What is Mulch?

When clients ask What is the best way to help my garden through the summer heat and drought? The Chopwell answer is Mulch!

Mulch is a protective layer between soil and sun, for pots, flowerbeds and grass.

Mulch mowing

Most mowers have a mulch option, where you lose the grass box and the cuttings are chopped fine and distributed across the lawn. This layer, almost invisible to the human eye gives nutrients to the grass and helps it keep greener in dryer weather. It also makes mowing easier, no cuttings to worry about.

Mulch on pots

Many of us use ornamental gravel or stones to dress a pot covering the exposed soil and helping show off the plant to best advantage. These stones are a mulch, reducing evaporation, protecting roots to help the plant thrive. If you can incorporate water retaining granules into the compost, when you do water the soil keeps moister for longer.

Mulch on beds

Bark chipping’s, gravel, compost, even newspapers and cardboard all act as a mulch, creating a layer to protect the soil below, trapping in moisture and nutrients and helping prevent soil erosion too. Organic mulches like bark chips, coir or compost gradually break down into the soil enriching and improving it. Weeds that grow in a layer of mulch are easier to remove too.

Mulch to manage weeds

Vegetable gardeners are used to the idea of using mulch to help manage weeds. Methods such as ‘no-dig’ encourage the use of layers of different types of mulches to help soil fertility and eliminate perennial weeds, with vegetables planted through the layers.

How to mulch

Depending on the type of mulch you need a thick layer to ensure so soil visible. Before mulching try to remove weeds and in dry conditions water the soil. Spread the mulch in a thick layer freeing any low branches or stems of your plants and getting the mulch close to plant stems.