Mulch

It is getting to that time of the year when you should be thinking about mulching your trees, garden and beds.

Think of mulch as a blanket, keeping everything underneath nice and warm or cool, retaining the moisture, and stopping erosion.

Obviously as with most blankets it is the top covering, so before you add it make sure all the other goodies needed have already been applied – compost, matured manures, super food etc, then protect it all by covering it up.

Mulching material can be shredded bark, woodchips, old straw, spoilt hay, seaweed, leaves, sugarcane trash, hedge clippings, even sawdust, probably the cheapest option. The best one will depend on where you are using it – in a garden bed, or around a tree for example

If you use straw and soak it in liquid fertiliser before spreading it around, that helps speed everything up. To do that, get a wheel-barrel, put the straw into it, cover with water and liquid fertiliser, let it sit for a few hours or overnight, then apply it over your beds. Almost immediately microbes will get to work breaking it all down, helping to feed your soil. In this way the mulch also becomes part of the soil, not just a blanket sitting on top.

You can often also get good, matured mulch from your local arborist at a great price. They collect it from trees they chop down and store it away to mature. If you make your own, ensure you age it. If you don’t and use it green, it can suck the nitrogen out of the soil. So, stack it up and store it away until the freshness has gone and it has started to decompose

Different areas will require different amounts, but around trees you will need it to be about 50 - 75mm deep.

Just a short one today, but important to do nowish.

Enjoy!

Peter