Mulch It Right

Mulching your flowers beds is one of the most important things you can add to your garden.  By definition, mulching is when you place a layer of organic or inorganic material on top of the soil.  Mulches can greatly improve the benefits of the internal soil structure while greatly enhancing the overall health of most plants, reducing their susceptibility to pests and environmental stresses.  They can also prevent weeds, protect the plants roots from heat, cold, or drought, keep fruit clean, and reduce plant diseases by preventing water from splashing on the leaves and fruit of plants.  And if that was not enough, mulches can also prevent soil erosion and add nutrients to the soil as they break down slowly. 

So here is the ins and outs of mulching.  It really is pretty simple to remember just a few pointers about mulching your flower beds.  Mulch can come from many materials.  Shredded pine bark, wood chips, leaves, grass clippings, and compost are all forms of mulch.  My personal favorites are compost and/or native hardwood mulch.  I don't like using the red mulches as they are dyed and I don't want anything that is not natural in my garden beds.  I recommend putting down a 2-4 inch layer of mulch around your trees, shrubs, and garden plants.  Please do not pile up the mulch around the stems and trunks of plants.  I have actually seen mulch piled very high around the trunks of plants and trees and I just wanted to cringe.
Grass clippings can be used as a mulch.  I love not having to go and buy my mulch and this is one way to do it.  Simply wait to mow until your grass is between 2 and 4 inches high.  Then mow off only the top 1/3 of the grass, and don't bag the grass clippings.  The clippings will feed your soil and won't smother your grass.  If there are too many clippings, you can rake the excess and use it to mulch the garden beds.

Mulches are essential for the overall health of your plants.  Using mulch and/or compost will raise the soil nutrient level and enhance the physical structure to a point that the need for synthetic fertilizers is greatly reduced. This is not achieved quickly.  You need to have patience to build up the soil.  But it is soooo worth it.