Why mulch?
Yes, my entire garden is covered in mulch. This is my second year in this garden. Year one involved A LOT of what we call sand pickers. A grass whose seed is covered in plant based needles. Needles that point out at all angles and get stuck to everything including your flesh. I’d imagine this creation happened after the fall in Eden…because I didn’t read anything about Adam or Eve, whilst they roamed around naked an unashamed, pulling these little beasts out of their fingers and behinds! Also I have total confidence that all God created before the fall was indeed ‘good’ as he said in Genesis. I digress. Not only did we have the aforementioned needle seeds, but we had lots of sand and lots of wind, a lackadaisical waterer (me), and weeds.
As God would bless us, my husband and I started a His Delight Landscaping and Tree Service last year. One of the results of tree service is an abundance of mulch. It all makes sense now no? So we have heaps of the stuff.
Lets talk benefits;
Mulch keeps moisture in the soil, giving you watering forgiveness!
Suppresses weeds, especially when applied in the 3 inch plus range
Keeps roots cool, unlike black plastics
eventually breaks down and can feed the soil, especially if the branches are chipped with green leaves
Drawbacks?
straight wood chips with no green leaves can tie up nitrogen, plants will start to lose their vibrant green and look yellow. You just need to add a splash of Nitrogen, I use organic blood meal.
you have to collect a lot of mulch, just befriend a local tree company and if they are in your neighborhood tell them they can dump a load of chips at your place! They are usually more than happy to do it. Often they have to run a distance to drop.
I had learned a few years back about “Back to Eden Gardening” which is quite similar to what I’ve done here. Though this year I didn’t add any compost (I did last year) and tested the soil with MySoil test kit and followed their recommendations. The results have been a little flabbergasting.
Snapdragons going in!
