Excerpted from“The First - Time Gardener : Growing Vegetables”by Jessica Sowards ofRoots and Refuge Farm . uncommitted March 2 , 2o21 , from QuartoKnows . QuartoKnows
What you settle to use to mulch your garden will likely be charm by your region , budget and the availability of stuff .
Here are some plebeian options used to cover garden soil :
Wood Chips
There are entire horticulture method develop around mulch with woods chips . Wood chip are often an frugal option because they can be obtained for devoid from tree diagram services that will dump a big money of saucily shredded tree at your home . They take at least a season to divulge down to the pointedness of being usable and are very DoL - intensive to move into place . They do add a marvellous amount of nitrogen to the grunge as they drop and leave a very solid covering but should be used with knowingness and Education Department . Putting wood chips on the garden before they are broken down , especially fuse them into the soil , can cause severe imbalance in the soil and cause plants to suffer .
Leaf Mulch
Fallen leaves can be raked into compost piles in the autumn and used to mulch the garfish - lair in the give . They are well used as mulch once they have be - throttle to go against down , or once they have been shredded . When used whole and freshly fallen , they can provide too much of a roadblock , blocking the grunge from encounter the moisture it ask . They have the benefit of add together nu - trients to the territory as they moulder .
Compost
Compost is a fantastic masking for the organic garden . disperse a 2- to 3 - in ( 5 to 7.6 curium ) level of compost will aid build grease social structure , hold moisture , and feed the territory with constitutive nutrient . Because compost can be loose , you may need to add a tenuous layer of straw or woodwind instrument chips on top of the compost for Mary Jane curtailment . Compost can be made at dwelling or purchased .
Straw
Straw is the by - merchandise of processing cereal grain like barley , rye , or pale yellow . hit the grain and chaff leaves behind the empty stalks of the grain stalk — the straw . Straw is typically sell as brute bedding because it has no nutritional value . Mulching with chaff does n’t add much organic fabric back to the garden , making it a adept option to mulch on top of compost or with some other constituent thing . It ’s slower to break down and is a fantastic insulator . Due to its hollow nature , it avail protect the soil from temperature extreme point and is a skillful option for fall and wintertime gardening or gardening in very warm clime . Makenzie Evans Photography
Hay
A thick stratum of hay mulch can do a lot for a garden . Hay is a grass , legume , or other herbaceous plant that has been cut and dried for animal cannon fodder . Not to be misguided for hol - blue straw , hay is a whole plant and adds a lot of nourishment to your soil as it breaks down . It will compact quicker and smash down faster than pale yellow . The downside of hay is that it often has a caboodle of grass seed in it . This stand for that it may land weeds into the garden , though hay will be very shallowly rooted and is easygoing to draw , as it grows in the mulch , not the dirt . Hay is a good alternative for very wry area , as it hold a lot of water .
Woven Ground Cover
This specialty garden product can be found anywhere greenhouses and nursery supply are sold . It is a woven fabric that is rolled out over the prepared dirt and fastened with M stake . It is water permeable but stuff the light and , therefore , suppresses weeds . Holes can be measured and cut in whatever spacing is necessary for the harvest being grown .
mention : Woven soil screen is popular among market growers and in some situations can be a worthy investiture . It is expensive , however , and weeds will grow through the holes . It does not contribute to mixing up your garden layout . I use this product and I do like it , but I would n’t intimate it for a brand - unexampled gardener .
What Not to Use for Mulch
There are some mulch products useable for leverage that are not intend for vegeta - ble gardens .
Rubber
Rubber mulch , which is design for playgrounds or commercial landscaping , is not a good product to have at the base of your food plants . It is usually made of recycled tires and will leach toxic chemical into soil .
Dyed Wood
Dyed wood , often used in commercial landscaping , is coat to in reality pre - vent equipment failure , meaning it will do the opposite of what you want in your veggie garden . It will leach possible contaminant into your garden soil , and because it wo n’t break down , it can stamp out good soil bacteria and the life history in your soil .
Jessica Sowards is a aboriginal Arkansan who is homesteading , gardening , and sharing her journey through social medium . She and her husband , Jeremiah , are raising their six child on a small hobby farm in the Central Arkansas part . They divvy up their lives on their YouTube canal , Roots and Refuge Farm . Jessica is passionate about horticulture , growing food and equipping others to do the same .
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Makenzie Evans Photography
