Mulch Music

How mulch can make your garden sing

Mulch is an invaluable aid to good gardening. Applied to the soil surface, it keeps wind and sun from baking the soil, helps conserve water, reduces runoff and moderates soil temperatures. Mulches also help control weeds, and can even prevent insects that over-winter in the soil from emerging to lay their eggs on new plants. And in an indirect way, they can help prevent diseases, which attack plants stressed by pressure from insects and wind competition. Mulches can really add to the beauty of a garden, too.

There are two broad categories of mulches: Natural and man-made.

Natural mulches include bark, compost, peat moss, pine needles, dried lawn clippings, leaf, mold and sawdust. These natural mulches don't last as long on the surface as man-made types, but they're great for improving the organic content of the soil as they break down. Mulches of this type are usually raked over the soil surface to a depth of one to four inches. The area above some perennial plants may have to be temporarily cleared to allow them to germinate.

Man-made mulches include landscape fabrics, dark or clear polyethylene film, aluminum foil, and biodegradable paper. They usually come in large rolls; the material is rolled out and pinned down at the edges. Holes are punched through for planting, while weeds are unable to grow in the surrounding areas. Man-made mulches tend to keep the soil warmer in winter and of course, they last longer. The type of mulch you choose will depend on where it's going, what you want to achieve with it, and its appearance in the garden.

Ask your garden centre for a recommendation if you're not sure.