Garden mulching - All about lawn mulch

Lawn mulch can benefit your garden in many ways. First, it can enhance the look, especially when using a light or neutral-colored mulch around colorful plants. Two, it helps protect your plants. Mulching keeps weed growth limited, reducing the risk of weeds choking your plants out. It also acts as a cushion for mechanical damage caused when using mowers or weed eaters nearby. Finally, it benefits from the soil by retaining moisture and maintaining temperature. Depending on the type of mulch used, it can even add nutrients to the soil. A common problem with mulching is overuse. When you put too much mulch, roots may start to grow in mulch instead of in the soil. Since mulch does not have the large number of nutrients and beneficial bacteria found in the soil, this can lead to poor plant growth. Generally, you should expect to use one to three inches of mulch for shrubs, trees and ground cover. For ornamental plants, a layer of 1 inch will usually suffice. Mulch Collegeville, pa sometimes needs to be refilled as it degrades over time. However, try to keep the height of the layer uniform when refilling. Be careful not to dispose of too close to a plant's base or trunk. This can cause decay or damage to the plant. Plastic should not be used during mulch as it can dry out the soil. Purchasing mulch can be a problem area. Mulch is typically sold by the Cubic farm. If you don't know how to calculate your mulching needs, you may end up with too much or too little for the job. Measure the area you plan to mulch, multiply the length by the width to get the area. Multiply the area by how many inches you plan to put, typically one to three. Take the number you get and divide it by 324 to get the number of cubic feet of mulch you need to buy. So if you had a garden of 15 feet by 15 feet, the area would be 225 square feet. If you plan to put 2 inches of mulch, you would get 450. When divided by 324, you would find that you need to buy about 1.4 cubic feet of mulch. Once you know the amount of mulch you need, it's time to consider the type of mulch you want to use. These can vary from wood chips of different types to hay or leaves. Plastic compound should not be used as it does not degrade. It can also retain too much moisture, leading to mildew or root rot. Choose an organic mulch whenever possible.