MULCH IS YOUR FRIEND!
The secret to a low-maintenance, healthy landscape is proper mulching.
Your soil should never be exposed. When soil is bare, nature responds by covering the space with weeds. Weed seeds are ALWAYS present in the soil, in thousands, waiting for conditions to be right… They grow fast! Faster than many other plants. They’re doing their job, waiting, and ready to protect the soil. If we don’t want weeds, mulch is the answer.
Mulch covers the soil and prevents weeds from germinating. Mulch also reduces the soil temperature, which keeps your plants happier. The soil doesn’t dry out as quickly, reducing irrigation needs and keeping the soil more consistently moist.
Mulch can be a transitional practice. If you plant densely (so garden plants overlap slightly as they reach maturity) then you will need very little mulch once your garden becomes established.
The first application of mulch will take the most work. But it’s much less work than weeding! Gardens typically need about 2-3 inches of mulch.
A fresh layer of mulch is also a great way to improve the look of your garden! It can make the appear refreshed. If you live in a place where there are social pressures to maintain a very neat landscape, it’s one of the easiest ways to quickly clean up a “messy-looking” landscape.
There are many mulch options! Here’s a quick mulch guide:
- Shredded bark or bark dust (especially dark colored) is a popular, formal look. Many use this successfully, though it has its downsides. The small material size can compact to create a crust and repel water. It also doesn’t last as long (the smaller the material, the faster it decomposes).
- Bark nuggets last longer. I’m personally a fan of small fir bark nuggets (and bright red fir bark nuggets fade to a natural-looking brown color after a few weeks).
- Wood chips also make a wonderful mulch. It is a myth that cedar chips inhibit plant growth or bind nitrogen in the soil. They can slightly decrease the germination/sprouting of seeds on the surface, but this is GREAT in the landscape when you don’t want weed seeds to sprout. If you decide you want to sow some seeds someday, just rake the mulch off the surface and fluff up the soil a bit before you sow.
- Arborist chip mulches are another one of my favorites. Because they can be delivered for completely FREE (since arborists often need to pay to drop them at a local yard debris composting facility). They decompose a little faster than other mulch materials because they have a nice mix of shredded leaves, needles, and wood… But this is wonderful for your soil and plants! It adds nutrients and organic matter to your soil. Learn more about the pros and cons of arborist chip mulch, here.
- Pine needles make a fantastic mulch material in the landscape. It is true that they can slightly increase the acidity of surface-level soil, but overall pine needle mulch has little impact on soil acidity levels long term.
- DO NOT USE LANDSCAPE FABRIC. Never around plants, in a garden! This might surprise you because it is so common in the landscaping industry. It seems effective and reduces maintenance for the first year or two, but then it actually increases maintenance over time. Let me repeat: it increases maintenance over time. It also can be harmful to plant health over time. With certain exceptions (like agricultural applications, or decorative rock installations… Slightly different contexts), I am certain that everyone’s use of landscape fabric in gardens will decrease over time, as people better understand the downsides. Learn all about landscape fabric here.
- DO NOT USE RUBBER MULCHES. Ever. They are actually pretty toxic, notably flammable, and truly not as effective at preventing weeds as organic, woody materials. If you have it in your landscape, I generally recommend raking it up and disposing of it. As much as I love recycling, this is not an effective use of old tires. Learn more about rubber mulch, here.
- Cardboard as mulch can be slightly more controversial and is useful, but only in specific applications. I have an entire YouTube video where I go into more detail on this subject. First note: it has a few downsides (can contain microplastics, can dry out in dry climates and be slow to decompose, cuts off airflow to the soil, and can create habitat for ants or termites, unlike other mulches…). I personally love to use cardboard to smother out lawns and weedy areas. If you remember ANYTHING about cardboard after reading this, please remember that cardboard smothers. It should not be used around plants you want to keep happy and healthy, because plant roots need to breathe. However, if you’re hoping to smother out a lawn or weedy area, a layer of cardboard topped with at least 3 inches of mulch, plus at least ~6 months of consistent moisture? The lawn and weeds will be gone, and you’ll have a new garden bed to plant into.
There are many other mulch options, and they can vary from region to region. I recommend an organic woody mulch material. Do some additional research as needed!
More Mulch Tips
PLEASE NOTE: Compost and mulch are NOT the same thing (although in different regions the names are sometimes used interchangeably).
Compost is decomposed organic matter (soil)… A fantastic soil amendment that DOES NOT prevent weeds. It’s fertilizer for plants plus it improves soil structure.
Mulch is undecomposed organic matter (like wood, bark, needles, hazelnut shells, etc.) that DOES prevent weeds. As it breaks down/decomposes, it slowly turns into compost.
You can purchase mulch in bags at the local garden center OR have it delivered by the cubic yard (which can be more affordable if you need a larger quantity). If you have access to a truck or trailer and can purchase it by the cubic yard, even better! Research local sources. If you’re not super confident calculating cubic yards, you can enter the length and width of the area, and the depth of the desired mulch into a calculator like this one. Pay attention to the units you use (for example: feet for the area, versus inches for the depth).
Mulch should be at least 2 inches deep for proper weed suppression. I typically aim for 2 or 3 inches.
If you already have mulch in your garden beds, and weeds are starting to pop up frequently, adding an inch or two can work wonders. This is called “topdressing.”
Don’t bury the stems or trunks of plants: taper the mulch down to the plant, but go for proper depth in the areas between plants.
I hope this quick mulch guide helps you with your next landscaping project! Happy gardening!
More Mulch Resources:
