My husband likes to mulch, but I've decided not to mulch in my cottage garden areas anymore. I'm letting him mulch the gardens with mostly bushes and I've decided not to plant in that one for now.

I've found that mulch gets in the way of my plants reseeding, and my plants are just way too close together to see the mulch.

I may use some cocoa mulch later this year after the plants have filled in and all seeds have sprouted...as i think it adds some organic elements to my soil year after year.

When we start a new garden area, we mulch 4-6 inches with triple ground mulch to supress weeds and keep the soil moist (down here in North Carolina). We keep it away from the crowns of most plant material.

After that, I beg my DH not to mulch around my plants as they WILL fill in the bare spots! My DH used to live in a neighborhood where everyone mulched on cue for the sake of pretty, not practical.

He asks me to plant groundcovers along with my perennials and shrubs, which I have done in areas that would be showing lots of mulch. I sometimes rake the existing mulch in large areas to show him that it just needs to be turned over to look good and is thick enough. :-)

Cameron

I mulch with pine straw and have never found that to be a hindrance when it comes to reseeding. Prime example would be a new patch of milkweed that I planted last spring. I transplanted 5 plants in one bed and this year I have more than I can count. I'm still pulling up seedlings. The sad thing is there were no Monarchs this spring migration for some reason. Last April I had literally dozens of Monarch cats, but not a one this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:675468}}

I mulch because otherwise I'd be overrun by weeds, to help retain moisture, and to keep the soil cooler. It really does keep the reseeding to a minimum, though, which is not good. I hope as things fill in I can cut down on the mulch, but then I won't need all the new seedlings, either !
I think that's what they call a catch-22.

Carol

I like to mulch to keep the temps steady and it does help with weeds. In your area which is zone 2, this could be an important step to keep your plants healthy.

Ianna

Hi Fern,

I don't mulch my garden at all. My plants pretty much run together and blend. When they get over-crowded, I divide...so each has their own space again.

The exception to this is the roses....I leave lots of space around the roses for them to grow and have lots of air circulation. This prevents black spot and such here in my zone.

Sierra :)

Of course I mulch. It helps keep the weeds at bay, keeps plants from drying out too quickly, and adds much needed organic matter. While my plants do grow together rather well, I still like the clean look of mulch around trees and shrubs.
Unfortunately, it does stem re-seeding. I didn't get a single baby Foxglove, despite shaking seeds all over the place. Then again, I've seen other things like 4 O'clocks, Hollyhock, and Sunflowers, coming up right throught he mulch.

I'm not a huge fan of mulching although i did use a little pea gravel this year to prevent my seed-beds from eroding away in the rain.

For germinating flowerbeds, it's definitely something I would recommend. Not only does it seem to regulate evaporation but it also seem to help by keeping the seedlings warm by soaking up the heat all day and slowly radiating it back out during the night.

Now all I need to do (next post) is figure out a strategy for saving my thinnings out of the garden.

I don't know anything about zone 2, but I would think that you would want to mulch before winter to protect the crowns of your perennials, and remove mulch in late spring so the ground could warm.

Mulch will conserve water if drought is a problem in your area.

Nell

I mulch for all the reasons previously mentioned-moisture retention, adding organic material to the beds, keeping the soil cool during the hot summer and adding a protective covering during the winter.

In my climate, weeds will germinate on any patch of bare soil they can find, and since weeds grow year round here, this can turn into a major problem.

To be honest, I also like the look of mulch. :-)

Marilyn

I mulch a lot! Mostly I use woodchips free at the local composter. During the Fall I shred all the leaves with a shredder (I have five full grown trees so there are a lot of leaves) to lay down in new beds as well as to insulate beds already planted.

I won't lay down the mulch until the beginning of Summer because Spring is my planting season. By laying down mulch in early Summer I'm helping my plants maintain temperature, preventing weeds from growing in the beds and enriching the soil through decomposition. Every year I notice the soil getting better and better.

For heavily weeded areas I weed wack the area, lay down about ten layers of moist newspaper and then mulch with wood chips over that. The newspaper acts as a great weed smother and decomposes back into the soil over time. I've used this method on two beds and greatly reduced my need for weeding. The nice thing is that you can still plant through the newspaper by cutting a hole through it with your shovel.

Find ways you can mulch cheaply. I have never ever bought mulch in a bag. Call your city office and see if they have a local composter in your area.

Heather