If you are reading this, you may have used mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn’t know there are many other options for organic mulching you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that have been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or wood prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.
Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won’t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this saved water, you won’t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water!
If your garden needs mulching more than your yard, rake up all the grass and transport it to your garden. By making a small layer around the vicinity of the plant, youll apply all the same benefits from leaving it in your yard. My yard is rather green on its own, but I often have trouble with my plants staying green and healthy. So, rather than leave the grass clipping in my yard, I place them around my plants. It is just a matter of choosing what your highest mulching priority is. Note’ it is important to cut before the grass goes to seed, otherwise grass will grow in the garden. A little common sense goes a long way.
Sometimes, pruning activities produce an amazing amount of branches and twigs. If this is the case, you should consider renting a wood chipper to put all of those branches to use. After one day of intense pruning, you would be surprised at just how many branches you end up with. Rather than throw these away or burn them, you can turn them into a huge amount of mulch for your plants. However, if you do not produce a large quantity of pruning bundle it all up and save it to add to the next batch. Chipping machines can be expensive to rent, and you want it to be absolutely worth it!
Over time, organic mulches need to be replenished as they naturally decompose. Remember mulch is a barrier to help reduce loss of nutrients, water from the soil and to suppress weed growth. It is usually a carbon rich source and will remove nitrogen and nutrients form the soil. To prevent problems insure the the soil has plenty of nutrients and organic matter. Usually you can tell for yourself but sometimes it can normal up to the point you start having problems. If you start to notice poor plant growth add fertilizer and more mulch. Always keep in mind that during the process of decomposition, your mulch will use up nitrogen at the soil/mulch interface. Left unchecked the plants will be missing a key nutrient. There are several types of fertilizers available on the market that are specifically designed to deal with this problem. The best practice is to build up the soil before you plant. Then you add your mulch, but remember many plants are resource intensive and need to be fertilized through out the growing season.
The use of mulches in the yard and garden is something everyone should try. Not only can it save lots of time by reducing the amount of organic material you have to transport out, but it increases the healthiness and integrity of your plants by putting what some regard as waste to good use. So if you are able to save branches and twigs for chipping, or if you are ready to stop raking up all your grass clippings, then mulching is for you.