Garden Tips Newsletter
Fall is a Good Time to Mulch
September 22, 2008
Fall is a good time to re-apply mulch. As you begin to tidy up the garden, removing old foliage and seed heads, consider putting down a fresh layer of mulch—particularly if you did not apply mulch to your beds this spring.
The benefits of mulching just cannot be stressed enough. Although getting it hauled in and applied to all landscape beds is one of the more strenuous garden activities, it is well worth the effort involved. It makes everything look fresh and sets off or frames your plants. I don’t know of anything that gives the impression your garden is well tended more than a fresh application of mulch—even if it is not! Besides all the esthetic benefits, it retains moisture, moderates soil temperature and helps control weeds.
Mulch should be 4 to 6 inches deep in most cases. Do not pile the mulch directly next to the trunks of trees or shrubs or the crowns of herbaceous plants. Shredded bark or pine needles work best where rain may tend to wash the mulch as these types of mulch tends to stay in place. For other more level areas, pine bark, chips or other types could be used. I prefer organic mulches as these over time will decompose and add to the organic content of the soil.
Do not mulch beds where you rely on reseeding plants, such as spider flowers, poppies, larkspur, hollyhocks, to repopulate the beds.
Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes Garden Tips weekly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.