Using Mulch
Here I will explain how to use some of the most common types of mulch. While you can use a mixture of mulch or of coverings, and even change the type of mulch that you use from year to year, it is important to continually add some type of mulch for the best results.

Posted Thursday, April 13, 2006

Mulch is a material that you add to your soil to prevent weeds from growing and to keep moisture in the soil. Gardeners who love to spend time working in the garden, taking care of plants, moving and transplanting them often hate the thought of having to weed.

First let’s start with some of the roll out type mulches and coverings available:

Plastic weed barrier is not often thought about as mulch but it is used in conjunction with many types of mulch to keep weeds down. Plastic weed barrier is put under mulch like straw, pine needles or such that you are going to move and cultivate again at the end of the year. The plastic weed barrier is picked up and can be cultivated into mulch at the end of the growing season.

Another type of weed barrier is landscape fabric. You lay the landscape fabric down on the soil; after you have prepared the soil, and then you cut slits in the fabric and plant the plants. You want to leave little room for weeds to grow. Covering with your favorite mulch the soil stays moist and free of weeds.

Newspapers are inexpensive and very helpful mulch for your soil. Using newspapers, as mulch will help keep the weeds down during your growing season, and by the end of the summer months, the newspapers will be decomposing. They will add nutrients to the soil by cultivating the garden areas. You can use newspapers between rows in the vegetable gardens or in areas of your gardens where you do not have any flowers growing. Adding another type of mulch over the newspaper where you do not want to see the newspaper makes the areas more attractive, but you don’t have to use as much other mulch when you already have newspaper.

Straw or hay can be used between rows in your gardens over plastic, paper or landscaping materials. Straw is going to help your soil stay moist. Using a six to ten inch layer of straw or hay is going to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.

Pine needles or bark are another type of mulch you can use over a material or by itself. Three to four inches of bark or needles in your garden will keep moisture in the soil. The pine bark and the needles are going to decompose over the years adding nutrients to your soil.

Chopped leaves and grass clippings are another form of inexpensive mulch you can use in the gardens to keep weeds down and to keep the moisture in the soil. The grass or leaves that you use as mulch in the garden should be dried before putting it in the garden to prevent fungus from growing. Dried leaves or grass keeps the sun from hitting the soil to hard. The leaves and grass will decompose over the season and you can cultivate it in to the soil for a good conditioning in the fall months.