Mulch is delicious: for your garden, that is.
If you could take a supplement that would keep all of the vitamins you eat working hard over a longer time, you’d do it in a flash. This is the job of mulch in your garden. It adds a protective layer to your garden over the winter, so all of the soil fertility you’ve created in your garden does not go to waste in the winter snow and rain.
Frost, snow, and rain can be hard on your soil. Of course you want your soil to be moist, but when torrential rains or excessive snow melt hit, your soil is more than moist, it’s sodden. Sodden, muddy soil moves out of your garden beds and into the surrounding landscape. It may even run off into waterways. Keep your soil and its nutrients around by providing fall and winter mulch for your garden.
Mulch has other benefits in the winter time. It keeps your soil warm, which works to keep tender shrubs and other perennials alive in the winter. As winter turns to spring, a thick layer of mulch also prevents early spring weeds from getting a root-hold in your garden.
How do you mulch? Mulch is simply a layer on your garden. How you mulch depends on what you are mulching. Annual plants like to have mulch that protects soil nutrients over the winter and decomposes early in the spring, just in time for you to plant a new generation. Leaves and grass clipping break down quickly and act as a good mulch for annuals.
Perennial plants have other needs. For these plants, mulch keeps the soil intact and a little warmer. Hay or stiff leaves work well. They let some water through but do not form a thick, impenetrable layer.
Do you mulch for the winter? What do you use?