Your garden is a living and breathing entity that responds to your love and care for it. Neglect it and it will wither away, but take some time to look after it and you can easily create a beautiful garden for the whole family to enjoy. As such, it’s important to learn all about the different techniques that you can employ in order to take better care of your garden.
One such technique is known as mulching. This aims to improve the soil around your plants, but can also give your garden a very neat and clean appearance. It can also reduce the amount of time you spend on tasks like weeding and watering, and it can also help your plants thrive in hot and dry summers. So in this post, let’s take a closer look at mulching and what it can do for your garden.
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What exactly is mulch?
Mulches are sheets of material placed on top of cultivated soil. Mulches are often applied to bare soil or used to cover compost in containers. Mulch can help the soil retain moisture during dry months, it can suppress weeds, improve the texture of soil and even deter certain garden pests.
Mulch can also be used to improve the overall appearance of your garden. Some people really enjoy the aesthetic appearance of mulch and it can be applied to a large area of your garden with relative ease. It’s also a great way to reuse certain recycled materials such as tree trimmings and wood chips, making it an environmentally-friendly way to improve your garden.
Choosing organic or synthetic mulch
There are two main types of mulch; organic and inorganic.
Organic mulches are generally made from things like hardwood chips, grass clippings, leaves and pine. Inorganic mulches are usually made from pebbles, rocks, plastics or even rubber mats. Organic mulch is often cheaper but deteriorates, meaning you need to replace it on a regular basis. The appearance of mulch can also affect your purchase decision. We suggest looking at companies such as Edrich Lumber, Inc. and contacting them about different mulch options to see what they have available and their pricing.
What are the benefits of mulch?
Mulch comes with many unique benefits, but most people use mulch in order to help the soil retain moisture. This means that you don’t need to water your mulched areas as often and it can help during dry months. Organic mulch can also be used to enrich your soil over time as it breaks down. This is especially important if the fertility of your soil is already rather poor.
You’ll also find that mulch can repel certain types of garden pests like gnats and fleas. However, you’ll need to look at different types of mulch in order to see these benefits. Cypress, cedar and pine wood tends to be better at keeping pests at bay. Lastly, mulch can also help you reduce the appearance of weeds, giving you an effective and simple way to control their growth.