The Advantages of Mulching
Mulching is an essential part of getting the most out of your landscaping. It can give your landscaping a more polished look, but the advantages of mulch go beyond improving the appearance of your business or home.
Benefits of Mulching
The main benefit of mulch is that it adds a protective barrier to the roots of plants and trees as well as an extra layer of soil to retain nutrients.
The additional advantages are that mulch:
- Controls weeds
- Retains moisture
- Prevents soil erosion
- Maintains soil nutrients
- And helps control pests
Types of Mulch
There are numerous natural mulching options, some of which you can even get from your backyard.
There are natural mulching materials, such as:
- Bark
- Wood chips
- Pine needles
- Straw
- And grass clippings make the best natural decomposing mulches
Otherwise, you can consider incorporating non-decomposing, non-organic materials like:
- Black plastic
- Landscaping fabric
- Recycled tires
- Pebbles
- And river rock
We do not recommend using recycled tires or black plastic for mulching.
There are literally dozens of benefits of mulching for your commercial or residential landscaping plan, but these are our top five:
Controlling Weeds
Weeds are not just unsightly in the garden, they can also damage your plants and parasitic weeds can certainly kill them. Mulching provides a layer on top of the soil, which makes it harder for weeds to break through in order to grow. The extra layer also provides another barrier that stops sunlight from reaching the open spaces in which weeds thrive.
Wide areas are notoriously popular with weed growth, and this is because open spaces allow them to drop seeds and germinate into the soil easily. Mulching deprives weeds of bare ground, which means that the seeds never get the opportunity to touch the soil. Weeds seeds can range from 200 to 54,000 seeds per square foot of soil.
Retaining Moisture
One of the most vital components of any landscaping plan is ensuring that your garden doesn’t just look good, but that it is also able to withstand periods of sporadic rainfall. This is particularly true here in Central Valley where we have water restrictions and are currently in the fifth year of drought.
Mulch is a great way to keep your soil moist. The extra layer stops the sun from evaporating the moisture in the heat of the day, and this, in turn, results in cool, moist soil that is best for growing happy and healthy plants.
Preventing Soil Erosion
Soil erosion is always a concern in any commercial or residential landscaping project, and yet another benefit of mulch is that it can seriously lessen the amount of soil you are losing to the elements. To start with, the mulch keeps the soil moist, which makes it much harder to erode away.
It also provides vital protection from the impact of heavy raindrops, which displace the soil, as well as a barrier between the bare ground and the wind – mulching protects the soil from getting swept up.
Maintaining Soil Nutrients
Mulching is also a great way to efficiently create and maintain healthy nutrient levels in your soil. The material protects the nutrients from getting washed away by rain and wind.
If you are using an organic material as you mulch, then it will begin to naturally break down and release nutrients into your soil, which keeps it rich and healthy. Worms and soil microbes will help break the material down and in doing so they will benefit the soil with essential nutrients which encourages a healthy soil ecosystem.
Controlling Pests
Your landscaping success will also be affected by pests and insects from time to time, and another reason why mulch is important is that it helps keep their numbers down. Certain mulches are known to be more effective pest controllers than others.
Some bark deters certain insects and not others, so that is an important consideration to keep in mind, as some mulches attract insects – ask a professional for assistance on this when you are buying mulch. Mulches with a strong fragrance are the most likely to deter insects and barks such as cedar are particularly effective.
In Conclusion
Mulching promotes a healthy growing environment for trees, shrubs, and plants and it should be a part of any landscape maintenance plan. It’s also a great way to incorporate open spaces that are aesthetically pleasing too and provides a way to separate plants from buildings and other equipment.
Get expert advice and tips on how to look after your commercial property, from experienced professionals in the commercial landscaping business at Grover Landscape Services Inc by contacting us today.