There are many kinds of other materials you can use for
mulch: corncobs, cocoa shells, rice hulls, etc.
Availability is probably the most important consideration;
the best choice is usually whatever is easiest to find and
least expensive. A good bale of hay can cost $2 or more,
although some farmers will give spoiled hay away. Wood
chips from a nursery can be pricey, but tree trimmers will
sometimes deliver chips to your garden for free.
Just keep an eye out for prospects; you'll be surprised at
how much material is out there.
RELATED CONTENT
When to Mulch
Anytime is the right time to start mulching. Here
in Illinois, I keep a comparatively thin (two-inch) layer
of mulch on my garden most of the year, because in this
climate a thicker mulch during cool seasons would chill
heat-loving plants. Sometimes I rake the mulch off a vacant
bed in order to plant, or to let the soil warm up for a few
weeks before planting (though my thin mulch seldom retards
soil warm-up significantly). I don't mulch my garden deeply
until the weather gets hot and dry. Then I really pile it
on: up to eight inches if I can. Obviously, with short
plants such as lettuce this is difficult, but with
potatoes, broccoli and other tall cultivars it's easy to
do, and the plants love it.
I also adjust my mulching to suit the particular plant. For
example, broccoli prefers cool soil, so I pile mulch on my
broccoli beds early in the season. Tomatoes like it hot, so
I don't mulch them heavily until summer starts to hit
hard—usually June but sometimes as late as July. Of
course, I also throw mulch on any spots where the layer is
thinning out, or where weeds start popping up.
As the season progresses into fall and the weather cools, I
no longer need to add mulch—which is convenient,
since I need the time for harvesting and preserving my
garden's bounty. If I notice a patch of bare soil, I'll put
a little mulch on it, and if a bed seems particularly wet,
I might pull a little of the material off.
By the following spring the mulch, having settled and
decomposed, is no more than a couple of inches thick, but
that's enough to prevent soil gusting and to discourage
early weeds. There's no need to till or plow
mulchconditioned soil, so I don't have to wait several
weeks—as most gardeners do—for the garden to
dry enough to tolerate tines or a plow blade. I plant peas,
lettuce and other cool-loving crops as soon as the ground
thaws in the weak sunlight of early spring.
The Great Moderator
There is no single right depth for mulch, no more than
there is a single best material to use or a perfect time to
use it. You can add mulch or take it away, apply a thin
layer or heap it on thick. More than just a way for lazy
gardeners to avoid tilling and weeding, mulch is a great
moderator—you can use it to adjust soil moisture and
temperature, to protect against frost and drought, to
create just the right conditions for a particular type of
vegetable or flower.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
5 |
Next >>
