Making Your Garden Look Fantastic

Why You Have to Introduce Some Mulch to Any Newly Seeded Garden

16 October 2017

Philip Newman

If you've just moved into a new property and believe that you have some green fingers, you may be getting ready to plant some flowers and shrubs, to make the place look pretty. Yet you've got to do some research and think carefully before investing in these plants, in order to make sure that they survive and prosper in the tough Australian climate. To achieve this, you'll need to introduce some mulch. What is this and why is it so important?

Significant Benefits

Fundamentally, when you apply the right type of mulch in your garden, you will make a significant difference to the amount of moisture that is retained in the soil beneath. Without mulch, the vast majority of any rainwater is going to evaporate rather quickly and as soon as the relentless sun reappears. This can make it very difficult for any new plants to become embedded and to survive, let alone thrive.

Various Options Available

There are a variety of different types of mulch, ranging from "do-it-yourself" options to those that you can buy from your garden store. One of the cheaper options is to use leftover grass clippings (assuming that you have a nice lawn, of course). If you use these clippings, then you won't have to dispose of them elsewhere, and the grass will also be able to add nitrogen to the soil as a beneficial nutrient. You will need to make sure that your grass is quite pure, however, as otherwise you're going to be introducing weeds to live alongside your expensive plants.

Instead, you can choose woodchips. While some people argue that this option will tend to remove some nitrogen from the soil initially, it will be replenished when the wood starts to naturally break down and permeate below.

You could also choose pine straw; if you're growing a plant that is acidic, this type of mulch will go very well indeed.

When to Introduce

It is best if you wait until some of your seedlings have started to erupt through the topsoil before you start to lay the mulch down. Then, make sure that you check the area periodically and especially midway through the gardening season, to make sure that the mulch is still present in sufficient quantity and doing its job.

Checking the Best Options

Have a word with your garden supply store to see what type of mulch would be best for you, based on the type of plants that you're going to introduce and your general location.

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