weeks will bury any germinated seedlings on the top deeper into the pile, where they will die and decay. Decay heat will build up in the interior of the pile, cooking seeds and killing them.
• Cocao mulch can be harmful to dogs (if they eat it - and not all dogs eat it).^[1]
• Your Best - and Worst - Mulching Options WTOPnews.com claims that rubber tires are bad, and wood and bark mulches promote certain fungi that cause damage and nuisance, and should be kept approx 10m/30ft from houses and cars.
• Avoid mulch made from old roofing shingles.^[2]
• Some advise keeping mulch away from the foundation of buildings, to avoid pests.[1] (It might be expect to affect rising damp as well, if the building is prone to that.^{[verification needed]})
• This list should be added to. Do a google search ignoring the main warnings mentioned above, and of course read critically.

Note that an email warning about termites in mulch in 2006 was dismissed as a hoax^[3]

Notes

Interwiki links

• Wikipedia:Mulch

External links

• Guide to Selecting a Garden Mulch | Tips & Techniques - GardenGuides.com, includes information on a large number of different organic and inorganic mulches.
• Mulching - NRCS - public domain, planned for porting.
• Mulch Clemson University - Clemson Extension, Home & Garden Information Center

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