With our changeable weather and unique growing conditions, mulch is one of the most important things to use when growing plants in our region. I go through bags of mulch every single year and that is not a bad thing. What is mulch and what does it do that makes it so essential to Lowcountry gardening?
Mulch is anything that protects the roots of a plant. Most people seem to believe that mulch is purely for aesthetics – to make garden beds look neater and more uniform. Mulch is more than a pretty face. In the winter, mulch keeps the roots warm and moist. In the summer, mulch keeps the roots cool, conserves moisture, and helps to combat weed growth. Mulch can be pine straw, shredded bark, compost, woodchips, or even gravel.
The most common mulch in our area is pine straw. Our pine trees shed their needles regularly and these needles provide a great natural looking and inexpensive mulch. Probably the most expensive thing about using pine straw is paying for someone to haul it in and spread it. My front yard has several pine trees and I just allow the natural source of pine straw to do its thing. Pine straw does break down eventually and will add to the nutrients in the soil, but it usually looks good for about one year. The only negative of pine straw is that a high wind can blow it around or if you have mow and blow landscapers, their powerful blowers can send the pine straw where it should not be.
In my backyard flower garden and in the community butterfly garden that I maintain, I use shredded bark mulch. It gives a nice unform look to the garden and definitely keeps the weed growth down. The mulch we buy here tends to be colored which is not what I like, but I buy the brown tinted and put up with it. Avoid black colored mulch as it will get too hot in the sun. I will not even talk about bright orange mulch. Yuck. Your plants should be the show, not the mulch. You can purchase bark mulch by the bag or by the truckload depending upon the space you wish to cover.
Compost is a fine mulch in that it not only protect the roots of your plants, but provides nutrients. Composted cow manure or mushroom compost are great mulches and my plants love to be fed with compost. You do not have to dig it into the soil. Just layer it on top of the existing soil around the base of the plant and the goodness will filter down to the roots. Research is showing that “No Dig” gardening is important in keeping the beneficial microbes in the soil by not destroying the soil structure.
Wood chips used as a mulch is gaining in popularity due to its sustainability. Arborists have to find a place for their wood chips and this can be costly. Many tree services will deliver wood chips to your yard for free. They are not as aesthetically pleasing as other mulches, but they do the job of temperature control and moisture retention. They also do break down and add to the soil fertility.
Lastly, gravel can be used as a mulch. I have a gravel garden where I have planted several plants that seem to enjoy a beach-like environment. Succulents and other plants that do not like our humidity do well in a gravel garden. I buy light colored pea pebbles that reflect the hot summer sun and also insulate the roots all year long.
No matter what kind of mulch you use, there are certain do’s and don’t’s. Do use a thick layer of about 3-5 inches. Do not pile the mulch up against the stem of a plant. Landscapers like to make mulch volcanos around the base of trees and shrubs and this is the worst thing that you can do. It will smother the root stem. I spend quite a bit of time in the spring pulling the mulch and other debris away from the trunks and stems. Landscape fabric is not mulch. I do not like to use it under any circumstance. It curls up and eventually allows weeds to grow through it. Do not use any artificial material as a weed barrier. It just does not work well and can smother tender plant root systems. With so many natural materials to use, stick with things that will protect and nurture your plants, shrubs, and trees. When to mulch? There is no right or wrong time, but I mulch in the early spring before the summer weeds appear. If you are worried about our increasingly cold winters, you can protect plants with mulch in the autumn. Any time of the year, mulch is magic.
