Plant Gardens 101

I’m sure that if you are reading this, you have used some form of mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn’t know that there are many other options for organic mulching that you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that has been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the rest of their yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won’t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this extra water, you won’t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water!

If your garden is in more need of mulching than your yard, it is not unheard of to rake up all the grass and transport it to your garden. By making a small layer around the vicinity of the plant, you’ll apply all the same benefits from leaving it in your yard. My yard is rather green on its own, but I often have trouble with my plants staying green and healthy. So, rather than leave the grass clipping in my yard, I move them all around my plants. It is just a matter of choosing what your highest mulching priority is. (more…)

One of the gardening techniques that most confuses beginners, and more experienced gardeners, is Mulching. There is much discussion, muttering and head shaking over this process which has it’s origins lost in the mists of time. So what is it? In a nutshell, mulching is putting a thick layer of material over the soil around your plants. That is simple enough, the debate comes when discussing the best materials, and that has to be a matter of personal choice. Organic matter blended into heavy or clay soil will break it up and improve drainage and fertility. The same organic material mixed into light, sandy soils will help it hold water and improve fertility. Inorganic mulches such as plastic shreddings, and stones or chippings will do little for the fertility of the soil but will help conserve water. One of the main reasons for using mulches as an important gardening technique is that it does preserve moisture in your garden, as water becomes a more expensive and scarce resource we need to make the most of it. The natural increase in fertility of a well mulched soil also saves on buying expensive fertilizers and the added benefit of weed reduction saves not only time and money but also an aching back! (more…)

I’m sure that if you are reading this, you have used some form of mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn’t know that there are many other options for organic mulching that you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that has been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the rest of their yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won’t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this extra water, you won’t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water! (more…)

Here it is fall and the garden is ready to snooze. Hold it, there is more work to be completed. Some mulching and some pruning. Those fallen leaves and dying annuals are not for the trash but that organic material is black gold for the garden.

A step that is both ordinarily and commonly neglected, to lay the garden to bed for the winter, is the addition of organic matter. More people should use organic matter in their beds rather than casting off their yard waste.See, this is right at our feet, yard waste. It has to be raked or mowed, so why not utilize it for Mother Nature’s blanket – mulch.

It is impossible to put too much organic matter into the soil. Fall is a good time for many reasons. One good reason is all of the materials that you want are there for free, leaves and dying plants. (more…)