Clients and readers, it’s been too long. We need to sit down and talk about something that’s relevant all year but particularly popular in the Spring. We’ve not been shy about our love mulch, but it’s time we devote another blog to appreciating it. Mulch helped your gardens through the winter, insulating your flower beds from the freezing cold. Now with weeds coming, it has a new purpose, and it’s time for mulching again. So let’s discuss the many benefits mulch brings your Huxley landscaping so you can get on the mulch train too! Hello, Mulch! Let’s get the shallow part out of the way. Mulching makes your flower beds prettier! Since landscaping is about contrast, picking the right mulch as a backdrop for your flowers is the perfect way to set them off. Mulch comes in many colors, both natural and dyed. This time of year, many homeowners like to pick dark mulchers as a contrast to their light flowers and as a base around their trees and shrubs. Then when the weather gets colder and during any time of transition, your mulch remains even as flowers die back, creating a consistent look that provides color even when the living landscape doesn’t. Flower Friend and Weed Foe Spring is the time for flower beds. We love helping you with your flower bed design and subsequent plant installation! Of course, part of that is picking the perfect mulch to fill in the space between your flowers and other plants. Guards Your Flowers with Weed Prevention But mulch serves another advantage for your flowers. It helps to keep out their enemy, weeds. A mulch covering over your garden beds discourages weeds from popping in and making it their home too. Shines a Spotlight on Invading Weeds But weeds are a tenacious bunch, so you may find the occasional uninvited weed guest sleeping in your flower bed. Luckily, mulch also makes them easier to spot. Not A Friend to Many Bugs Either While some bugs and worms can be beneficial to your plants, creating a microbiome that supports them by enriching the soil, others want to eat them. Luckily, one easy way to discourage some pests is by picking the right mulch. Cedar mulch, for example, deters many of the least desirable critters (rodents, insects, and more) from your garden because of its smell. Best of all, most humans actually enjoy the scent. Other mulches dispel some pests by their texture. For example, rough-edged mulch such as stone or some wood may be effective pest control for slugs, snails, and other soft-bodied animals that look at your garden as a buffet. Cooling in Summer, Warming in Winter - Always in Style! Mulch is versatile, which is why we encourage mulching all year. In the winter, your flower roots risk freezing. Mulch provides a protective layer to keep them warm. More relevant to the present, the temperature swings in Spring and Fall mean that your plants need a buffer as the weather goes between extremes. And in summer, when the sun risks baking your plants, mulching keeps them from overheating. In the Drink - Mulching and Water Retention The Summer sun also tends to evaporate water before your plants get a chance to absorb it. And a dry plant is an unhealthy plant! When your ground is uneven, that can exacerbate the issue. And as the dirt dries, it can become denser and less likely to absorb water, choking out your roots. See where we’re going? Mulching aids water retention, preventing the sun from drying up the water, instead allowing it to seep down to the plants that need it. All That and Dinner? Not all mulch is organic material. While many of the mulches we use in gardening are derived from plants (such as shredded bark, compost, shells, and even leaves), sometimes we use manufactured mulch. Mulch comes in plastic, polished glass, rubber, and more. The benefit of manufactured mulch (or one made of stone) is that it doesn’t break down, but that’s also a disadvantage. The positive is that it will last longer and need less upkeep. The negative is that it will not feed the soil. The beautiful thing about organic mulch is that even as it deteriorates, it’s still benefitting your plants as it becomes a fertilizer for the soil. We’ll Help You Pick the Right Mulch for You! Spring is here, and Summer is close behind. So if you haven’t mulched yet, don’t put it off any longer! Let MasterGrass help you select and install the perfect mulch as we create your gardens!