What is the Purpose of Mulching?

You see it in many gardens across Florida, but why is it that mulch is so universally used? What makes mulch such an essential part of any garden? Understanding the benefits of mulch can help you make the investment that your garden definitely needs.

Mulching can serve the following purposes:

To help suppress weeds
To enrich your soil
To help retain moisture
To regulate the temperature of the soil
To help prevent erosion

What’s The Purpose of Mulching?

To Suppress Weeds

Weeds are always encroaching on your plants. They are a burden for gardeners because they often require careful monitoring. If you do not regularly pull weeds from your garden, you can end up with an overgrown, messy area that is suffocating the growth of your plants. Thankfully, mulch can help you avoid all of that.

In order for weeds to grow, they need sunlight and space just like regular plants would. By mulching the area around your plants, you keep the weeds from getting the necessary nutrients that they need from the sun to grow. To retain this benefit, it is critical that you remulch on a regular schedule. Because most mulch is biodegradable it will eventually break down. This gives weeds the opportunity to grow. However, if you maintain a nice layer of mulch on your garden bed, you will keep this from happening.

To Enrich the Soil

The very same thing that makes you have to replace the mulch regularly is the same thing that keeps your soil rich and fertile. Because mulch decomposes over time, it provides the soil beneath it with nutrients and additional texture that can improve the growth of your plants. This means that mulch continues to benefit your plants even after it is no longer viable in its original state which makes it doubly useful.

To continue enriching your soil and keeping your garden fertile, you will want to replace your mulch at least once a year. You will know when it is time by the appearance of the mulch. For instance, mulch can fade in color after prolonged exposure to sunlight or you can begin to see patches in your garden bed where there was once densely packed mulch.

To Retain Moisture

Watering your plants can seem like a chore but mulch can help you with that too. This is because mulch can help to retain the moisture from regular watering and keep the sunlight from evaporating the water too quickly. Ultimately, this means that you don’t have to water as frequently which saves you money and time.

Of course, not all mulches are going to have the same effect on retaining water. For instance, organic mulches are much better at keeping water in the soil and preventing the sun from hitting the soil directly. That said, there are other types of mulches like rubber mulch or stones which only have the benefit of allowing the water to pass through to the soil but have no effect on retention.

To Regulate Temperature

Think about the insulation you have in your home. It keeps your house warm during the cooler months, and it keeps the air conditioning from escaping during the warmer months. That is what mulch does for plants. Because rapid fluctuations in temperature can be harmful to plants, mulch acts as an insulator that limits the fluctuations in temperature from being too extreme. This is especially helpful when hotter temperatures keep water from being fully soaked into the soil.

To Prevent Erosion

Without the protection of mulch, the soil is left to the elements. While this is not always damaging, it absolutely can be if you are dealing with high winds or excessive rainfall. In these instances, mulch does the job of acting as a shield for the soil. It keeps the harsh weather from eroding the soil and diminishing its fertile properties. With enough time, eroded soil can be damaging to plants, so it is important to keep the soil protected before it gets to a point of no return.

Looking for Mulch Near Orlando?

Are you ready to make the commitment to purchasing mulch for your yard? If so, it can be tricky to know which mulch will best suit your needs. However, you don’t have to solve that puzzle alone. With the help of Sod Depot, you can select the right mulch to make your garden thrive. Whether you are looking for mulch near Orlando or you are interested in many other yard and garden necessities, we are here for you. Call us or visit our website to learn more about our products.