When spring arrives , nurseryman participate in the one-year ritual of mulching their gardens . Used correctly , mulch profit the garden by holding moisture , cooling the soil , suppress weeds , preventing erosion , and protecting trees and works from harm by mowing equipment . This article will research sort of mulch uncommitted and the right ways to use them in the home landscape .
Organic Mulch
There is nothing new about mulch . Trees have been dropping their leave onto the woodland level , protecting roots and enrich the soil , for millions of years . constitutional mulch are derived from live sources such as leave , pine needle , wood chips , barque , straw , grass clip , or cocoa attic racing shell and mimic the mulching activity of the woodland . Organic mulch eventually decompose , add together nutrient to and becoming part of the soil .
When deciding what form of organic mulch to utilise , see the source of the material . When I bid several local mulch purveyors , I learned that wood mulch can be derived from many source . Landscape rubbish such as trunks , branches and farewell from tree removal and pruning can be shredded into mulch . There is no direction to fuck if pesticides were utilize to trees or bush before they were shredded . Wood waste from construction , include pallets , can be chipped and add together to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree mulch . One provider said they dispatch any nails before come off construction debris wood into mulch . It is harder , if not impossible , to derive the source of mulch when purchase a bagged intersection . Prior to 2004 , wood for constructing decks and play sets was treated with chromated copper arsenate ( CCA ) to protect it from insect and fungal damage . While still used commercially , wood treated with these pesticide is no longer used in residential construction . For more data , see the EPA website : EPA Chromated Arsenicals ( CCA ) . Old treated Mrs. Henry Wood is still in universe but is not to be used in mulch . The Soil and Mulch Council is a trade affiliation with voluntary rank . A seal from the Council on a bag of product certifies the product does not contain wood treated with CCA . For more information , seeSoil and Mulch Council . The buyer still does not have a go at it where or how the mulch was infer or whether other pesticides are present .
Cypress mulch is esteem for its ability to baulk decomposition . usable in bags at big box stores and landscape painting supply retail merchant , its use has become controversial . Cypress mulch is harvested from wetlands in the lower south . These are fragile areas which do not restore quickly , if at all . Some cypress tree are harvested specifically to be release into mulch , and with the decline of their wetland , some environmental group are phone for a boycott of cypress mulch .
Colored mulch is made from wood recycle from construction and demolition situation ( C&D ) and pallets . Very ironic , it absorbs colouration easily . While it is beneficial to repurpose this wood and the dye itself has not been establish to be harmful , there is no way of knowing if the wood itself is foul with toxic substances such as CCAs . The University of Massachusetts has recognize that some grime under colourise mulch has been contaminated with CCAs or other toxic substances .
Leaves , pine needles , and branches chip from your own property are hopefully free of pesticide and herbicides and can be used worry free . Rake and hack leaves from the lawn and open them as mulch ; earmark fallen leaves to appease on the bed . As well as subdue weeds , holding moisture , and enrich the soil , fallen leave of absence also provide a dependable haven for overwinter bees , butterflies , and other louse . As in the forest , unexampled growth will pop up through the mulch in the outflow .
How to put on organic mulch
Expose the root flare . Photo by Deborah Harriman
Inorganic Mulch
Inorganic mulch admit rocks , crushed stone , pea gravel , crushed brick , landscape fabric , charge plate sheeting , gumshoe chips , andrings . Rocks and stones are used in areas where no planting is expected and are themselves consider part of the décor . Stone mulch is not maintenance free as weed can take hold when seed land on top and take base . Pea gravel is notorious for becoming weedy . rock and Stone also have limited ability to hold moisture and do not add nutrients to the grime . They also absorb warmth from the air and can wake up the dirt . This can be prejudicial to organisms and bug dwell in the soil below . Landscape cloth and charge plate sheeting are not used alone as mulch . landscape painting material is used as a understructure beneath mulch . Because it is semi - permeable , water can seep through . Plastic sheeting is impermeable and no water can get through . Not typically used in landscape beds , it is once in a while used under constitutional mulch in paths . Neither of these barriers bring nutrients to the grease , and both forbid worm , insects and bug from moving freely , inhibiting their ability to enhance the soil .
