The Purpose of Garden Mulch
Mulch is a material you place over the garden soil to keep sunlight away from hitting it directly and reduce moisture loss through evaporation. However, when using this material in your garden, it brings both good and bad effects to the soil beneath the blanket of mulch.
Pros and Cons of Gardening with Mulch
Advantages
- Mulch reduces sun heat damage.
- It suppresses weed growth.
- Retain moisture. During summer, the soil stays cooler and plant roots don’t stress from the heat.
- Reduce soil erosion. Raindrops don’t hit the surface of the ground directly. Also, soil is less likely to splash onto plants, which keeps them cleaner.
- Some mulches can insulate crops from extreme temperatures.
- Organic mulches provide soil nutrients and encourage beneficial soil organisms and worm activity.
- Mulch saves you time, money and, most importantly, water as it slows evaporations, so you don’t have to water as much.
Disadvantages
- Because mulch blocks sunlight, it prevents some seeds from germinating. This is good for keeping weeds away from the beds, but not for your good seeds. You can prevent this problem waiting until plants green up before mulching.
- Slugs, earwigs, cutworms, and other pests love cool, dark, moist places. To minimize plant-threatening insects, use a thin layer of mulch (about 3 inches), keeping it several inches away from plant bases.
- Heavy rains can make the ground soggy for several days. If beds turn into wet, muddy areas, take off the mulch and let the soil dry.
Final Thoughts
- A layer of four inches thick is good enough to start with mulching.
- Newspaper mulch is ideal for protecting against weeds because it is decomposable.
- Water the soil to remove weeds easily.
- You can apply mulch at virtually any time of the year.
Now that you know what mulch brings to your garden, you can reach out a landscaping material supplier in Colorado to get the best mulches in the area. Browse our website to check all the mulch alternatives we offer.
Happy gardening!
