Why Mulch Your Pacific Northwest Garden?

Are you mulching? You have seen the bags at your local hardware store, but do you know why you should be buying the bags of mulch? If you haven’t been doing it, you should  consider mulching your flower beds, trees and other plants in your landscaping. Our folks at Greenwood Hardware have some helpful tips for using mulch along with a list of reasons why mulching is best.

What is Mulch?

Mulch is really anything that can be used as a ground cover. Ideally, you will want to use organic materials like bark, shredded leaves, straw or compost. Organic mulch will decompose and enrich the soil while feeding the plants that are in residence. Carbon and nitrogen, which make compost such a lovely addition to the garden, can also be found in decomposing organic mulch. There are inorganic mulching materials that include plastic sheeting or fabric that do a few of the things an organic mulch will do, without the benefit of feeding the soil.

Why Mulch?

Mulch, as was just mentioned above, serves multiple purposes with one of them being making your soil more fertile. Fertile soil is at the heart of any gorgeous flower bed, productive garden or healthy shrubs.

Some other reasons for mulching are as follows:

• Helps soil retain moisture, which means you need to water less often.
• Helps shade shallow root systems that can easily dry out in direct sun and can keep the soil a bit warmer in the early spring and late fall.
• Acts as a weed barrier, making less work for you.
• Keeps the nutrients already in your soil, in.
• Mulch is a great way to protect young seedlings from being over-watered or in a heavy rainstorm. The mulch acts as a prop for the seedlings as well.
• Mulch is a great catchment for fruits and veggies, keeping them off the ground and nice and clean.
• It looks nice!

Mulching is easy and can be done as often or as little as your garden needs. Some things, like leaf waste, will decompose faster and need replenishing throughout the summer. You can make your own compost to use as mulch or head to Greenwood Hardware to pick up bags of mulch that compliment your garden while making your soil even healthier for your plants. Come on in, or contact us today.