Thursday, July 1, 2021

Work Smarter, Not Harder ....series

 Today I wanted to share another installment of working smarter, rather than harder. I don't know how often I will post these- but for now I thought of something that I knew would fit perfectly under this title so here we go. 

So this year is the first year I have used mulch for my garden and I just have to say that it has made a huge difference. And I am SO thankful that I finally started using mulch. I had heard people talk about it for years but not until this year did I fully understand that it benefits the garden in a multitude of ways. 

So first of all mulch helps retain the moisture. Here in the south it is pretty important to retain the moisture - especially in the raised beds that I do. When you water your garden the moisture will stay there longer when there is mulch on top of the soil. And I am sure the plants appreciate that in the hot sunshine. 

Another great reason to use mulch is that it is a barrier to weeds. With a good layer of mulch on the soil - it will make it harder for the weeds to grow. And after hours and hours of weeding in the garden this turns out to be a great reason in and of itself to use mulch. 

Mulch also adds back some nutrients into the soil when it breaks down. This year I have basically used this stuff that I found at TSC. This 2.5 cubic feet bale runs $14.99.  

Now last year I started doing something and I am sure I shared it with you all and that is that I started working on leaf mould.  This link should take you to the post about it. Anyway basically I ran my mower over leaves - chopped up the leaves and then they went into the mulch bag on my mower and I poured the stuff into my composters. Now when you use dead leaves - it is a great idea to make sure there are some living things put into the bins as well. If you cut grass at the same time - then this will be great. If not each layer would greatly benefit with some greens things chopped up and added.  I think it is said that this stuff takes about 6 months to a year to compost. Anyway this stuff would make a great mulch. And as it decomposes it would feed the soil as well. 

So by using mulch you can retain moisture longer, you have a weed barrier and also put some nutrtion back into the soil. There could be other things it does as well - if you know of other things be sure and leave a comment - I would love to know. And by using mulch you work smarter, not harder! :O) 

1 comment:

  1. I am also trying to use more mulch in my garden! I will take either newspaper sections or cardboard and put that down first. Then water it good, then put down mulch on top of that. It helps keep weeds back more than mulch along.

    ReplyDelete

Hello~ I love getting your comments. I have made a few changes to make things a little easier for you and hoping a more enjoyable experience for both you and I. Have a blessed day! :o)