Spring in suburbia is evident together with large piles of mulch that your neighbors dump in their driveways. While installing mulch seems like simple process, house owners use so much mulch on their landscape beds they will create an environment that is detrimental to the health of the plants which they attempt to nurture.
One can’t help but cringe when viewing a ‘volcano’ of mulch installed around a tree. Take a look at will discuss right methods of installing mulch and the various types of mulch to use (and not to use).
The purpose of mulch is actually conserve moisture and inhibit weed development in planting beds and plants. Mulch is also valuable in regulating soil temperatures; soil will stay cooler in the summer and warmer on the winter along with a layer of mulch. Organic mulches may improve the soil quality as they break across. Mulch has also become a decorative aspect in many areas. When installing mulch, follow these basic guidelines for that health of your plants:
– Never use more than 3-4″ completely of mulch. When re-mulching, keep whole depth under 4″ and consider even 2-3″ as plenty. Remove the old mulch if necessary, or minimally break down the old mulch if enables become matted. Too much mulch is worse than no mulch. Excessive mulch may dried the upper root zone of plants and cause plant roots to grow upwards into the mulch.
– Never pile mulch directly with the stem of plants- rather pull the mulch back several inches to produce a mulch-free small area around the stem. Mulch piled against the stem of a typical plant can cause rotting, and invites disease and damage from insects.
– Weed barrier under mulch often causes more problems than benefits. The inhibition of water and oxygen are two major causes. Also, weeds will eventually root in the mulch and into the weed barrier, causing big problems once the weeds are pulled.
– Use caution when using processed sewage sludge (Earthlife, Earthmate). While these typically the darkest of mulches, they are also rich in nitrogen and can cause excessive growth as well burning of your plants. These types of are best used to be a soil amendment in limited quantities. Many tests show these products to contain heavy metals- so keeping it out of the vegetable gardener.
There are a variety of types of mulch on offer. Ground up hardwood, bark mulch, and dyed mulches are preferred. Pine bark, Cypress and pine straw most likely popular in the south. Stone may be also used, having said that it is more maintenance actually term with cleaning debris from between stones significant nuisance.
Cheap Georgia Mulch
3000 Trotters Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 637-9147