With springtime in full swing, you may be preparing to freshen up your flowerbeds with new plantings and a healthy layer of mulch. In addition to giving your garden a neat, finished appearance, mulch also offers important practical benefits, preventing weed growth and helping the soil retain moisture.
If you’re not careful with your mulching technique, however, you may not receive all these benefits in your garden. Today we’ll address a few common mulching mistakes to avoid this year.
Using too Much Mulch
When mulching flowerbeds, try to spread an even layer of mulch that’s about 2-3 inches thick. Using too much mulch can put unnecessary stress on your plants’ root systems and even suffocate them in some cases. Mulch is an important component of a healthy garden, but you can have too much of a good thing.
Creating Mulch Volcanoes
Mulch is good for trees, too, but not when it’s piled in dense cones around their trunks. These are called mulch volcanoes, and they can do more harm than good. Instead of piling mulch up against a tree’s trunk, spread it out around the tree to create a wide, low basin. This will promote healthy water retention in the tree’s roots and prevent fungal growth and decay on the trunk.
Using Free Mulch
This time of year, you may see landfills and waste departments offering cheap or even free mulch, but these deals are rarely as good as they seem. Free mulch from an unreputable source may contain pesticides, weed seeds or insects that can damage your plantings. Instead of going for the cheapest option, choose quality mulch such as a shredded hardwood bark from your local garden supply store.
Neglecting to Mulch at All
At some point, you may start to wonder if you can get away without mulching your garden this year. While you can technically plant a garden with out mulch, it will be far more prone to weed growth, erosion and sediment runoff. Plus, a fresh layer of mulch will help fertilize the soil when it starts to break down at the end of the growing season. This way, your flowerbeds will remain healthy and ready to plant again next year.
Need a hand in your lawn and garden this season? The team at Brother Tree would be happy to help. Just give us call or contact us online today to get started!