March and
April are ideal months to tweak your garden plans for the upcoming growing
season. Visit your favorite local garden
center to gather ideas and ask questions, even if it is too early to place
plants in the soil in your region.
Whether
you’re planting natives, perennials, evergreens, edibles or ornamental annuals,
each will benefit from selecting an appropriate mulch. I recently checked various online sources and
was quite surprised to find how much BAD ADVICE is being perpetuated regarding MULCH!
Think about the specific type of plant you intend to mulch; then let that plant’s needs guide your
selection.
Evergreen
trees and shrubs NEED and WANT acidic mulch over the entire root zone, if
feasible. Those sparkly white landscape
stones are not acidic and create reflective heat; heat rises. You will likely “toast” the bottom branches
of your evergreens!
Instead, utilize shredded hardwood mulch,
which eventually decays and provides nutrients.
If you wish to top-dress the root zone with organic matter/compost
prior to covering root zone with 2-3 inches of shredded hardwood, your
evergreens will thrive. The same top dressing and shredded wood mulch is great
for perennials and shrubs.
Rubber mulch? Fine for playgrounds to prevent injuries, but
NOT fine for placement around herbs and veggies. Rubber tires are repurposed into rubber
mulch; aren’t rubber tires a petroleum-based product? Keep this away from edibles, please! (If you must use rubber mulch somewhere on
your property, be certain your edibles
are planted uphill from the rubber mulched area to prevent runoff during storms.)
Grass
clippings? Best to keep them out of your
gardens entirely; either mulch them into your lawn to provide extra nitrogen
for the grass, or place in compost bin with veggie kitchen scraps, straw, and used
coffee grounds to create rich organic matter.
Landscape
fabric? Use ONLY under landscape stone
or river rock. Placing it beneath
shredded hardwood (or softwood) mulch is a poor choice; shredded wood
eventually will decompose ON TOP of the fabric, creating a comfortable nesting
place for weed seeds. This creates a
larger task for a gardener to remove both weeds AND fabric!
Herbs and
veggies? Mulching might be unnecessary, but if a plant has a large footprint in
your garden--like zucchini or tomatoes—then I like to use a light covering of
straw (NOT HAY—too many undesirable seeds in hay will cause weeds!)
The bottom line: MULCH
WISELY! Your plants will be happier
and healthier.
M. Lynn
Schmid, Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture
