If you’ve been reading my garden stories you know I was a very very bad gardener this year. I didn’t complete my summer gardening tasks until last week! Those tasks included adding a three inch or so layer of shredded red cedar mulch to my garden beds.
Time and time again I’m amazed at what a difference mulching the garden came make. If you use an attractive mulch it makes your garden beds look nicer. I find it also makes your garden look tidier.
Other benefits of mulching include:
- It cuts down on weeds and the task of weeding since weed seeds can’t penetrate the thick mulch easily.
- Mulching helps hold the moisture in the soil so you don’t have to water as often.
- Mulch helps keep your plants roots cool.
- I find fewer animals digging in my garden beds when they have a good layer of mulch.
- Plants look healthier.
- It’s been said that red mulch placed around Tomato plants reflect certain light rays back at the plant and actually help make tomatoes grow better.
- The mulch eventually breaks down in the soil and adds nutrients for your plants.
Since putting mulch down we’ve only watered the garden twice and the plants look great. I did rain on Sunday though so you could say the gardens had three waterings. Prior to adding the mulch the plants were wilting in the hot summer heat within two days. The soil was just drying out too fast.
Now my plants were fairly healthy despite the lack of care I’ve given them this summer, but still, I can see an improvement in how they are withstanding the summer heat in the short time that the mulch has been down on the garden beds.
I’m not new to mulch. Ever since I put my garden beds in six years ago I’ve been putting mulch down on the garden beds by the end of each June. This is the first year that I did it so late and I won’t ever be late again. It really helps!
Mulching is big in swedish gardening right now. Another promoted method is to cover the ground entirely in plants. Both are said to solve the drying problem. The only backdrop is that some mulching materials are popular breeding grounds for slugs, and we are experiencing a spanish slug ‘invasion’ right now.
Here in on the subtropical Gulf Coast in south Alabama, mulch is pretty much a necessity. I use hay, buying the bales that are not good enough quality for livestock feed. If you put enough down — six to eight inches deep — any stray grass seeds in the hay won’t germinate. It has worked well for me. By the way, your blog is lovely!
This is the first year I didn’t mulch. Not at all. Not even one little piece of bark. We were cash-strapped at the beginning of spring, time-strapped at the beginning of summer and now just energy-strapped with the temps being what they are.
My plants look awful, but my plans for next year look good. 🙂
I discovered this post a little while back and went away and mulched and I’m really pleased with the results. I’m amazed at the effect its had on the weeds.