Tree anchor ring and pathways made of rubber are now available in many garden catalogs . I have not found any research set whether rubber material damages the soil or plants , but like charge plate sheeting and landscape painting fabric , safe heats up the grime , potentially damaging wildlife below and adds no nutritional value to the dirt . Rubber also search artificial and out of home in a natural background .
Living Mulch
Using plants to cover the grime is a beautiful alternative to other forms of mulch . In place of invasive ground covers such as genus Liriope , ivy , vinca and pachysandra , consider covering the dirt with aboriginal plants . Allow the aboriginal works to spread by root word , runners and seeds until they enshroud the ground . With a living mulch , gestate a dynamical and convert landscape painting rather than a static bed where every plant life stays where you put it . As the plants expand and grow , they will herd out sens , prevent wearing , and forbid run - off with their inscrutable roots . As a fillip , aboriginal plants furnish solid food for bees , butterfly stroke and other beneficial insects and offer overwintering home ground for them . Using one type of native plant as a ground cover is an selection , but a diversity of plants will create a living landscape , appealing to a variety of insect , birds and other living creatures . Unlike a traditional flush bed , the plant be a living mulch are appropriate to mingle and fill in all of the allotted blank space . Over meter , the garden becomes self - sustaining . The chore will mostly be thinning out plants that become too exuberant or too large for their infinite . With the ground pass over with plants , there is no need to purchase and circularise wood mulch every year .
Tips for using native plant as mulch
When choosing a compounding of native plants , base your selection on which plants farm well in the same conditions – moist or teetotal , sun or shade . Rather than just squeezing in works close together , be aware of their habits so they will nestle appropriately as they age . Unless you desire a monoculture , avoid plants that are rearing spreaders and can not share a space . Low - develop ground covers , whether used alone or in combination to make a arras are always appropriate . Another option is to plant in level , incorporate some improbable flora that look in force in all seasons with curt plant taking the stage later , and ground overcompensate weaving through . test for a sequence of bloom , with new industrial plant arising as others decrease . Under an oak tree in my garden , creamy violet ( Viola striata)is the ground cover base . Pussy toe ( Antennariaplantaginifolia)grows in a sunnier , bumpy sphere near the driveway , and woodland stonecrop ( Sedum ternatum)mingles along the edge . blank wood aster ( Eurybia divericata)provides a low , green ground cover behind the violets in early spring . It matures to two feet in summertime and play white efflorescence August through September . spike of dreary - stemmed goldenrod ( Solidago caesia)bloom in the fall . In a gay area , achieve the same effect by mime a meadow or grassland . Sun - loving milkweed ( Asclepias ) , dim eyed susan ( Rudbeckia hirta ) , and goldenrod ( Solidago ) can be stress with the spike of a grass such as little bluestem(Schisachyricum scoparium).In a moist country , depart the plantings with bee balm ( Monarda),Joe Pye mourning band ( Eutrochium),and blue ageratum ( Conoclinium coelestinum ) . In a new planting , mulch the area with wood chips or leaves until the plants fill in . In a timber area , reserve fallen leaf to ride out on the reason , providing a lifelike mulch . Do not cut back stems of live mulch in the fall . Plants left in property after they halt grow provide winter interestingness and put up ejaculate to shuttle and winter sites to worm . Wait until the soil is lovesome in the spring to do a concluding cutting back to protect any creature over - wintering in stems . If possible , trim down the stems into small-scale piece and leave them in place as more mulch .
Refer to these situation to learn which native flat coat covers are suitable for your area :
Plant Virginia Natives
MGNV Native Ground Covers
Piedmont Master Gardeners The Garden Shed : breed the Soil With Native Plants
Summary :
Featured Photo : Deborah Harriman
source :
Colored Bark Mulch , UMass Amherst
Mulch – A Survey of Available Options
Mulching Trees and Shrubs , U Maryland Extension
Should I Boycott Cypress Mulch ? Michigan State University reference
Springtime Mulching , Virginia Cooperative Extension
