How to Use Mulch in your Landscaping or Garden

Mulch is a very important element in a well maintained flower or vegetable garden. It helps for a variety of reasons.

Things You'll Need

• Mulch
• A Garden

Instructions

1. Mulch can be used around your trees, in your flower beds and in vegetable gardens. There are many types of organic mulch and also some inorganic mulch like pebbles and stones or plastic barriers.

2. 

   For your vegetable garden and for flowers coming up from seed it is best to wait until the plants have sprouted and are growing a bit before adding mulch. Otherwise if you mulch too deeply too early you may insulate the ground so it will not warm up when it should to germinate and sprout the seeds. For trees and shrubs and established plants you can apply mulch in the early spring and if needed again in the late fall.

3. 

   Mulch will help keep the moisture in the soil and hold water. This will keep plants roots cool and prevent drying in the hot summer sun. It will also help prevent weeds from sprouting up if the layer is deep enough after your plants are a bit established. For trees and shrubs and also rose bushes mulch will also insulate the roots from hard frosts and winter freezes.

4. 

   Mulch is also decorative. A clean even layer of mulch 1 to 3 inches thick around the base of trees or in the flower garden make for a clean nice look.

5. There are many commercially available mulches. Many communities now have a green waste program to keep organic material like tree prunings and grass clippings out of the landfills. They then create mulch that they sell by the square yard or truck load. You can make your own mulch much like you do compost, only it does not need to be turned and aged as much. I often just use a thick layer of fall leaves around my roses. I often put grass clipping between the garden rows to add nitrogen to the soil and keep down weeds.