What is Mulching?- Learn About Mulch, Its Benefits, and How it Helps Your Garden

You may be asking questions like, what does mulch do? What is mulch used for? Why should I use mulch for the winter? In this helpful guide, you will learn all there is to know about mulching and its benefits. As a new gardening enthusiast, you may never have heard of ‘mulch’ or ‘mulching. Well, luckily for you, this helpful article will teach you about what mulch is, as well as the benefits it brings to your garden.

What is Mulch?

Mulch is a protective material layer spread over the soil around plants. It provides many benefits like retaining soil moisture, suppressing weeds, erosion control, and regulating soil temperature. It helps insulate and protect plants. It also helps improve soil health by adding nutrients back into the soil and helping to improve its overall structure. Winter mulching is especially beneficial for plants, as it helps insulate them from the cold and helps the plants from drying out from the crisp weather. Mulch can be made from different materials, each with unique characteristics. It’s important to pick the right mulch to help with the goals you may have in mind for your garden.

Types of Mulch That Are Ideal for Winter Use

It is important to choose the right kind of mulch for when winter comes. You want mulch that will help retain moisture and insulate your garden from the cold. Good materials to make mulch are fallen leaves, straw or hay, wood chips, pine needles, or compost. All of these materials will help enrich the soil for your garden. These mulches will effectively protect your plants from harsh weather conditions and help enhance soil health for the upcoming growing season. But how do you make mulch? It is a relatively simple process. For example, all you need to do is gather the material and shred or break it apart before spreading it around your area. The layer of mulch should ideally be 2-4 inches deep. It is best to apply the mulch after several hard forests and avoid piling it against plant stems or tree trunks. This is to prevent rots or plant decay that could happen if they make contact with the mulch. As you can see, it is a fairly easy process. However, if it is for larger properties, it can save you a lot of time and effort if you hire a professional landscaping company that can provide special equipment like mulch blowers, ensure your physical safety, utilize their expert mulching knowledge, and provide high-quality mulching materials.

Long-Term Benefits of Winter Mulching

Mulching also brings long term benefits to your garden besides just through the winter. For example, its benefits for the winter can carry over long-term, like moisture retention, soil health improvement, temperature regulation, and erosion control. Mulching also creates a favorable environment for soil organisms, which helps increase the biodiversity within the mulch ecosystem. Lastly, it helps contribute to a process called carbon sequestration. As the mulch decomposes, it adds carbon-rich organic matter to the soil. This process helps enhance soil fertility and absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which helps mitigate climate change.