One of the most important aspects of spring that is often overlooked is mulch! Keeping your garden beds mulched not only looks good but helps your plants and trees from attracting pests and disease throughout the years. Spring is a great time to re-mulch your beds because you are also planting up new annuals and even redoing your landscape altogether.
Here are our top 5 best practices for spring mulching from our in-house expert and Garden Supply Buyer, Brendan Cornwell.
- Mulch is a Blanket, Not a Turtleneck!
Keep mulch off the collars of your trees & shrubs to avoid disease and plant failure. Spread your mulch evenly up to the edge of the base of your tree trunks and plants instead of crowding mulch up around the bases. This tip is also good to keep in mind when putting new plants in the ground, so you don’t bury them too deeply.
- Too Much of A Good Thing is Not Always Good.
When spreading mulch, you want to put a 2-3 inch layer over your beds. Any more can lock in too much moisture and overheat your plants in the summer. Too little and your plants’ roots will have trouble staying warm in the winter.
PRO TIP: Add a layer of compost before mulching to feed your plants slowly over the spring and summer months! Try out our McDonald Garden Center Organic Compost for great results.
- Stick with an All Bark Mulch.
All bark mulch, like our McDonald Garden Center hardwood mulches, are great for your garden beds because they allow them to breathe and deter wood-eating pests. Whole tree mulch can be affected by wood insects due to the fine gratings and shavings included in the mulch.
- Cedar and Cypress Bark Mulches for Resistance
If you are looking for a resistant-to-pests type of mulch, cedar and cypress are both dense and long-lasting kinds of wood. They also contain pest-resistant oils within the bark that aid in keeping those bothersome insects away.
- It Just Looks Great!
Mulch is not only helpful to the health of your plants, but it also can perk up your landscape exponentially. Choose from colors of regular hardwood, dyed red, dyed black, and dyed brown to suit the colors of your landscape, home, and garden!
Come grab some mulch during our Mulch Madness event March 18th - 20th for great deals on mulch and informational assistance from our Green Team. We’ll see you there!