Year-round gardening: Mulch is ideal way to reduce watering, enrich soil and suppress weeds | Lifestyle

My garden sure wood be nothing without mulch!

Like choosing the right plant for the right place, mulch should match the conditions and plants growing in your garden. Mulch can be plant-based: compost, shredded bark, wood chips, and dried leaves or grass clippings. Mulch can even be living. Or it can be inorganic (pea gravel).

Knowing a plant’s natural habitat helps guide choices for mulch. Wood mulch is well suited for woodland plants that prefer shade, while succulents and alpine plants prefer well-draining gravel mulch. The reasons for applying mulch are:

• Increase water infiltration, reduce evaporation.

• Protect plant roots and prevent soil compaction.

• Applied to depth of 4 inches, mulch suppresses weeds by blocking sunlight from reaching the soil. Too much mulch, though, can reduce the exchange of oxygen to the soil and prevent water from reaching the soil. Seasonally fluffing organic mulch helps improve water permeability.

• Make garden beds look tidy and more coherent aesthetically.

Consider the site:

• Is it sloped? Consider ground covers as a living mulch that can reduce erosion and will not roll or blow downhill.

• Is the area windy?

• Organic mulch reduces evaporation but requires deep watering to penetrate through mulch to the soil. Drip system emitters should be placed under mulch, next to the soil. Best practices suggest watering less frequently but deeply to promote deep root growth and increase drought resilience rather than frequent short cycles.

• Is the site sunny or shady? Gravel retains heat, increasing soil temperature, which may give plants a boost during shoulder seasons. Studies have shown that gravel mulch should be 11/2 inch diameter or smaller. Larger rocks allow too much evaporation and increase water runoff.

• Some organic mulches heat up during sunny days, but they don’t retain heat at night.

• Sandy soils benefit from organic mulch that adds nutrients and organic matter as it decomposes.

Living mulch:

• Creeping groundcovers lessen the need for mulches by covering the soil and providing the same benefits as other mulch. Choose plants that share similar growing requirements and won’t compete with their companions.

Avoid using landscape fabric or plastic under mulch:

• Plastic inhibits oxygen exchange to the soil. Plastics break down and have to be removed, ending up in landfills

• Fabric becomes clogged so water doesn’t easily penetrate. Weed seeds blow in and grow through fabric, making them more difficult to pull.

• Organic mulch that would otherwise break down slowly, nourishing soil, can’t bind with soil, can more easily blow off, or be swept away by heavy rainfall.

• Avoid covering the crown of plants with mulch, keeping it a few inches from the base of plants. Moisture trapped at the base of plants can introduce diseases. Never create mulch “volcanoes” around trees, rather taper the depth of mulch away from the base of the trunk.

Find more information at CSU Garden Note 245

Using mulch can be an effective way to reduce watering, enrich soil and suppress weeds. What a great set of benefits!

Submit gardening questions to [email protected] or call 719-520-7684. The in-person help desk remains closed for the season.

Submit gardening questions to [email protected] or call 719-520-7684. The in-person help desk remains closed for the season.