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Master Gardenersm Column for the Week of April 29, 2002
Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman
Brunswick County Extension Master Gardenersm Volunteer

MULCH FOR THE LANDSCAPE AND VEGETABLE GARDEN

One of the most valuable practices is to use mulch in your landscape or vegetable garden. Mulches can add organic matter to the soil, reduce soil blowing and washing, suppress weeds, and keep the soil moist and cool. Grass clippings, sawdust, straw, and compost make very good mulches.

The mulches are easy to apply. Simply put a 3- to 6-inch layer of one of these materials on the soil surface around your plants. Make sure the layer is deep enough to do the job, keeping the layer deep enough at all times. Add new mulch as necessary.

Mulching with grass clippings is a good way to dispose of some of your yard debris. However, you may need to mix the grass with other mulch materials to keep it from packing down and preventing water from entering the soil.

Sawdust makes a better mulch if it is well rotted, or if you add 1-2 cups ammonium sulfate or sodium nitrate to each bushel of fresh sawdust before applying. Weed-free straw is excellent, but it may be unsightly to some, and loose straw can be a fire hazard.

Compost is probably the best mulch you can use, and you can make it yourself from leftover plant materials from your garden.

Mulches prevent loss of moisture from the soil by evaporation. Sun and wind hasten the loss of moisture.

Falling rain is dissipated on mulched soil, and there will be less soil erosion and compaction. Mulches suppress weeds, which will save you lots of work. You may have an occasional weed poke through, but that is easily taken care of.

Mulch will keep the feet of your plants cool even under hot, intense sunlight. Many plants, including flower and vegetable gardens, need a cool surface soil.

Grass clippings and compost add organic matter to the soil and furnish food for earthworms, which aerate the soil. Organic matter keeps the soil crumbly and easy to work. At the end of the growing season, work the mulch into the soil to supply organic matter the following year.

If you mulch around perennials in the winter, remove it in the spring to let the soil warm up. Use new mulch for the summer season.

Other mulches include black plastic, landscape fabric, and newspapers; bark and pine needles are also common mulch material.

Send your gardening questions or comments to: Brunswick County Master Gardener Column, P.O. Box 109, Bolivia, NC 28422, or call (910) 253-2610. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope if requesting information or a reply. Answers may be printed in this column.

Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.

For further information or assistance, please e-mail:
Charlie Spencer, Brunswick County Extension Master GardenersmVolunteer

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Date Created 10/8/2002