Improve The Effectiveness Of Your Mulch With These Tips

Posted by Oakford Firewood on June 17th, 2021

Mistakes can happen during mulch delivery Perth, mulch storage and mulch application. If you want your plants to be healthier it is important to know the best ways to apply mulch. You also need to know what to avoid and what you need to do. Mulch is meant to prevent weeds from growing in your garden. However, if you use the wrong mulch, like grass clippings, you may end up introducing more weeds to your gardenin Western Australia. This is just an example of the mistakes you can make while mulching. Read on to understand what you need to avoid while mulching.

Do not mix mulch into your soil

Compost, mulch and soil are three different things. You can mix compost into your soil as this can improve the fertility of your soil. However, you should let mulch lie on the surface. When you mix mulch in your soil, you damage the nutrient balance of the soil and this causes difficulties weeding and digging. You should never use sawdust or woody mulch to amend your soil because, in the process of decaying, it will bind up the available soil nitrogen that could be going to your plants.

Keep woody mulches away from your vegetable patch

Woody mulches are not the best choice for your vegetables. If you have a vegetable garden, cheap compost will do a better job than expensive woody mulch. A layer of woody mulch will make it harder to hoe weeds from between the rows. It is essential to weed it and put the mulch back. Most mulch suppliers in Western Australia know the right mulch to use with which plants and they can advise you appropriately.

Avoid using fresh mulch

This is a common mistake that novice gardeners make. Mulch materials such as manure, shredded brush or hay from hayfields, pastures or highway may contain weed seeds. They may also contain herbicide residues that can end up killing your plants. If you have fresh mulch, you should let it sit for a few months and allow it to leach out any residue that may kill your plants. Allow fresh mulch to set a few months before applying it to your garden to give it time to leach out residue and allow weed seeds to die. Compositing it before applying it is the best option.

Watch out for any creeping plants

Some plants may spread creeping stems especially turf grasses such as Bermuda grass. Such plants are so vigorous and they will grow under mulch so do not spread mulch on or close to them if you can avoid it. You should keep them in check with edging that runs below and above the ground or you can dig a trench along a bed so you can see any runners trying to invade and get rid of them before they get into your mulch.

Get rid of weeds before applying mulch

Once you get your mulch delivery Perth in Western Australia, you should do the necessary plans to remove weeds before you apply mulch. Mulch will not miraculously kill weeds.