Handy Helpful Hints

Mulch Facts Here are some Mulch Facts that should help you make a decision. Feeding the soil well is one of the most crucial ways to grow a beautiful, healthy garden. Among the most important ingredients that gardeners must use to make their garden soil and plants healthy is mulch. Mulch is a thick blanket of natural materials spread over garden soil to keep it healthy. Clippings, hay, straw, and even damp newspapers are some of the materials that gardeners use as mulch. Some Mulching Tips Remove any weeds, grass and dead plants from the garden bed before mulching. Before...

Gorilla hair mulch. No, it is not some poor worker's job at the zoo to pick up the fallen hair from the gorillas. And no, they don't pluck it directly off the gorilla itself. In fact, it is not actually gorilla hair (shocking I know!). Let's take a look at what gorilla hair mulch (or GHM for the purposes of this article) actually is, and when you should (and when you shouldn't) use it for your next gardening project. What Gorilla Hair Mulch is Used For Gorilla Hair performs much the same functions as other mulches: Block Weeds Keep moisture...

Get the details on one of the best things you can do for your garden: Mulch it! Sure, adding mulch to your garden and landscape makes your plantings look terrific (and can even add a beautiful swath of color), but it also accomplishes many great things for both plants and soil. Here's why mulch could be considered a gardener's best friend: You'll have to do less weeding. When you cover soil with mulch, sunlight can't reach weed seeds, so many won't germinate. Weeds that blow in and settle in the mulch may sprout, but they will be much easier to pull.You...

There have been many articles written on mulch and the following are my views together with the results of some research that you may find of benefit. (The Sustainability Blitz Fact Sheet on mulch has useful information). There are three types of mulch: Organic material such as: eucalyptus leaf litter, wood chips, pine bark chips, compost, lawn clippings, pea straw, stable straw, lucerne, seaweed, hay, manure, sugar cane mulch, paper, etc. Inorganic mulch such as: gravel, decorative pebbles, any crushed rock, sand, etc. Living mulch: any dense growing ground cover plant. Why do we mulch native gardens? The main reason is to...