Gardener’s Guide: An Overview on Mulches and Their Benefits

Using the right tools and ingredients is a necessary step in making sure that you have a healthy garden. Mulch, as one of those ingredients, plays a crucial role in making sure that your lawn stays green and healthy, especially when you’re caring for exotic species of plants or experiencing harsh weather conditions.

Analyzing the benefits of mulch to your green spaces

Mulches are far from just being a decorative addition to your lawn. They also come with various benefits in keeping your garden healthy, such as reducing evaporation rates by shielding the soil from the sun. Aside from that, it can keep soil cooler during colder seasons by acting as an insulator, which lessens the effects of shifting temperature levels on your plants’ roots.

Besides regulating temperature and moisture, mulch also encourages the suppression of weed growth and the prevention of harmful plant diseases. By making it less prone to harmful erosion and drying, it can even give your green spaces a more robust form—resulting in a beautiful and healthy garden that’s perfect for displaying outside.

Differentiating organic and inorganic mulch

Depending on what brand of mulch you buy, they can be composed of different materials. In general, however, mulch can be segregated into two different types: organic and inorganic.

• Organic mulch: These are derived from organic materials that have decomposed over time. As it decomposes, it provides healthy nutrients to the soil, strengthening microorganisms such as mycorrhizal fungi and nitrifying bacteria. At the same time, these will also drive off pathogens that are harmful to your lawn. 

Depending on the kind of mulch you’ll use, replacement intervals may vary as they start decomposing in feeding your lawn. Fortunately, some organic mulches can last as long as one to over four years.

• Inorganic mulch: These types of mulches can be a collection of landscape fabrics, plastics, and even stones. Inorganic mulches are generally harder to install, as many don’t have strong water penetration qualities, thus requiring proper irrigation before laying on. 

Some of these can work as reflective backdrops to confuse pests and insects from landing on your plants, while others are used in tandem with organic mulches for decorative accents.

Understanding how to properly handle mulches

Applying mulch to your lawn isn’t as simple as laying down fertilizer for your soil. If you’re planning to install mulch, here are some general tips that you should consider:

• Avoid placing them against tree bases or plant crowns. Since they maintain moisture levels, this could lead to the development of crown rot. Placing them at the foot of trees and plants, on the other hand, can attract stem-eating rodents.
• Make sure that you don’t apply too much mulch since it can lead to faster decomposition and drying. Because of this, fungi can start growing on your decaying mulch and lead to suffocating your plants of much-needed oxygen. As a rule of thumb, a thickness of one inch of mulch for every three is a safe amount to apply.
• For bark or wood mulches, you should water them thoroughly to keep them from drying. You should also apply nitrogen sources to your garden soil to make sure that you won’t experience any nitrogen deficiencies in your garden. You can make use of urea, blood meals, or high nitrogen lawn fertilizer to supplement your soil’s nitrogen content.

Conclusion

Maintaining a healthy garden can be tricky for beginners. Besides knowing your area’s weathering conditions to the complexities of your plants’ needs, you may end up getting lost in caring for your lawn. The key to keeping a vibrant green space is by being familiar with fundamental gardening practices and using the right materials in helping your growing beds stay rich with healthy nutrients for your plants.

At Classic Landscape, we give our clients the best treatment of their green spaces. Our professional landscapers in Winnipeg are ready to perform both small and large scale landscape renovation projects. Get in touch with us today, and we’ll work with you in redesigning your lawns!