You can apply this technique anywhere in the garden, always respecting certain rules and choosing the most suitable hay for your plants for greater effectiveness.
The benefits of mulching
When done correctly, mulching offers a series of advantages that improve the development of your plants and facilitate the management of your garden:Less irrigation: An uncovered soil facilitates the evaporation of water and the transpiration of the plants. The natural mulch allows these phenomena to be limited, acting as a sponge for better water absorption during rainy periods, keeping the soil cool, and preventing it from drying out in summer.
Avoid dulling phenomenon: Clay and limestone soils tend to compact and crust on the surface after rain. Covering your soil with horticultural crops, for example, avoids it.
Fewer weeds: protecting your soil from light with mulch helps prevent the proliferation of weeds.
A more fertile soil: at the moment of decomposition, its cover will be transformed into humus and will enrich the soil with essential nutrients for the growth of vegetables.
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Less muddy crops: Climbing crops (strawberries, cucumbers, melons) will not be in direct contact with the soil, but with the mulching.
Supports the life of your soil: Mulching offers a protective layer that reduces discrepancies in temperature and humidity. It favors the development of microbes on the surface that allows the release of nutrients necessary for the development of horticultural crops (mineralization).
Reduces the risk of disease: The physical screen provided by mulching helps reduce the spread of disease during periods of rain. Especially mold that spreads on leaves and twigs near the ground.
How to choose the type of mulching?
We can differentiate two categories of mulching: organic and mineral. These two types include different varieties, therefore, you will have to find which is the variety that best suits your soil or the type of plant you want to grow.
On the other hand, it is not biodegradable, and its use is recommended in plants in dry and hot climates.
We can distinguish between several varieties of mineral mulches such as crushed tiles, gravel, or flat stones. The most widely used is still pozzolana: a volcanic rock rich in siliceous, whose alveolar structure constitutes solid thermal insulation.
Organic mulching
Beyond its function of protecting the soil, this type of mulching has to fertilize properties when it decomposes and transforms into humus. It can be divided into two categories based on the rate of decomposition.
Long-term mulching> 4 years
This should be used in sustainable crops that require little renovation, such as trees, shrubs, and live plants. You should do without these if you are looking to mulch directed to the orchard.Wood chips: They offer long-term protection and you should provide a nitrogen-rich fertilizer before it spreads.
Pine Cones - These are recommended for acidic plants.
Shrub Sizes and Pre-Compound Shredded Shrubs: If you have a shredder, transform your waste into mulching. However, be sure to get rid of coniferous clippings to avoid adding acid to your soil.These can be used for all types of horticultural and short cycle crops:
Cut grass: You can mulch cut grass, but consider limiting its thickness to several inches to prevent rot.Unripe compost: only for already developed plants. Avoid contact with twigs and logs to avoid causing burns.
Linen and hemp mulching: this mulch, which has excellent thermal insulating power, is very good as compost for orchards and live plants. In addition, its almost neutral pH makes it ideal for rose bushes.
Dead leaves: its excellent C / N ratio allows for natural composting.
Buckwheat mulches: This is a multi-purpose mulch that has strong opacifying performance and repels slugs and snails.
Plant Fiber Mulching: This can be used to create mulch for plants or hedges. It allows the passage of water and oxygen, but not of light. This particularity allows its use in soils already invaded by weeds and transforms them into humus after several months.
Cereal mulching: This is "traditional" mulching, however, it is difficult to find as it does not come from organic farming today. On the other hand, mulching tends to blow away and can bring in other plant seeds that you would not like to see in your garden (weeds).
Here are some examples of the shelf life of organic mulching:
Two to three years> Flax mulch, sunflower seeds, buckwheat hulls, and hemp mulch.
About a year> according to size: hay, leaves
Several weeks> Mowed grass
How to guarantee the success of the mulch?
Now that you know the type of mulching according to the plants and the desired term of protection, you can apply it to your soil. Here are some tips to help you know when and how to apply mulch:
Do not apply it when it is windy.
Do not cover on frozen ground, it will delay reheating.
Mulch in weed-free soil, unless you are using plant-based fiber mulching.
Provides abundant guidance to the soil before and after mulching.
Add 2-3 cm of mulching every year to compensate for losses when using organic mulch with a short lifespan.
