Mulch

[Chuck]

I suppose to all you folks in England and Europe who have been getting all of the rain mulching your gardens is the least of your worries. But not so. Mulching is important no matter how much or how little rain you get. Mulching stops runnoff and it helps your plants from getting splashed with soil borne bacterias when the rain is really coming down hard. And sometimes it even stops cut worms. But one of the most important things that mulch does is to reduce watering and to lower soil temperatures when it is blistering hot outside. Especially in a drought like Calif. and Texas are experiencing. Three inches of mulch around your plants will reduce the subsoil temperature by 30-50 degrees F. Instead of watering every 5 days you can stretch it to 8 or 10.

Mulch comes in all kinds of colors, textures and sizes. It comes in hardwoods and softwoods. All of it eventually breaks down or composts into organic matter necessary for healthy soil. You can make your own mulch out of leaves and bark. Some people even mulch with newspapers and I am sure that there are many more methods of mulching that I have never heard of.

 

[firelily99]

Mulching is huge for the plants and I don't mean mulching with an inch or less of material but a more significant amount. I find that my gardens do much better with the mulch in it.