Benefits of mulch
- Moisture retention
- Soil aeration
- Increased beneficial soil organisms
- Moderated soil temperatures
- Added organic material to feed plants
- Weed control
- Aesthetically pleasing
Types of mulch
- Wood mulch – Offers all the benefits and comes in a variety of shapes & colors. Most wood mulch will draw nitrogen (an important nutrient for plants) from the soil in order to decompose. More green material = more nitrogen, The more nitrogen the faster the mulch will decompose.
- Utility grade– Mixture of chopped twigs, chipped wood, bark, and foliage. Locally supplied ,most beneficial and cheapest by far. Available for delivery Here
- Fence-post shavings – Mill grade, uniform, easy to spread, can be colored.
- Fines – Mill grade wood chips, uniform, can be colored. Cover the root zone of a tree with a layer of mulch 2-6″ thick to make it happy. Be careful to Leave a space between the mulch and the tree trunk, mulch piled against the trunk can be very damaging to the tree!
- Plastic mulch – Controls weeds and retains moisture, available in rolls, Quick cost effective alternative for mulching large areas of new plants
- UV protected – lasts years
- UV sensitive – dissolves in a year
- Rubber tree ring – Slotted to fit around the trunk of small trees, thick and durable made from recycled rubber, covers a small area around the trunk of the tree