LD Articles

Mulch is a material that gardeners place over the surface of the soil to help in maintain moisture. Also using the right kind of mulch in a garden can help to improve the condition of the soil as well. In this article we explain a little bit more about the kinds of mulch, Wilmington gardens should be using.

One of the main benefits to be gained from laying down some mulch on exposed areas of soil in your garden is that it can help to protect the plants growing there. Through the use of this material around the plants, shrubs and trees in your garden will help to reduce the amount of moisture being lost from the soil as the weather gets warmer.

As well as preventing moisture from escaping from the soil this material when used can prevent the growth of weeds. But the mulch needs to be applied to the soils surface correctly if it is truly to be affective. If you lay too much or lay the wrong type of mulch you may end up causing more harm to your plants than you thought possible.

When using mulch materials, many gardeners like to use bark, straw, sawdust or leaves on their gardens. However, you need to make sure that when you are applying such materials to your garden you leave space around the base of your plants. This then provides the soil underneath and into which the plants roots have grown to collect the nutrients, water and oxygen the plant needs in order to grow.

Also you need to make sure that the mulch is of a good quality as one that has not been composted correctly can be extremely harmful to the plants. In fact sour mulch as it is known will contain toxins that could actually kill off rather than protect the plants that it surrounds.

Actually how much mulch you lay in your Wilmington garden will depend on the material it is made from and the kind of soil you have in your garden. If the soil in your garden is very sandy then you need to lay several inches (between 3 and 4) on the surface. This will actually then help the soil to retain any moisture far better than if you were to just to put down a couple of inches.

Today you can get purchase materials for using as mulch in the garden from your local nursery or garden center, but can be quite expensive. However, many gardeners now to save money will actually make their own. One way of making your own mulch is to collect the grass clippings each time you mow the lawn and then spread them over the soil. This type of mulch material is best suited for use in vegetable rather than flower gardens as it can be somewhat messy when laid.

If you have an organic garden then you should only be using an organic variety of mulch on it. Most organic mulch, Wilmington gardeners select to use has either been made from the own garden clippings or from trees that have been shredded. Actually making your own can prove much more cost effective than buying the bags from the local nursery or garden center. This kind of mulch also is worth getting for a normal garden as it can enrich the soil underneath as well.