The City Gardener: Much ado about mulch

Article content

Mulch gives your garden a tidy appearance, and a lot more

Mulch – organic or inorganic material used to cover the soil in a flowerbed – has so many benefits that it surprises me how few city gardeners use it.

Recommended Videos

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

The City Gardener: Much ado about mulch Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

 Mulch retains and moderates moisture in the soil, reduces frost heaving in winter, prevents puddles and soil compaction during heavy rains, and slows evaporation during dry spells.

It makes the gardener’s job easier by suppressing weeds, and any weeds that do manage to sprout are easily nabbed when you do your garden rounds.

Depending on the type of mulch you use, it can also add nutrients, but I feel its main nutritional benefit is simply air – since it keeps the soil relatively soft and fluffy and moderates temperature extremes. (Earthworms love mulched gardens, and will help with aeration and add a little natural compost too.)

I also love the look of a nicely mulched flowerbed; it just looks so neat and cared for. But I know some people feel exactly the opposite: that it looks too artificial and public-park-like.

If you fall into this camp, there are several alternatives to natural orangey-brown shredded cedar mulch that work just as well.

Cedar mulch comes in other colours (using vegetable dyes that break down harmlessly). Dark brown is my personal favourite; it not only resembles rich loamy soil, it makes a beautiful backdrop for flower displays. There’s also black (gorgeous in a Modernist garden), or even fanciful shades like bright red and green.

 But if shredded cedar’s just not your thing, you could use bark chips, which look great surrounding the base of trees; shredded paper; straw or grass clippings; or even stones or gravel.

Ideally, mulching is the final step in your spring gardening routine, after topdressing or adding compost. I say ideally, because I don’t always have time to finish the whole job by the end of May!

But fortunately, a healthy garden is forgiving, and as long as the soil is in good shape and not too dry, you can mulch at any time during the growing season with good results – even in the fall.

 Don’t just dump it on the bed and spread it out, though. If you used it last year, start by cleaning up the remains of last year’s mulch first, along with any trash or weeds.

If the soil surface is compacted, rough it up a little with a hand rake or trowel. You don’t want the bed to be too wet or too dry, but if it is bone-dry, you might want to water.

 The instructions on the bag say to put down a layer three or more inches thick, but in a small flowerbed, a two-inch blanket is fine.

I pull it out of the bag one fistful at a time, spreading it gently with my fingers and working progressively across the bed, but you can use a trowel or even pour out the bag a section at a time, whatever you find easiest.

Just make sure you leave a bare ring about an inch or two away from the stems of growing plants to avoid any danger of rot.

 If you add new plants after the mulch is down, gently push it back before you begin digging. I try to avoid getting dirt on the mulch for aesthetic reasons, but you want to avoid getting mulch into your planting hole; it’s not very nutrient-rich and it’s quite acidic, both of which you don’t want around a new plant. Once the plant is in and well watered, tidy things up with a bit of new mulch, if needed.

Please feel free to write in with questions to comment or to share your own city gardening adventures at marthasgarden07@gmail.com.