You need to consider many things when you are finding the perfect garden mulch for your landscape. We can judge distinct types of mulch by studying their reference points from one another.
Before beginning, let’s look at a preliminary question that many landscaping enthusiasts have: Does mulch covering affect soil pH at all? More particularly, would the soil pH of your garden be diminished to some extent when you apply mulch?
The pH composition of your soil has a determining effect on the well-being of your plants. It’s logical that many people, including myself, have expressed unease on how garden mulch selection affects the soil pH, since it does influences the ground as it decomposes. Does using pine needles in your landscape mulch lead to your garden soil withering away? What about having oak leaves as mulch in your garden?
A popular belief of landscape professionals is that garden mulch has insignificant changes in the pH composition of your loam. For example, while oak leaves in your mulch may be acidic when it is fresh, it now turns to become alkaline when it breaks down. Furthermore, based on my reading, it is now generally thought that a garden mulch composed of pine needles lowers soil pH to only a negligible degree, if at all.
With the question of the potential impact of garden mulch on soil pH out of the way, let’s reflect on some other issues surrounding garden mulch selection — some of which are quantifiable, others of which boil down to personal landscaping preferences. We would have to set things up clearly if only to make a decision, since a garden mulch can do well in one group only to perform unsatisfactorily in another. Two recognizable applications of garden mulch on which you will find to have not been taken up are erosion control and weed suppression. They have been excluded for a sole reason: a garden mulch applied well mow down weeds and erosion at the same time.
These are the three constants in this discussion.
* “Insulation value in summer” is judged by the degree to which the garden mulch can keep the soil beneath cool and moist. A successful summer insulator will both reduce the need for watering and protect roots against extreme heat.
* The problem of whether or not clearing away the garden mulch in spring depends on the fact that abundant garden mulches can suffocate developing spring buds. This is clearly a non-factor for plants that is growing above ground. Even so, the latter can be pampered by having the earth soil around the roots warmed by sunshine, a procedure helped by temporarily taking away the garden mulch. Regarding the use of plastic sheet mulch, this is not important since the material have openings to give access to plants.
* “Nourishment and aeration afforded to underlying soil by decomposition” is one of the criteria used in the following pages to compare the various landscape mulches. Nonetheless do not be mislead by the “nourishment” word, thinking that compost and garden mulch are interchangeable.
I have been a Calgary Landscaping Contractor for many years. We specialize in Calgary Gardens and Calgary Landscape Design. These techniques work anywhere in the world as well as in my area.
Written by: Custom Stone and Waterscapes 3829 Parkhill Place SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2W6 (403) 870-1142 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (403) 870-1142
