Mulch helps to moderate soil temperature and retain soil moisture which is good for the health of your plants. Adding a layer of mulch to your flower beds also improves the appearance of your beds and suppresses weed growth.
Additionally, organic mulches provide nutrients to your plants as it breaks down.
1. WEED CONTROL: Controlling weeds always seem to be an ongoing battle but mulch can severely stunt the weed population you may be seeing. Mulch doesn’t kill weeds, so prior to applying a layer of mulch to your landscape, it is important to remove any existing weeds and water the soil. This allows mulch to acclimate and act as a protective barrier for the soil and prevent weed seeds from germinating and springing up throughout your yard.
2. ADDS NUTRIENTS: Organic mulch can come in several different forms, but is predominately seen as wood chips or bark, pine needles, or hay. It will break down over time and become a part of your existing soil. This helps to keep the soil soft, allowing in water and air, and also provides room and nutrients for roots to grow and flourish. This added benefit helps maintain a healthy environment for your plants, trees, bushes, or edible garden. You can also use your own organic material for mulch, such as tree clippings or any pruning from your plants or bushes.
3. EROSION PREVENTION: Exposed soil doesn’t have any protection against the elements of nature. If you have a sloped yard or experience run off when watering your plants or during the rainy season, mulch is a useful tool to help prevent erosion. It provides a barrier against the rain and helps the soil to absorb water rather than being washed away.
4. PROTECTIVE BARRIER: Mulch acts as an insulating barrier to help maintain an even temperature for soil. In warmer months, it shades soil from direct sunlight, helping with water retention and keeping the soil cool. In colder months, it acts as a barrier to protect soil from frost or freeze.
5. CREATES CURB APPEAL: Mulch adds beauty, depth and dimension to any landscape. Rather than leaving soil exposed and bare, try adding mulch to create a beautiful touch to your landscape and spruce up your yard. Fill in dirt around a tree (leaving a few inches of space between the tree trunk and the mulch), add it as a filler in a flower garden, or decorate any space you want to, and give your yard a whole new look and feel.
6. SAVES TIME AND ENERGY: Mulch provides a thriving environment to create fertile soil, which increases the vitality of your garden, and decreases the amount of time needed to maintain the soil. Because mulch acts as an insulating barrier and helps the soil retain water, it can also help with water conservation, decreasing the amount of water you need to use daily.
Mulching is a great way to add beauty and elegance to your landscape while providing the nourishment your soil needs to have a thriving garden. Just a few inches of mulch can go a long way in providing all of these benefits and more. Incorporating mulch into your landscape now will provide protection against the heat we’ve been experiencing and will also help in the coming months as we prepare for rains again.