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How to Protect Your Garden with Mulch
Mulch is an incredibly useful and multi-functional landscaping product. Mulch protects your plants all year long through the winter cold as well as from the blazing summer heat. Although it is most popular in decorative gardens, mulch can be functional in vegetable gardens as well because it prevents fruits from getting spoiled by keeping them up off the ground. No matter the type of garden, it suppresses weed growth, sustains moisture, reduces soil erosion, and prevents pests and diseases from attacking your plants.
Not only is it a great way to protect plants, mulch has a myriad of aesthetic advantages. It puts the finishing touch on any garden or landscape design. A layer of mulch gives your garden a neat, polished appearance and elevates your home’s curb appeal.
Choosing a Color to Accent Your Home
The first step in choosing a mulch to protect your garden is choosing a color. Mulch is most frequently available in black, brown, and red. The right color for you will depend on your personal preference as well as on the style of home. You might want the color to contrast with your garden plants or to compliment the color of your home.
Brown or red mulch is preferable if there are brightly colored flowers in your garden.
Red mulch is a great accent for landscaping the garden of a brick home.
If your home is contemporary or gray, black mulch is the right choice. It stands out around green vegetation and dark colored flowers.
Using Mulch in a Raised Garden Bed
If you have a raised garden bed, put a soaker hose among the plants and use a layer of mulch to protect your plants. Use a landscaping materials calculator, like this one, to help you determine the amount of mulch you need. Calculate the length, width and the appropriate depth of your mulch layer.
A typical garden needs a 3-inch layer of mulch. On the other hand, a new garden will require weed preventative or landscaping fabric. Afterwards, fill it with garden soil and then top it with the mulch color of your choice.
How to Mulch
- Spread a 2 to 3-inch-thick layer of mulch. Soil that drains slowly only requires 1 to 2 inches while soil that drains fast (typically more sandy soil) needs 4 inches.
- Always avoid applying a very thick layer of mulch to prevent diseases, pests, and root rot.
- Spread mulch past the point where the farthest edge of the leaves or vegetation is.
- After application, water the mulch, since dry mulch can absorb soil moisture.
Other Tips
- Mulch can be applied any time of the year, regardless of the weather. In cold weather, apply mulch on frozen ground to better protect plants.
- To insulate the soil against extreme summer heat, apply mulch in late spring soon after the soil is warm. You should occasionally check mulch thickness and refresh it when needed.
- While spreading mulch, keep it at least one foot away from the trunk of a tree and one inch away from the base of a perennial plant to ward off pests and rot.
If you’re planning to tidy up your garden and simultaneously protect it, mulch is a great option.
68 COMMENTS
Penelope Smith
April 23, 2019, 2:14 am REPLYThis is some really good information about mulch and how you can use it to protect your garden. It is good to know that you can get mulch in a different color. It would be nice to get a fun color mulch to use in your home.
Taylor Bishop
May 10, 2019, 4:19 pm REPLYI didn’t know that mulch could help protect your garden. That said, it’s nice to know that mulch can actually come in different colors. You mentioned you should pick one based on personal preference, but I’m interested to learn if some colors work better in certain situations.
Ethan Hansen
May 30, 2019, 5:49 pm REPLYIt’s good to know that mulch can be colorful to add appeal to your home while also protecting your landscaping. My wife and I are building our new home and we want it to be the pinnacle of beauty in the neighborhood. I will keep this in mind as we find landscaping mulch services that offer colored mulch!
Eli Richardson
June 7, 2019, 2:09 pm REPLYIt is fascinating that mulch insulates the soil helping to provide a buffer from heat and cold temperatures. I always thought that it was just for enhancement because of the colors. I’m grateful for your advice about protecting my garden; I will contact a Landscape Contractor for future reference to make my yard more durable.
Ethan Hansen
June 24, 2019, 6:48 pm REPLYIt’s good to know that mulch can be a great way to improve your land by adding color to complement the exterior of your home, protecting your plants from cold weather and in turn making them grow bigger and better, and through making your garden have a clean and polished appearance. My wife and I are moving into our new home as we retire and we want to make sure every aspect of it can accommodate our hobbies and desires. Knowing that mulch can keep fruits from spoiling by keeping them off the ground, which you mentioned, is going to be especially helpful for us as we transition from just vegetable gardening to fruit gardening as well! Thank you so much for your wonderful tips and facts; we’ll be sure to keep all these in mind and remember your article as we improve our gardening skills and grow the most delicious apples around!