If you don't want to spend all your time in the garden weeding, mulch is the answer. It is a bit of an investment of work up front, but mulch serves important purposes beyond just making the garden look tidy.
Mulch helps conserve soil moisture, suppresses weeds, and - if you use organic mulch - adds soil nutrients.
Diseases are less likely to get a foothold if you use mulch. It helps keep soil off of plants and fruit during heavy rains. Fungi, bacteria, and nematodes in the soil can infect plants, leading to issues like damping-off and root rot.
All mulches serve the same basic function, so which mulch you choose depends on the types of plants you grow as well as on your own aesthetic tastes.
For annual and perennial gardens, organic mulches are best. These include bark mulch, wood chips, shredded leaves, or pine needles. Skip the landscape fabric - it’s a maintenance headache.
Vegetable gardens have slightly different needs for mulch. Hay, straw, grass clippings, and clean compost are best for mulching in a vegetable garden. These help to improve soil health as the mulch decomposes.
Want to skip mulch? Try strategically locating your plants close together enough that weeds are crowded out.
This reduces the amount of bare soil where weed seeds can germinate and blocks sunlight, inhibiting weed growth. This approach does risk encouraging fungal diseases, however, so ensure there is adequate air circulation.
See you in the garden!
Homegrown NH is a collaboration between Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and NHPR.
