Look! Pretty flowers! It must be a blog post all about pretty flowers...

See what I did there?  That's right, I lured you in with a pretty picture of flowers when really what I want to talk about is MULCH!  But, you know, it doesn't look that pretty - or sound particularly attractive - hence the subterfuge.

However as unappealing as it may sound, mulch is quite simply the most important element of a successful family garden.

Why?  Well, you know when the sun shines, and you suddenly remember that a) you have a garden and b) you rather fancy relaxing or playing in it, mulching is what allows you to do just that. 

That's because the act of covering your beds in a thick layer of organic compost (my favourite form of mulch) at this time of year means that you've trapped in all the moisture for the rest of the season.  So guess what? You don't have to water the borders (unless you've just planted them) and that's saved you hours of traipsing around with watering cans or watching the water meter dial creep up at an alarming rate.

Oh, and pure organic matter is not a happy place for weed seeds.  Too much of a good thing if you will. Which means less weeds and, in turn, at least eighty percent less weeding (actually I completely made that figure up but you get the gist - less weeding; more lying about on a hammock).

Plus the compost will gradually be taken down into the earth by worms to improve your soil and feed your plants. This means everything will thrive and friends and family will gaze in wonder and say things like "oh your anemones are a triumph, Sylvia - how do you do it?" (well, they will if you find yourself trapped in an Agatha Christie novel anyway).

In fact, there is almost no down side to mulching.  Oh, except when you need to find time to do it.  Or when you don't quite catch the lorry driver in time and he piles the bags of mulch on top of each other and you find yourself filling wheelbarrows from three metres up.  Apart from that it's a doddle.

 

 

Comments

[allotmentmum]

Thanks for the reminder - must do some mulching. If only I'd bothered stirring the compost, I might actually have some!

[Fiberon]

Very interesting.

I never realised that Mulch was actually compost?

I always thought that mulch was a totally separate organic product.

I have never really utilised compost and have been advised many times to use it - I think this year I will experiment and see if my garden improves.

[Dawn]

Allotment mum - you and me both. I never get mine turned often enough which is why I often ship in my compost.

Fiberon - mulch refers to the job it does- i.e. a layer of material laid on top of the soil - so it could be bark chippings, pebbles, or many different things, but a good organic compost (such as a spent mushroom compost) is by far the best thing to use in my opinion. And well rotted garden compost is also a useful one.

[Esther Montgomery]

This isn't exactly about mulch but you might know what to advise. I've some very good, home-made compost. If I lay it on the surface around plants which could do with a tonic but wouldn't like to be disturbed . . will rain and watering take the goodness down to them or will the sun bleach it away and make the black, hard blobs it turns it into (if left on the surface neat) simply unsightly instead of useful?

[Dawn]

Hi Esther - rain can indeed dissolve some of the nutrients out of the compost and yes, they will then be going into the soil in a soluble form which will make it easy for plants to absorb. And no - I don't think the sun will bleach anything away. Also, hopefully, come the autumn, when things get wetter, the hard lumps should soften which would make them easier for the worms to then incorporate the organic matter into the soil which will improve its structure. See - it's win, win, win!

[Esther Montgomery]

Thanks - compost ready in wheel barrow. Will start spreading. (Makes me feel a bit like a farmer!)