Mulching at No Cost

Mulching at no cost is an untapped resource for many gardeners, such as lawn clippings and woody prunings from other plants. Many gardeners have begun to spread their excess grass clippings throughout their yard, preventing evaporation and weed growth. If your garden requires more mulching than your yard, it is not uncommon to rake all of the grass and transport it to your garden. Making a small layer around the plant will provide the same benefits as leaving it in your yard. It is simply a matter of deciding what your top mulching priority is.

Mulching is a great way to save branches and twigs from pruning and turn them into mulch for your plants. It not only saves time, but also improves the health and integrity of your plants by putting that "garbage" to good use. All organic mulches must be replenished over time, as they will deplete the soil's valuable nitrogen during the decomposition process. There are a variety of fertilizers on the market that are specifically designed to address this issue.

If you're reading this, I'm sure you've used mulch at some point in your gardening career. However, you may not be aware that there are numerous other organic mulching options available to you. Many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that have always been available; an untapped resource. These include lawn clippings and woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You'll be surprised at how useful all of these things can be, and how frequently you'll have the opportunity to put them to use.

Many gardeners have begun to spread their excess grass clippings throughout their yard. You may think that having large piles of grass sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up will look tacky. However, if you spread them out enough, you won't even notice that there is an excess. By preventing evaporation and weed growth, the extra grass acts as a kind of mulch in the yard. With this extra water, you won't have to water your lawn as frequently. I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system after I started leaving my grass clippings because I was concerned that my yard was getting too much water!

If your garden requires more mulching than your yard, it is not uncommon to rake all of the grass and transport it to your garden. Making a small layer around the plant will provide all of the same benefits as leaving it in your yard. My yard is naturally green, but I frequently struggle to keep my plants green and healthy. So, rather than leaving grass clippings in my yard, I scatter them among my plants. It's simply a matter of deciding what your top mulching priority is.

Sometimes our pruning activities result in an abundance of branches and twigs. If this is the case, you should think about renting a wood chipper to make use of all of those branches. You'd be surprised how many branches you end up with after just one day of intense pruning. Instead of throwing them away, you can turn them into a massive amount of mulch for your plants. However, if your pruning did not yield that much, you should bundle it all up and save it to add to the next batch. This is because renting chipping machines can be pricey, and you want it to be well worth it!

All organic mulches must be replenished over time. This is because they will decompose naturally in your yard's conditions. Usually, you can tell just by looking at it, but it can also appear perfectly normal while still having problems. If you notice any signs of poor plant growth, you should replace your mulch. Keep in mind that your mulch will deplete the soil's valuable nitrogen during the decomposition process. Without it, the plants will be deficient in a critical nutrient. There are a variety of fertilizers on the market that are specifically designed to address this issue.

Everyone should experiment with mulch in their yard and garden. It not only saves time by reducing the amount of garbage you have to transport out, but it also improves the health and integrity of your plants by putting that "garbage" to good use. So, if you think you can save a good amount of branches and twigs for chipping, or if you're ready to stop raking up all your grass clippings, I think mulching is for you.