Mulches

A bank holiday weekend in the UK so some quality time in the garden, I have mulched most of my border space this weekend so I figured I would mention it here. A mulch serves a few purposes, mainly to retain water in the soil, to prevent weed growth and to add visual appeal. There are many mulches you can choose from, bark, coco shell and manure etc. You can also choose non-organic mulches, membranes that allow water through. You can also combine these if you don't want your borders massed in black, speading a organic mulch over the the membrane.

I opted for bark much, this sort of much does decay over time and will take potassium from the soil in the process. As such I will need to add liquid feed woodash or other pootassium rich feeds every month to ensure that the balance is retained. Bark is a great looker and hard wearing protective cover thats attactive to soild friendlies so I doubt mind too much.

To be effective make sure you spead the mulch 1/2 inches thick, avoid bunching the mulch around plant stems as this may cause them to rot. Also be careful of any seedlings coming up, any areas that have new seedings in avoid mulching until they are big enough to avoid covering. A mulch can kill plants as much as weeds.