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 King's
Lawn Care Service
Serving Rogers, AR & surrounding areas.
Lawn Care Info
Our Mowers:
Benefits
of mulching you lawn clippings:
Mulching brings
big benefits to gardening
Mulching certainly is not a new gardening practice. I frequently extol
the virtue of organic mulches in maintaining soil moisture, suppressing
weeds and improving the soil.
The technical
definition of a mulch is any material that provides protection or improves
the soil.
In addition
to helping decrease surface evaporation and weed control, mulches also
can improve water penetration, moderate soil temperature fluctuations,
protect shallow-rooted plants from cold temperature injury, guard against
frost-heaving from successive freezing and thawing, and improve soil structure
and nutrient availability.
There are two
basic types of mulch - organic and inorganic.
Organic mulches
are plant derived and include wood chips, bark chips, straw, grass clippings,
sawdust, seed hulls, pine needles and even crushed corncobs and grape
crushings.
Inorganic mulches
are inert and include both man-made materials - such as plastic film,
polyester fabric, and fiberglass - and natural materials, such as crushed
lava-rock and gravel.
What is the
ideal mulch for your yard or garden?
Characteristics
to look for in a landscape mulch are:
-- It's attractive
and uniform in color and particle size.
-- It's not
a fire hazard.
-- It doesn't
blow away easily.
-- It breaks
down relatively slowly.
-- It allows
good movement of air and water, and it doesn't compact readily.
-- It's weed
free.
In the vegetable garden,
most of us probably don't have to be as particular about the appearance
of the mulch,
but in return, we want a temporary mulch that provides some measure of
weed control and helps improve the soil with added organic matter.
We also want
a mulch that doesn't rob nitrogen from the soil when it's turned under
and starts to decay.
High carbon or "brown" materials, like sawdust and straw, will
lead to nitrogen tie-up in the soil.
For effective weed
control, most mulches should be applied at a depth of 3 to 4 inches. Looser,
more open materials,
such as straw or pine needles, should be applied at a depth of 6 inches.
One cubic yard of most mulching materials
will provide a 3-inch layer over a 100-square-foot area.
Materials that have
a tendency to compact or mat, should be applied in thinner layers. Keep
all mulches at least
six inches away from the base of woody plants. This prevents injury to
the tree trunk from freezing and thawing.
It also avoids problems with excessive moisture right at the tree base
and will deter rodents, which might reside in the
mulch, from eating the bark.
Let's talk about the
good and bad points of some of the most commonly used mulches in area
landscapes and gardens.
Bark: In my opinion,
bark is the best mulch for landscapes. It's attractive, it allows good
movement of water and air,
and it helps add organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.
While bark gradually
does decay and loses its nice earthy brown color, it easily can be renewed
with a top
layer of bark every couple of years.
Bark also moderates
soil temperatures and keeps the roots of young landscape plants cooler
during hot
summer weather.
I'm partial to medium-sized,
shredded bark, but others prefer the bark chips or chunks.
I believe the shredded bark is less likely to blow away,
and it looks more natural to me. Bark also tends to be somewhat expensive,
but I think it's worth it.
Black plastic: For
years, black plastic was touted as our weed-control savior, but alas,
it had some
undesirable features, which has led to its drop in popularity.
First of all, black
plastic tends to deteriorate with time because of exposure to heat and
ultraviolet radiation.
Once it starts to break apart, it no longer controls weeds effectively,
and it often becomes an eyesore.
If the plastic is
covered with mulch, it's difficult to remove the plastic.
Plastic also does
not provide for good air and water movement into the soil. In many landscapes,
it has been detrimental to the development of healthy root systems.
Weed-barrier fabrics:
Woven polyethylene and spun-bonded polyester fabrics have replaced black
plastic
on the garden store shelf. These generally are easy to apply, and they
do reduce weeds. Most are treated to
withstand ultraviolet radiation and generally last longer than black plastic
in the garden, especially when
covered with a mulch.
Unlike plain black
plastic, most allow good movement of water and air into the soil.
Their drawback is they tend to be fairly expensive and eventually they
do deteriorate.
I like to use weed
barrier fabrics in the vegetable garden.
Three years ago, I bought one of the fabrics, and it disintegrated in
less than a month.
Last year, I bought
a different brand and was much happier. It's held up well, and I was able
to use it again this year,
even after its exposure to full sun for a year.
I find the fabrics
very useful for controlling weeds in with my vine crops, like tomatoes
and squash. It also keeps
the fruit from direct contact with the soil.
Grass clippings: For
those still collecting them instead of recycling them by leaving them
on the lawn, grass clippings
are an inexpensive mulch that can be very useful in vegetable and flower
gardens.
Breaking down rapidly,
grass clippings also add organic matter and nitrogen to the soil. Grass
clippings should be
allowed to dry before using them as a mulch. It's also important not to
apply grass clippings too thickly,
because they tend to compact and mat badly.
If the grass clippings
come from a weedy lawn, you may be introducing weeds into your garden
with the clippings.
Lava rock, stone,
gravel: I find rock mulches an abomination - in most cases. Used alone,
they don't provide
effective weed control, especially for weedy grasses. They don't moderate
soil temperatures.
In fact, they can
lead to very high soil temperatures and damage the roots of landscape
plants,
especially younger plants and shallow rooted species.
They also can raise
temperatures around plants and create a higher water demand on them.
As you can guess, I find rock mulches aesthetically displeasing - they
just don't look natural.
To me, their only
positive points are they are not a fire hazard and they don't blow away
in the wind.
Rock mulches probably should be used in areas where wildfire is a persistent
threat.
Pine needles: For
some reason, gardeners think pine needles should be avoided.
For those with access to pine needles as a mulch, go ahead and use them.
They're attractive, and they don't compact.
They are an excellent winter mulch for strawberries and tender perennials.
They could acidify
the soil over time, but since we have quite alkaline soils to begin with,
this isn't a problem. One drawback -pine needles are quite flammable and
can be a fire hazard.
Grape crushings, processed
hops, crushed corncobs:
Using these or similar materials is an environmentally sound idea, but
gardeners should watch for problems.
They may compact when
fresh and wet, preventing adequate water and air flow to the roots.
They may have an undesirable odor, especially when fresh, and molds might
form on the surface.
The colors of these
products vary, and their appearance may not be attractive, depending on
individual tastes.
These "plant by-products" can be used with careful management
and attention to potential problems.
However, it's important not to overdo it with excessively thick layers.
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