Much Ado about MULCHING

MULCHING IS ESSENTIAL TO A SUCCESSFUL GARDEN.

- BY JESSICA WALLISER

Without a doubt, the most important chore I perform in my garden is mulching. I'm religious about it. I have to be, because without mulch, I'm like a gardening Sisyphus, forever chained to the mundane and never-ending tasks of weeding and watering.

With a healthy layer of mulch in place, however, I can readily turn away from the toils of hand-hoeing and sprinkler-moving, and take on more entertaining and productive duties, such as sowing more seeds and putting up more pickles. In other words, when I properly mulch, I get to spend more time doing the stuff I actually enjoy.

Mulching isn't always easy. It takes time and energy, planning and sometimes money. It's all well-spent, though, because come midsummer, you won't be up to your neck in weeds, lugging around the hose and swearing that next year you're going to do it differently.

MULCH DEFINED

The term “mulch” can be applied to any product placed on top of the soil to suppress weeds, conserve soil moisture, regulate soil temperature and help control erosion. Defined as such, mulch can be made of just about anything — even rocks, plastic or shredded rubber tires.

But just because these products can be used as mulch, doesn’t mean they should. For me, quality mulch goes above and beyond the standard definition. Good mulch also adds organic matter, builds soil fertility, creates an attractive backdrop for plants and aids in the creation of good soil structure. In other words, the right mulch looks good, feels good and does good.

Choosing the best mulch for any particular garden area may seem like a daunting task. There are lots of factors to consider before piling anything on top of your soil. For many gardeners, the decision is made simpler by first examining the traits of the area in need of mulching and the plants growing there.