Using mulch in landscaping is the cornerstone to providing health to your soils and plants. Mulch is simply a layer of material that is spread on top of soil. Generally, mulch is understood as an organic material such as wood chips or straw, but inorganic materials like stones or landscape fabrics may also be included in the definition. For this discussion we’ll focus on arbor mulch–a simple and cost effective mulch that adds many benefits to your landscape.
If the soil around your landscape plants is bare, it’s unlikely that the soil is in great health. Instead of deciding to pump that soil full of amendments and fertilizer, a great first step in improving its health is to add a thick layer (generally 4-6” is sufficient) of wood chips to its surface. Arbor mulch is the remnants of trees after they have been processed by a wood chipper. These chips can often be had for free from local arborists and tree companies, and surprisingly are one of the best types of mulch for your soils. Because these chips vary in size, often containing all parts of the tree from trunk wood to twigs to leaves, and may include multiple species of tree within the same load of chips, your soil will be given the diversity of nutrients, micro organisms, and structure that it needs to thrive. You’ve probably heard that continually planting one type of crop in a field (known as a monoculture) will lead to infertile soils over time that require yearly application of fertilizers. This stems from a lack of diversity that the soil is being exposed to. Mulch is one way that your average homeowner can add an abundance of diversity to their landscape, thus giving the soil a varied “diet” that will nourish its health. Wood chips applied on the surface of the ground will break down over time, releasing nutrients to the soil that can then be utilized by your landscape plants.
Many other benefits come from mulch aside from adding nutrients to the soil. Soil without any mulch is directly exposed to the elements which can lead to some harsh effects. Exposed to the sun, soil heats up and dries out quickly after watering. Wood chips help to both retain moisture and act as a blanket to the soil–moderating soil temperature to be more consistent in both hot and cold weather, a benefit to plants which prefer this greater consistency in their growing environment. This blanketing effect also helps prevent runoff and erosion during rain and wind storms. In addition, mulch helps protect soils from compaction due to foot and vehicle traffic. Simply walking around on bare soil, especially if it’s wet, can compact the soil significantly, making water, nutrients, and oxygen all less available to your plants. Just a few inches of mulch added to the top of your soil will provide a cushion to your soil, making it less impacted by traffic. Lastly, a thick layer of mulch will help suppress weeds and add an attractive accent to your landscape.
Adding organic mulch to your landscape is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to boost the health of your soil and the plants it supports. To summarize, some of the many benefits of mulch are as follows:
- Helps retain soil moisture
- Reduction of weeds
- Adds organic matter/nutrients to soil
- Helps moderate soil temperature
- Reduces compaction of soil from foot traffic
- Holds soil in place, preventing erosion.
Thanks for reading and please reach out if you want to talk more about all things trees and soils!