After a brutal winter including the polar vortex and snow storm after snow storm your garden and flower beds have taken a beating. One of the best things you can do to get your planting areas ready for a new growing season is to mulch them. Mulching is putting a protective barrier between your plants and the bare soil. Mulch can consist of non-decomposing material including pebbles and stones, recycled tires, black plastic or landscape film. Typical organic mulches that decompose are bark and wood chips from different trees, straw, or pine needles.
Whether you choose longer lasting inorganic mulch, or the more natural organic variety applying mulch and keeping your garden mulched throughout the growing season has several benefits.
Water Retention
Both organic and non-organic mulch helps soil retain water. Limiting evaporation and keeping the plants cooler especially during the heat of summer keeps them healthy and growing all while helping to keep your water bill in check.
Retaining Soil
Mulching helps retain the soil. Rain water erodes bare soil and the harder it rains the more earth is moved. Mulch deflects even the hardest of rainfall keeping your garden and flower beds from washing out.
Weed Control
Mulch is an effective weed control. By blocking out the sun in the open spaces in your garden a thick layer of mulch can stymie the most persistent weeds. Mulching to prevent weeds is labor saving and reduces the need to apply chemicals to your garden.
Adding Nutrients
Maintains and adds to the soil nutrients. Mulching, through erosion control helps the soil maintain its nutrient balance. As they decompose organic mulches actually add natural easy to absorb nutrients to the soil.
Attracting Earthworms
Organic mulch attracts earthworms to your garden. Earthworms aerate the soil improving soil structure making it easier for your plants to use the food you give them.
Garden Filler
Not every inch of the garden has something growing in it. Mulch can fill those blank spots with a attractive filler. Mulch looks natural between plantings, requires little maintenance and doesn’t compete for space, water, sun or nutrients as do other living ground covers.
From playground mulch, color enhanced mulch and nutrient packed leaf mulch, Saunders Landscape Supply can arrange immediate delivery in the Northern Virginia and Maryland area. Check out our website for other landscape supplies we offer as well as our material calculator as you plan this summers landscape projects.