What Is Mulching & Why Is It Important?

What Is Mulching & Why Is It Important?

Landscape design can be very fun and rewarding, especially if you’ve got a decent sized outdoor space to work with. There are a lot of different things that you have to consider when planning a new garden or outdoor space. These include what sort of plants you’re going to include, where you’re going to plant/install certain things, and how you’re going to keep your garden healthy.

In my opinion, mulching is one of the most important parts of designing and maintaining a healthy garden. Mulching has a huge range of benefits, and it’s generally used to make sure that you’re plants are living in a healthy, sustainable environment.

What Is Mulching?

Mulching refers to the action of placing mulch around the base of your plants. Mulch can be anything from composted organic matter to straw or wood chips. It has a range of functions, including keeping moisture in (See: Are you watering your garden right?), reducing the amount of weeds in an area and providing a slow, consistent flow of nutrients to your plants.

Why Should I Mulch My Garden?

Mulching has a huge range of benefits. In general, it will make your garden look better, will make your plants grow better and will reduce the amount of garden maintenance you need to perform. Some of the more specific benefits of mulching include:

Mulch insulates & protects the soil – This is essential for reducing the impact of very hot or very cold weather on your plants’ roots. It will also help prevent evaporation and, in very cold areas, will stop the ground from freezing if the temperature falls below zero.

Mulching will help stop weeds – Weeds are a gardeners worst enemy. If you’ve got a vegetable garden or a flower garden with small plants, you will find that you have to weed regularly just to prevent them from being overtaken. Weeding takes time, and not everyone has enough time to spend hours in the garden every week. Mulching around the bottom of your plants will reduce the amount of weeds growing by preventing germination and by smothering any seeds that do germinate.

Mulching will make your garden healthy – If you use the right kind of mulch, you will find that your garden’s health will improve dramatically with mulching. Mulch provides food for worms and good soil microbes. It releases nutrients into the soil, and prevents erosion of healthy soil.

Final Word

If you’re serious about creating a high quality, low maintenance garden that looks great, then you have to use mulch. Mulching reduces the amount of weeds around your plants, helps improve overall soil health, and helps insulate your plants from sudden extremes in temperature. It will help hold moisture in, and will allow you to water less frequently. Speak to your local landscaping expert for more information!