A mulch is a protective covering for your soil and is of great benefit whatever the weather is like. It helps keep the soil moist by preventing evaporation which means you won’t need to use so much water and your plants won’t get so stressed when it is very hot.
If you are growing in containers it stops your compost being washed out of the top of the pot in torrential rain.
It will keep soil off of your strawberries and salad leaves.
Also if you live in Ventnor and you mulch your garden it will prevent your soil from ending up in a heap at the lowest point in your garden after heavy rain!
Mulching will:
- adjust temperature by helping soil retain more heat in spring and autumn,
- keep soil cool and even out temperature swings during hot and variable summer conditions
- control weeds by blocking the sunlight
- retain water by slowing evaporation
- add organic matter and nutrients to the soil through the gradual breakdown of the mulch material
- repel insects
Different types of Mulch
The following will rot down and add organic matter to your soil:
- Straw is a the conventional mulch for strawberries as it keeps the fruit clean, if you have a convenient supply but can blow around in the wind.
- Shredded bark is very popular but you have to buy it, unless you have a shredder and suitable wood Pictured in pot above.
- Compost – This relies on fully composted material, where potential weed seed has been eliminated, or else the mulch will actually produce weed cover.
- Cocoa shells are a good soil conditioner andmakes an attractive mulch if you like the smell of rather strange chocolate. Not a very environmentally friendly mulch as it has to be imported from West Africa.
- Well rotted manure around established plants, keep away from young plants and seedlings as it may be too strong and ‘burn’ them.
- Spent Mushroom compost but not on ericaceous plants like rhododendrons, azaleas and blueberries as there is too much lime in it.
- Grass clippings as long as you have not incorporated any weeds into your mowings, also slugs find grass clippings very attractive and may eat the plants above it if they get bored.
- Cardboard can be used, ideal for allotments, you may have to add a few large stones or rocks to keep it in place on windy sites.
I have used stones as a mulch on my strawberries as I have lots of them and they are free After digging a small patch of the garden about 3 foot x 18 inches, I collected two buckets of large stones and that bit was dug over several years ago!
Solid Mulches that will last for years
- Rubber mulch – Made from recycled shredded tyres
- Plastic mulch – Crops grow through slits or holes in thin plastic sheeting, it is good for keeping weeds down but you will be contributing to the ever growing plastic problem. It will eventually degrade down into smaller sized pieces that cause even more problems to wildlife etc
- Sheet mulch – Various products developed as an alternative to plastic mulch which will last 5 – 15 years, such as the WeedBlock products.
- Rock and gravel can also be used a mulch. It is available in a huge range of colours and sizes . In northern climates the heat retained by rocks will extend the growing season.
Disadvantages of Mulching
If you want plants (parsley, landcress, marigolds, nasturtiums, foxgloves etc) to self seed and grow new ones for the following year, do not mulch near those plants or the seeds won’t be able to get in contact with the soil and grow.
Sawdust, bark, grass clippings etc need nitrogen to decompose and can rob it from the soil underneath which can cause your plant to have a nitrogen deficiency. That can be over come by watering something in like seaweed liquid feed.
[…] up to 25 litres/sq m (4.5gall/sq yd) every ten days in dry periods. Water at the base of the plant. Mulch if you can to help conserve moisture in the […]