When light starts to set in , it ’s a good time to start thinking about frame your garden to reside for the winter . One necessary chore is mulch , which helps put constituent subject and nutrients back into the land and protect perennials from coarse frigidness . Here are six mulches available to the constituent agriculturist , the pro and hustle of each , and how to employ them .
1. Hay
Hay is dried grass usually sell in straight bales . Good hay is one of the cheapest and good forms of fertilizer you may buy , but speculative hay can be one of the most costly , killing flora and deposit unwanted weed seminal fluid . If you ’re deliberate using hay , it ’s dependable to know its origin and how it was grown . Many multitude mistakenly take over all hay is constitutive ; however , some schematic farmers spray hay fields with chemical fertilizer or broadleaf herbicide , which can kill garden flora . Hay cut at the wrong time can also contain large quantities of weed and grass seed . If you’re able to talk to the farmer , they ’ll be capable to tell you when it was rationalise and if it was sprayed .
2. Straw
Straw is the teetotal stalking of grain after the seeds have been harvest and can be easily spread onto gardens . Although not as nutritious as hay , it ’s less probable to add mourning band to the garden or kill garden plant , as even conventionally grow straw is not typically sprayed at once .
3. Wood Chips
In term of recurrent trees and flower beds , it ’s arduous to overlook wood chips as an excellent mulching selection . Wood chips take longer to breakdown , thus lasting longer than hay or straw , andmay temporarily draw off N from your soil to help them molder . It ’s a good idea to add a little constituent fertiliser to your garden before mulch over it with Grant Wood chips . woodwind instrument chips are typically uncommitted at your local landscaping or garden supply store , but you might even contact your local phone service supplier to see what they do with their wood bit from downed limb and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . They might be willing to bring you a load for bum .
4. Compost
Although compost can by all odds make a fertile primer coat cover , it breaks down cursorily and may feed locoweed more than it discourages them . Consider adding a picayune around plants then placing another type of mulch on top of the compost to keep Mary Jane from coming up .
5. Shredded Leaves
Leaves can be cheap , alimentary - rich mulch for the garden , but it ’s a honorable idea to shred them first , which can well be done by ply over them with a mower . The purse on the lawn mower should compile the leaves for you along with some gage snip , which is safe mulch , too . Shredded leaves break down slowly , so although they work fine in one-year garden , they work best for repeated flowerbeds and around trees .
6. Grass Clippings
Grass newspaper clipping are very mellow in atomic number 7 and can make a great annual garden mulch––acting like hay but without the seed . However , take grass trim from your lawn will bump off some of the lawn ’s natural richness and can potentially hurt its overall health .
