Natural Mulch – The Key to Saving Water!

Fresh mulch is like a fresh coat of paint for your garden – beautiful instant makeover! But it’s not just for looks. Natural mulch has so many other critical benefits, especially as we move into warmer summer temperatures. Read to learn more about how mulch keeps plant roots healthier, adds nutrients to the soil, suppresses weeds, prevents plant disease, and very importantly right now, saves water!

Mulch Keeps Plant Roots 20 Degrees Cooler!

Did you know that applying a proper 3” layer of natural mulch, like hardwood, cedar, or pine straw mulch, keeps underlying soil temps more than 20 degrees cooler?! Gill’s Landscape Designer, Kathy Hubner attended a webinar presented by Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories in which they shared amazing results from a mulch study in San Antonio. Soil temperatures were measured at 6″ deep (where plant roots live) on a 105 degree summer day. Bare soil with no mulch, 6″ down was 102 degrees. Soil under grass was 92 degrees. Soil beneath a 3″ layer of mulch was only 76 degrees!! Keeping plant roots cool helps them take up water and nutrients and prevents heat stress on the plant. To achieve a 3″ layer of mulch takes about 1 bag per 12 sq. ft.

Mulch Suppresses Weeds & Builds Healthy Soil!

A 3″ mulch layer also helps suppress weeds by blocking light that weed seeds need in order to sprout, while still allowing good water, oxygen, and nutrient transfer for plants. And speaking of nutrients, natural mulches break down over time and help build healthier, looser soil. For these reasons, mulch can also act as an excellent placeholder for areas that you plan to plant in the future. For example, once you harvest your spring veggies, mulch that area to keep weeds from invading and to keep soil nice and healthy for when you get ready to plant again. Or, if you’re working on your landscape in phases, go ahead and create and mulch new beds, then plant when you’re ready – very few weeds to deal with and easier digging!

Mulch Saves You Water!

The name of the game for summer watering is to maintain depth moisture. This means watering plants slow, low, and deep. Use a watering wand and water at ground level to get water down to the roots – don’t water over the top of your plants!  Also, don’t water full blast. Turn down the pressure, water slowly, and use the cycle-soak method which means water once, let it soak in, then water again to get water down deep. A proper mulch layer is your best friend for maintaining this depth moisture due to the cooling/insulating effect we’ve discussed, and because it prevents evaporation. Not only does mulch help the soil retain moisture, it also keeps soil from splashing up onto the plant when you water, which prevents fungal disease. Be sure you spread the mulch evenly and avoid creating the dreaded “mulch volcano” around the trunks or main stems of plants and trees. Mounding mulch up against the trunk can invite disease. Best to mulch around trees and plants then pull mulch away from the trunk to create just a little space.